Written by Laurie Gauger-Hested

In “Newsletters That Really Deliver, Part 1,” we discussed the importance of producing high-quality newsletters. As your public face, your newsletter should send two fundamental messages to parents: that you’re professionals who are giving their children an excellent education, and that you’re strong Christians who love Jesus and their children.

Part 1 listed three important directives for achieving this goal: (1) write with a smile on your face; (2) write humbly, which translates to “be brief”; and (3) write for the eye as well as the ear, which means using an easy-to-read format.

Part 2 has three equally important directives. Please read on.

4. Write by the rules. Put into practice what you learned in your composition courses.
   • Make sure your verbs and nouns agree in number.
   • Make your verb structures parallel. “We drank coffee, discussed our book, and solved all the world’s problems.”
   • Use active, not passive, voice. “Schools need principals” (active) is stronger than “Principals are needed in schools” (passive).
   • Use action verbs more than linking verbs. “She teaches art” is stronger than “She is an art teacher.”
   • Eliminate prepositional phrases when possible. “The students of MLC” becomes “MLC students.”
   • Eliminate closet verbs, which are verbs within verbs. “We ended up deciding that our resolution would be to build” becomes “We resolved to build.”
   • Eliminate adjectives and adverbs when possible. “He spoke loudly and forcefully” becomes “He shouted.”
   • Eliminate redundancies like “past history,” “unexpected surprise,” and “free gift.”
   • Don’t worry about archaic rules. Yes, you can write fragments. (Occasionally.) Yes, you can end a sentence with a preposition. (Or is this something up with which you simply cannot put?) Yes, you can split infinitives. (I give you permission to freely do it.) Yes, you can start sentences with conjunctions. (And don’t feel guilty.) Yes, you can use “they” and “their” as singular non-gendered pronouns. (Don’t worry about your old English teacher. They won’t mind.)
   • Use correct punctuation:
     • Review your comma and apostrophe rules.
     • Keep exclamation marks to a minimum.
     • Put commas and periods inside quotation marks.
     • And here’s a biggie: Use one space, not two, after a period. The two-space rule presided over the age of the manual typewriter, which was half a century ago. I know it’s a hard habit to break, but you can teach an old thumb a new trick.

What if grammar’s not your thing? If photosynthesis or quadratic equations are a snap, but dangling modifiers remain a mystery, then I have three solutions:

• Just ask yourself, “Can this be shorter?” Shorten, shorten, shorten.
• Read your work aloud to yourself or—better—ask someone else to read it to you. Anywhere they pause or wrinkle their brow is a place that needs rewriting.
• And . . . see #5.

5. Write twice, the second time after a proofreader pores over your work. I can’t emphasize this enough. Even if you’re a meticulous writer, you need a proofreader. We all do.

This is doubly important because you’re educators. Part of your job is to teach children English, so you’d better not have run-on sentences and misspelled words in your own writing.

Yes, everyone makes mistakes sometimes. (Chances are, this article has an error or two. I’ll be grateful when someone points them out.) But a pattern of poor grammar, spelling, or punctuation says one of two things: The writer is either ignorant or lazy. The writer either doesn’t know the correct way to write or doesn’t care.

Don’t ever think, “No one will notice.” Some of your parents are well educated. They will see the errors. I find this adage pretty insightful: “Good grammar is like personal hygiene. You can ignore it if you want, but don’t be surprised when people draw their conclusions.”

6. Write copy that points to Jesus. This is the most important point of all. You’re teaching at a Christian school, so your newsletter should convey that. Here are some ideas, and I’d invite you to share more in the comments section.

• Create a Christ-Light corner that refers to your Word of God lessons.
• Ask one of your teachers or pastors to give a brief introduction to Sunday’s lectionary readings.
• Share stories that demonstrate how the children are growing spiritually: “Your eighth graders wrote and delivered amazing devotions this semester. I think I see some future pastors and teachers. . . . Mrs. Smith tells us that when the first graders studied ‘The Good Samaritan’ last week, one of the kids said they could be a Good Samaritan by making sure no one’s playing alone at recess. Isn’t that awesome? Your kids are great kids, and God is strengthening their faith and love every day.”
• Share as much good news as you can: student awards and team victories, volunteers’ donations of time and energy, donors’ gifts, teachers’ professional growth and community awards, even alumni news if you’re ambitious. See this not as boasting, but as gratitude and encouragement: thanking God for his blessings and inspiring God’s people to continue using their gifts.
• Avoid sanctimony and awkwardness. You don’t have to say “God willing” for every planned event, or cover the newsletter with little crosses, or write things you wouldn’t say in normal conversation. People smell artificiality a mile away, and too many trite pieties become white noise—meaning little and eventually not even being heard. So keep your expressions of faith natural and meaningful.
• Admit mistakes, which is a mark of Christian maturity: “We apologize for scheduling the Science Fair right after Easter. We know some families had a hard time finishing up those projects. We’ll be smarter next year.”
• Share prayer requests: “The Taylors request your prayers for Missie, who’s back in the hospital again this week. Jesus, please be with Missie and her family!”

Conclusion: As your public face, your Lutheran school newsletter should showcase both your professionalism and your faith. So write well. Deliver carefully composed, faith-filled content. And deliver that content in professional packaging.

Laurie Gauger-Hested (DMLC ’87) is the MLC campus writer/editor. She’d like to thank three others for sharing their wisdom: MLC proofreader Heidi Schoof (DMLC ’86), MLC web content manager Leah Matzke, and Mount Olive-St. Paul MN worship coordinator Anna Biedenbender.