Michael Hammerle Spotlight

I recently visited the CLHS campus after working in Northern California for 10 months for a media intelligence company. The transformation is wonderful. It is exciting to see how the North Campus Expansion is helping the current students of CLHS.  

During my high school experience, my main athletic focus was Cross Country and Track with Coach Brink and Coach Cherry. Back then, workout times were difficult, since we were working out of little roll up sheds on the blacktop, rain or shine. Now, there is a huge space for intensive workouts and lots of students can participate at one time. In the new Strength and Conditioning Center you can immediately get right to your work out, which increases motivation.

The faculty and staff were all wonderful during my years at Crean Lutheran. I really enjoyed freshman English with Mrs. Johnston. She was the no-nonsense freshman teacher who set the expectations for success in high school. But she gave all the support that the students needed! I also loved Old Testament/New Testament Christian Doctrine class with Mr. Brink. It was so fun because he was also my cross country coach. I went on to be involved with NHS in my junior year, and was class president in my senior year.

After CLHS, I attended Concordia University Irvine and majored in Communications with a minor in Cultural Studies, graduating in May of 2018. A highlight of my college years was the Around the World Semester I took in 2016. We visited 10 countries in just over 5 months doing service projects and a full course load in each country. One of my favorite parts of this unique experience was working at the “mother homes” in Calcutta, India and having the ability to be in Calcutta when Mother Teresa was canonized. We also experienced life changing ministry in Greece, where we worked with refugees at a center where we primarily spent time talking and engaging with the people, and playing with the kids. In 2017, while still in college, I began serving CLHS as an alumni representative during the silent phase of the Press On Campaign, where I both volunteer and support the campaign. I continue to serve in this capacity now that the campaign has been publicly announced.

In the near future, it would be great to see a strong community of alumni that can grow together and share their positive experiences. It is exciting to see how the campus has grown, and continues to grow for the benefit of the students.

When asked why I volunteer and give to CLHS, the answer is simple...I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here and having a way to stay connected with Crean Lutheran is valuable to me.  Michael Hammerle, class of 2014