Meet Our New Team Members!
Each new season points to God’s glory, and as we start to see small glimpses of the coming fall with a few leaves already changing color here in Brown County, New Song is also ushering in a new season, bringing with it exciting additions and enhancements to the ministry!
Two new members have recently joined our teaching staff, and we are very excited to introduce you to them! Rachelle Alspaugh came to New Song from Texas and is our new lead classroom Teacher, and Julie Decker joined us as our new Student Life Assistant. Both Miss Rachelle and Miss Julie bring a tremendous amount of experience and creativity to our ministry, and we are very excited about all of the new classes and programs they are creating!
Q&A With Rachelle and Julie
Where are you from?
Rachelle: I am originally from Pennsylvania, then I lived in Indiana for about 10 years, then I lived in Texas for 19 years. I just moved back to Indiana a month ago.
Julie: I have lived in Columbus, Indiana my entire life.
What did you study/where did you go to College?
Rachelle: I studied Christian Ministries with a cross-cultural/educational focus at Grace College, and I studied Spanish as my minor.
Julie: I have an AAS in Agriculture from Ivy Tech and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Purdue Global University.
What are your favorite foods and restaurants?
Rachelle: Anything Mexican 
Julie: Beef and Potatoes
What do you enjoy doing?
Rachelle: Writing poems and bike riding
Julie: Hiking, drawing, and cooking
What are you passionate about?
Rachelle: I am passionate about educating children, Christian missions work, leading women’s Bible studies, mentoring other women to seek a deeper relationship with Christ
Julie: I am passionate about children’s ministry and discipling students so that their relationship with Christ grows.
Random interesting fact(s):
Rachelle: 1. I am bilingual. 2. I have authored two books about the highs and lows of the adoption experience. Unexpected Tears and Painful Waiting. I am currently working on a book about experiencing God by name.
Julie: 1. I have a small herd of Belted Galloway cattle. 2. I am a blacksmith.
What brought you to New Song?
Rachelle: God did. I didn’t want to leave Texas or my family, but when I heard about the opportunity to teach at New Song, the Lord completely changed my heart and drew me here. My husband’s entire family is here in Indiana, so my husband was very excited to move here and join his brother in business for Tipton Home Services here in Columbus. I love the idea of teaching in a Christian environment where I can share the love of Christ with kids.
Julie: I have always wanted to serve the Lord in my workplace but was not exactly sure where God was leading me. When I saw the opening here at New Song, I was so excited. Several years ago when I was in high school I took a trip to New Song when it was being built, and I helped out with some of the construction on one of the homes! Now I’m working here!
What are you looking forward to this year?
Rachelle: I am looking forward to growing together as a team and working toward the goal of rolling out New Song Leadership Academy to raise up godly leaders for the future. I am also looking forward to teaching our kids a bit of Spanish and getting them excited to learn about different countries and people.
Julie: I am so excited to be working with a team for the common goal of discipleship with children. I am looking forward to being graciously allowed to be involved in the lives of our students and staff.
Family (number of kids – number of siblings etc.)
Rachelle: I have been married to Michael Alspaugh for 23 years. I have two young adult sons, one adopted from Colombia and one biological. The biological child is the youngest but was my first child. The adopted son is my oldest but was my second child, as he was adopted much later in life. I also am a spiritual mom to his older brother, who now resides in Argentina.
Julie: I am the fourth of six children (five girls and one boy). I am an aunt to two nieces and two nephews.
How many years of teaching experience do you have or experience working with students/kids?
Rachelle: I taught ESL to all ages ranging from kindergarten through adults in Warsaw, Indiana for about 4 years through college until the birth of my first child. Then I moved to Texas two years later and taught bilingual education for 19 years. I also taught summer school at El Camino Academy in Bogotá, Colombia in the summer of 2012.
Julie: For the last five years I have been teaching students with disabilities. In South Sudan, I taught 3rd grade at Cush Christian School. I have also been a 4-H leader in Bartholomew County for the last 7 years. I have taught Sunday School, VBS, and many other things with my church as well.
What’s new at the New Song school this year?
We have created a name for the school component of our ministry! When we open for the second nine weeks of school, the students will be attending the New Song Leadership Academy! Along with the creation of this encouraging school name, we will strengthen our academic curriculum in several key ways, including:
- Godly leadership characteristics will be specifically taught in all of our school programs
- Spanish is being added to our curriculum
- Hands-on experiential learning activities will be a part of our educational program
- STEAM STATIONS are being incorporated into the classroom as daily brain breaks! (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)
- We are adding many more field trips to our school calendar to add to the experiential learning.
- We have a new theme for our classroom this year: “Leaders bring change. Be the change you want to see in the world!”
Though we still await God’s timing to bring us two wonderful houseparent couples to complete our team for the school year, we are using this time in some very productive ways to build on the strong foundation that has been laid at New Song. We are so thankful to the Lord that as we prepare for the future, Rachelle and Julie are also working with 3rd grader Jaylen, with online interactive classes! If you know of couples who love the Lord and love children who might be open to houseparenting at New Song, please let them know that there may be a very special opportunity for them in our ministry.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about our new teachers and all of the experience and expertise that they add to our ministry team! The next several weeks we will be resetting the ministry by enhancing our curriculum and developing new programs as we enter a new, beautiful season at New Song!