Meet your neighbor Stephanie Mencel of Fandon.
The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Christy Kienast-The Quill
Meet your neighbor Stephanie Mencel of Fandon.
Stephanie is the music teacher at the La Harpe Elementary School.
She was born and raised in Colchester and graduated from Colchester High School in 1990 and from Western Illinois University in 1997 with her BA in Music Education. She is currently working on her Masters of Music Education at WIU during the summer months.
She is married to Matt Mencel, who grew up in Marengo. Stephanie and Matt met in the music department at WIU and he works at Western as a computer technician.
They have two children; Rachel age 16 and William age 11.
Stephanie is the daughter of Larry and Catherine Louderman of Colchester. Larry works for Methode in Carthage in the sound lab and Catherine works as a receptionist at Dr. Spolar's dentist office in Macomb.
She has two sisters, Lorie and Stacie. Older sister Lorie Calbaugh lives in Chattanooga, TN with her husband and step-son.
Stephanie's twin sister, Stacie lives in Colchester. She is married to Ryan Hunt and they have two boys. (You may have seen Stacie around and thought it was Stephanie!!)
Stephanie says music is a big part of her life. She spends a lot of time outside school participating in musical activities. She is the music chairperson at the Argyle Baptist Church in Colchester. Stephanie, her husband, parents, sister and daughter participate on the Praise and Worship Team. She says, "It's fun to be involved in the music ministry with her friends and family."
Stephanie, her husband and sister, Stacie sing together in a group called, "Harmony." They sing a lot of southern gospel tunes as well as new arrangements of familiar hymns and praise and worship songs.
They perform at area churches and small town festivals. Their goal is to share the love of Jesus Christ through message and song. (You may have heard them at the La Harpe Summerfest.)
She feels privileged to work as a music teacher in the La Harpe School District and appreciates the great amount of support from the administration, staff and community for the music program at La Harpe. She loves her job and her students.
She says, "I look forward to coming to work every day and plan on having a great school year!"