Kohls named new DCE Professor and Internship Coordinator

Traci Kohls has accepted the call by Concordia’s Board of Regents to serve as the new Internship Site Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Education/DCE.

“We are thrilled that Traci Kohls has accepted the call to serve as our Director of DCE Internships and as a DCE faculty member,” said Brian Friedrich, president of Concordia University. “Prof. Kohls brings tremendous expertise and more than twenty years of experience as a director of Christian education to Concordia. Perhaps her most significant gift is her faith and the passionate and faithful way she lives it out in service to her Savior and to all those she is called to serve.”

Kohls received her Director of Christian Education certification from Concordia University, St. Paul, in 1997 and went on to earn her Master’s in Education in Family Education from the University of Minnesota. Since then, she has taught as an adjunct for Concordia St. Paul and Concordia University, Portland. Kohls has a full heart for mission work. She is presently serving as Director of Missional Life at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Waconia, Minnesota. She has also served three congregations in Minnesota during her time as a DCE and one year as a voluntary missionary in Caracas, Venezuela.

As the DCE assistant professor, Kohls will be teaching Christian Educational Leadership and other education classes associated with the program. In addition to being a CEL/DCE faculty member, Traci will also be serving as the Intern Site Coordinator for the DCE Program and will have the responsibility of placing the next group of interns.

“This year we have 18 interns serving their year-long internships in 13 states (Alaska, Maryland, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio and Illinois) and Canada,” said Mark Blanke, professor of education and director of the DCE program. “We have a strong academic component within our program, and the internship combines theory and practice with many ‘teachable moments’ in the parish. Traci will be a wonderful addition to our team.”

Kohls hopes to conclude her ministry in Waconia over the next two months and join the Concordia community in late October.