Benjamin Stratton
Education Chairman, 2021
Benjamin serves as the Education Chairman at Fount of Life Lutheran Church and oversees the Preschool Advisory Board. He accepted nomination to the position in 2020.
He loves serving God and the church and always looks for news ways to connect the community with the message of Jesus Christ.
Benjamin and his family moved to Colorado Springs in November 2019 following a four-year tour at Misawa Air Base, Japan. He has served as a public affairs photo and broadcast journalist in the U.S. Air Force for nearly 16 years and received his B.A. in Public Relations and Marketing from Ashford University in 2017.
He previously served as a Sunday school teacher and Outreach and Evangelism Chairman at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Spokane, Washington, 2012-2015. He also volunteered as lay leader at Grace Lutheran Church in Minot, North Dakota, 2008-2011.
He married his wife, Andrea, in 2012, and together they have two children, Elias (6) and Amelia (3).
karna Prime
Board Member, 2018
Karna serves as an advisory board member for Shining Stars Preschool.
She has lived in the Colorado Springs area the majority of her life beginning with Fount of Life’s sister church, Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church located west of Interstate 25. At Salem, she was confirmed, married, and baptized her daughter, Lilly, and son, Corbin. She joined Fount of Life in 2012.
Karna earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs in 2007 and completed her Master of Arts degree in Educational, Curriculum and Instruction in 2009. Since then, she’s been a teacher with Colorado Springs School District 11 for 12 years and has taught kindergarten through second grade.
She enjoys bringing her education experience and insight to the Shining Stars Preschool Advisory Board.
Gna Kersten
Board Member, 2022
Gna serves as an advisory board member for Shining Stars Preschool.
She has lived in Colorado Springs since 2019 and moved here with her husband, Daniel, who is a U.S. Army dentist. They were married in the Bahamas in 2006, where Gna grew up. Together, they have three children: Axel, Caroline, and Ella.
Gna earned her bachelor’s degree in public accounting from the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota.
She currently home-schools her children and says she’s “the mom of everyone else’s kids”. She leads their home-school “wild and free” nature group’s nature walks for area home-school families.
Miranda Ullstrom
Board Member, 2022
Miranda serves as an advisory board member for Shining Stars Preschool.
She grew up in Wisconsin and went to all Lutheran schools including college at Martin Luther College. Miranda graduated with an early childhood education degree and received a call to work in Kansas. She served as a preschool teacher and the assistant director for a year and a half. Then she became the director. In Kansas, Miranda met her husband, Holden, and they moved to Colorado in 2021.
Miranda and Holdgen got married on top of a mountain and then became members at Fount of Life Lutheran Church. Holden was baptized and became a member shortly after. Currently, she teaches first grade on Fort Carson at Weikel Elementary School. This is her second year at Fort Carson and she loves working with military children.