James and Megan (Pergande) Dills met during their freshmen year at Milwaukee Lutheran in World History class. Now they are a young family serving the Milwaukee community through teaching and law enforcement.
Megan started teaching K5 in 2017 at Northwest Lutheran. She especially loves teaching the “littles” to see the lightbulbs go off in their heads. Sometimes people underestimate their young minds. Being able to teach them new things is a valuable experience for her.
James started his career in law enforcement in 2018 and is currently at the east side department. At first he believed he wanted to follow his parents career path - his mother is an accountant and his father owns his own business - until he started math in high school and realized it wasn’t for him. Law enforcement was a second option in his mind, and he is glad he chose this path. He enjoys how every call provides a different opportunity to help people.
Both Megan and James attended Lutheran schools for their entire education. Megan went to Northwest Lutheran, then MLHS, then got her degree in Early Childhood with a minor in Urban Education at Concordia University-Wisconsin (CUW). James went to Christ Memorial, then MLHS, then Concordia Chicago before graduating with his degree in Justice and Public Policy at CUW.
They utilize their faith in different ways for their careers. Megan is blessed to be surrounded by people of faith in her field. She uses that community to fill her spiritual cup so she can pour back into the lives of her students. James finds his faith puts him on an island in his career, not being able to witness directly to many people, but it still plays a major role in his duties. It comes out in how he speaks with people on a call, showing respect for them and not abusing his position. He uses his actions to show Jesus’ love to those he meets while on duty.
James finds the small wins in his career the most rewarding. Visiting kids in elementary schools, he talks to them about his job, or just plays basketball with them. He also helps the elderly community by teaching them how to avoid online scams and give them information to navigate new technology. It’s been more challenging in the last 18 months to find those victories, especially when working in a north shore mobile field force going to where protests and potential riots happened last sumer. But he finds strength in a group of Christian friends who are also on the force, reminding him to keep God at the center of it all.
James and Megan started dating at the end of their high school senior year before they graduated in 2013. They married in May 2017, and welcomed their son Micah in August 2018. They are also looking forward to adding another family member in December.
They are thankful for the role Milwaukee Lutheran played in their lives, not only by meeting each other, but by forming lifelong friendships and having role model teachers. Many people were examples of service to them, showing that it’s not always the big things that have the most impact, but the daily little things you do to show someone you care.
James and Megan also recently took control of their student loan debt through the David Ramsey program and became debt free in under 3 years. Their main reasons to accomplish this goal were to raise their son without the burden of debt, save for and enjoy their future together, and to be able to give back to their community. They have helped the MLHS student council with fundraising giftcards, and provided a movie night for a class as well.
Megan and James are open to current students and alumni talking with them about their careers. If you want to know more about getting into law enforcement or teaching, looking for help in that field, or with debt reduction, they would love to talk.
megandills101@gmail.com | dillsjames101@gmail.com
