Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Starr Elementary selected as a Model School, leaders to present on school’s growth at national conference

Starr Elementary selected as a Model School, leaders to present on school’s growth at national conference

April 11, 2024
(News Release) Starr Elementary’s continuous story of growth in student achievement is earning them national recognition. In the 2021-2022, the Nebraska Department of Education classified Starr as a “needs support to improve” school. Despite a leadership transition, Starr staff and students continued to improve. The next year in 2022-2023, Starr was classified as a “good” school, moving one step...Read More

Taking in the 2024 Eclipse with Elm Creek Public School

Taking in the 2024 Eclipse with Elm Creek Public School

April 10, 2024
The kids traveled in packs, grade by grade, down Beercroft Street and through the Elm Creek City Park before landing on the football field. Some groups plopped down on the grass. Some ventured into the bleachers. All wore solar glasses, provided by the Elm Creek Public Library, and awaited the peak of 2024's total eclipse. For the older students, this was all old hat. They remembered the total...Read More

The Commissioner’s Homecoming: Logan View welcomes back Dr. Brian Maher, class of 1980, on teacher in-service day

The Commissioner’s Homecoming: Logan View welcomes back Dr. Brian Maher, class of 1980, on teacher in-service day

March 26, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Nebraska Commissioner of Education Dr. Brian Maher sat shotgun in a 15-passenger van that rolled north down Highway 77 on a Monday afternoon, past the tiny town of Winslow and the school on the hill with the famous domed gymnasium. By the time the van reached Uehling, some six-and-a-half miles north of Maher’s hometown of Hooper, its passengers were lost in stories from...Read More

The Tigers' Heartwarming Roar: Lexington holds special ceremony for National Distinguished Principal of the Year

The Tigers' Heartwarming Roar: Lexington holds special ceremony for National Distinguished Principal of the Year

March 22, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren There’s four elementary schools in Lexington, and, as superintendent, Dr. John Hakonson likes to make a habit of spending time in each building. Morton Elementary is the only one north of the train tracks that run along Highway 30, closest to the interstate. It’s a welcoming and inviting place full of energetic and happy kids, a stop that Hakonson enjoys every time. His visits...Read More

Building Bridges: Fort Calhoun Community Schools holds inaugural Community Mental Health and Safety Conference

Building Bridges: Fort Calhoun Community Schools holds inaugural Community Mental Health and Safety Conference

March 20, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Fort Calhoun Community Schools held the inaugural Community Mental Health and Safety Conference on March 4, opening its doors for an evening event that was four years in the making. The conference, which included a community agency fair and four rounds of breakout sessions guided by local experts in a variety of fields, was originally scheduled for March 16, 2020, also known as...Read More

Head First Into the Future: Educators, administrators dive into Artificial Intelligence at ESU 15 workshop

Head First Into the Future: Educators, administrators dive into Artificial Intelligence at ESU 15 workshop

March 6, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Artificial Intelligence is no longer on the way. It’s here, there, everywhere, and it’s ready to be explored. Dr. Lynne Herr has had this feeling before. It was near the turn of the century. Herr was relatively new to her school technology director position at School District 145 in Waverly when she attended a session at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where organizers were...Read More

Nebraska Education Commissioner Dr. Brian Maher Tours Hanny Arram Center for Success

Nebraska Education Commissioner Dr. Brian Maher Tours Hanny Arram Center for Success

March 4, 2024
Kearney, NE, February 29, 2024 –In a significant visit underscoring the importance of innovative education strategies in Nebraska, Dr. Brian Maher, the Nebraska Education Commissioner and former Kearney Public Schools Superintendent, toured the Hanny Arram Center for Success today. Accompanied by KPS junior Madalynn Hanna, Principal Jason Owens, and current Kearney Public Schools Superintendent...Read More

93 Counties and Beyond: Tyler Vanderheiden Memorial Run honors superintendent’s son, brings awareness to mental health

93 Counties and Beyond: Tyler Vanderheiden Memorial Run honors superintendent’s son, brings awareness to mental health

February 19, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren No matter where he went, Tyler Vanderheiden always came back with a story to tell. “You’ll never guess what happened!” For Tim and Shannon Vanderheiden’s son, every day was an adventure, and every adventure came with a story, all of which were told with a sparkle in his eyes and a contagious energy you might as well not even try to shake. His mom and dad loved those stories...Read More

To Tell You the Truth with Nebraska Educators: Auburn's Jerica German and Pawnee City's Hadley Sejkora and Aeden Gyhra

To Tell You the Truth with Nebraska Educators: Auburn's Jerica German and Pawnee City's Hadley Sejkora and Aeden Gyhra

February 13, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Introduction There are over 24,000 public school teachers in the state of Nebraska. They’re the gatekeepers. The curators of hopes and dreams. Together, they light the fire and keep it burning. And Judy Blume was right, their fingerprints never fade from the lives they touch. They’re teachers, and they’re as critical to the future of this state as anybody. We’re in the business...Read More

Wide Eyes, Goosebumps and Jaws on the Floor: "Simply captivating" Adams Central sixth-grader Ava Bonifas chases a dream

Wide Eyes, Goosebumps and Jaws on the Floor: "Simply captivating" Adams Central sixth-grader Ava Bonifas chases a dream

January 30, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Little Ava Bonifas came into the world carrying a tune. By the time she turned two, the eldest child of Michael and Kelly Bonifas was dancing and belting out America’s favorite Disney songs. By the time she turned five, Ava was playing Whitney Houston’s famous Super Bowl XXV performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” on loop, her young but mighty voice doing its best to match one...Read More

Pages