By Tyler Dahlgren The Mural The people of Bertrand, as they so often do, congregated at the cornerstone of their community on a Monday night in late September to honor a proud school’s past, admire the present, and celebrate its future. More than 150 people packed into the library to kick-off the special evening with the unveiling of “A History of Bertrand Community School,” a mural created by...Read More

By Tyler Dahlgren The shelf was sparsely stocked, at first. A couple Valentine Badger T-shirts, maybe a hoodie and a stocking cap here and there, but not much more than that. This was 2020, the dawn of the pandemic, and that bare shelf was the beginning of something special. The beginning of The Badger Den. Earlier that year, high school teachers Alana Cardinal and Jennie Manning (now the school’...Read More

By Tyler Dahlgren Staff members employed by South Sioux City Community Schools were welcomed back for the start of a new school year by an abundance of balloons falling from the auditorium rafters. The balloons floated gracefully. The nearly 600 employees–teachers, custodians, bus drivers, counselors, cooks and paras–waited for them to reach the ground. Not-so-gracefully. There was gold in them...Read More

By Tyler Dahlgren Campfire smoke hung in the humid air, wafting the nostalgic scent of s’mores across Camp Kitaki on Friday morning. Sounds of laughter, some faint and some more pronounced, could be heard in every direction. Bell Blood stood in the cheerful crosshairs, momentarily enjoying a patch of shade on a 95-degree day. For the Millard North Middle School eighth-grader, the scene felt...Read More