Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Getting to Know NCSA Ambassador Kevin Wingard

Getting to Know NCSA Ambassador Kevin Wingard

July 16, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Since NPSA's inception back in 2016, we've been tasked with telling some incredible stories. Behind those stories, of course, are incredible people, and that's what has made this mission a thorough joy. You meet students and educators who reinforce your very purpose, and that's invigorating. As a writer, it's motivating. And as a writer, you really can't ask for anything more...Read More

Paraprofessional Shines in Advocating for Students, is Named Arc Educator of the Year

Paraprofessional Shines in Advocating for Students, is Named Arc Educator of the Year

June 27, 2024
By Kelli Mayhew, GIPS Communications Coordinator Student success, in every aspect, is a top priority for Tracy Claassen. As a paraprofessional skills trainer in Grand Island Public Schools’ Project SEARCH program, Claassen works with students to further develop life and job skills. No matter how small the accomplishment or growth, Claassen celebrates students. Project SEARCH is a one-year school-...Read More

Let the Good News Roll! Celebrating eight years of storytelling with NPSA

Let the Good News Roll! Celebrating eight years of storytelling with NPSA

June 5, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren He’s principal at Adams Central Junior/Senior High now, but back in the fall of 2016, Scott Harrington was teaching government to upperclassmen at Norris. Each year, he’d take his students over to the Capitol for an up-close look at the Unicameral. On my second day at NCSA, executive director Dr. Mike Dulaney spoke to Harrington’s class there on legislation, lobbying, and the...Read More

The Peer Paras of The Panhandle: Seniors are heart and soul of Scottsbluff's groundbreaking special education program

The Peer Paras of The Panhandle: Seniors are heart and soul of Scottsbluff's groundbreaking special education program

May 15, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Part One: Setting the Stage Their days in high school dwindling, five Scottsbluff seniors took a break from the often-hectic hustle and bustle of mid-May and picked a seat around a table in a quiet corner conference room. It was early in the morning on a sunny Tuesday in The Panhandle, and their spirited demeanor matched the glow coming through the tall windows around them. In a...Read More

Putting the Future Forward: York Middle School students explore opportunities, connect with community at annual career fair

Putting the Future Forward: York Middle School students explore opportunities, connect with community at annual career fair

May 9, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Momentum isn’t an issue at York Middle School, where students sprint rather than crawl through the finish line and into the balmy bliss of a well-earned summer break. The school opened its doors for the annual YMS Career Fair last Friday afternoon, bringing in more than 30 presenters from local businesses and a variety of industries. The fair came on the heels of the school’s...Read More

Southern Public Schools and the Electric School Bus: Wymore district rolls out its newest ride

Southern Public Schools and the Electric School Bus: Wymore district rolls out its newest ride

April 22, 2024
By Tyler Dahlgren Gavin Nielson is an instrumental music teacher at Southern Public Schools, where retired Wymore Police chief Tony Shepardson works as a custodian. This is where their work intersects, on the north side of the high school where one of just a handful of electric school buses in Nebraska sits, getting its charge hours before its afternoon route. Ask either of them five years ago,...Read More

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

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