Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Nebraska Public School Advantage News

By Tyler Dahlgren The sun was sinking fast below the rolling hills west of a six-and-a half mile stretch of gravel road linking Logan View Public Schools to the village of Uehling. Runners navigated the dips, dives and steady inclines of County Road D, some travelling in packs and some keeping their own pace. Somewhere in the middle of the herd, there I was, trying my best to put one foot in...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren Want to get the creative juices of a class full of eighth-graders flowing? “Draw Mrs. Garrick with a beard!” That should just about do the trick. Emily Garrick’s second year of teaching art at Adams Middle School in North Platte is under way, and her five-minute “Daily Draws” to kick-start each class period (draw a loaf of bread at a disco was another hit) aren’t the only...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren Poke your head inside Jaclyn Nielsen’s eighth-grade language arts classroom, and survey what you see. There’s students lounging comfortably on bean bags and wobble chairs, actively engaging in curriculum discussion. Some attentively follow along while lightly bouncing up and down on a yoga ball. Others surround a neighboring stand-up desk and listen to Ms. Nielsen, who never...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren Investing in the Youth A handful of years ago, Custer Economic Development Corporation’s leadership team recognized a critical need to take a hard look at the county’s workforce. The group brainstormed ways to ensure a steady, reliable influx of workers into a county that produces 46 million bushels of corn annually, the most in Nebraska, and, in 2013, was home to 12 new...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren The year's first bell is about to ring, but who says summer needs to come to an end? Sure, August’s heat will soon give way to crisp fall days and, eventually, cold winter whiteouts. It sounds unlikely, but Julie Everett’s incoming class of Meadowlark Elementary fifth-graders might soon confuse Kearney, Nebraska for Oahu. Under bamboo shingles, hiding amongst a handful of...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren I stumbled upon this blog Click Here! while doing some intense Monday morning perusing of the interwebs, and it had me thinking back to some of the classrooms I sat in growing up. The science room with Styrofoam planets dangling from the ceiling, periodic table placemats and graduated cylinders (I had to Google to confirm what those things were called, science was never my thing...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren Several times throughout the school year, the Eastern Midlands Conference holds executive council meetings, drawing superintendents and principals from the eight member districts. When the council gathered early this spring, in the wake of the tragic Parkland, Florida school shooting, one thing was weighing heavily and collectively on their minds. “We felt like the need to build...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren Twelve years ago, South Sioux City received the Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant, vaulting the safety of students and staff to the front of the district’s list of priorities. In Rebecca Eckhardt’s 17 years with the district, which serves a community of about 13,000 nestled against the banks of the Missouri River in Northeast Nebraska, she has seen a steady commitment to...Read More
By Tyler Dahlgren The spring semester ends, usually, on days like today. When students spill out of their schools for the last time, they’re splashed with sun and they trot across green grass into three months of swimming, baseball games, fireworks and freedom. Let’s not kid ourselves, good vibes flow more freely when it’s 80 degrees and there isn’t a gray cloud in sight. It’s easier to be...Read More
By TYLER DAHLGREN The desks were arranged in a rectangle, lining the walls of a Plattsmouth High School classroom that would soon be filled with discussion and collaboration, the makings of an emerging alliance between a school and its community. Student representatives of Plattsmouth’s Wall to Wall Career Academy held a prominent spot at the meeting. As Advisory Council Leaders (ACL), their...Read More

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