Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Nebraska Public School Advantage News

A Blanket Statement: On MLK Day, Crete Elementary goes all in on service

A Blanket Statement: On MLK Day, Crete Elementary goes all in on service

March 27, 2018
By Tyler Dahlgren Grinning from ear to ear, they march down the hallway on a beeline to the gymnasium, freshly-tied blankets in tow. Preschoolers, kindergartners, first and second graders, short in stature, but towering in pride. The tie-blankets, well over a hundred of them, form a mountain on the gym floor before they’re loaded onto a bus and shipped to Crete Middle School, whose gymnasium is...Read More

A Timeless Bond in Battle Creek: Students, residents form friendships during visits to care center

A Timeless Bond in Battle Creek: Students, residents form friendships during visits to care center

March 19, 2018
By Tyler Dahlgren It didn’t feel anything like spring in Battle Creek this morning, as temperatures stuck to the wrong side of 40 and a soft rain fell from the dark gray sky. Saturday morning, this town of 1,200 people will hold its annual Easter Egg Hunt. Every kid in Battle Creek under the age of eight will soon be in an excited frenzy, searching frantically for candy-stuffed, brightly-colored...Read More

Choosing a Path: Familiarized with their fields, ESU 2's P2T students prep for the future

Choosing a Path: Familiarized with their fields, ESU 2's P2T students prep for the future

March 15, 2018
By Tyler Dahlgren He’s two months from graduation. Two months from summertime salvation. Five months from college and all of the independence that comes with it. So forgive West Point High School senior Hayden Schuetze for not sidestepping the “Senioritis” question. “Definitely,” said Schuetze. “We’re definitely dealing with senioritis a little bit.” Yes, “Senioritis” is real. Very real. Anybody...Read More

Classrooms of Tomorrow: Grand Island's three Schools for Rigor first of their kind in Nebraska

Classrooms of Tomorrow: Grand Island's three Schools for Rigor first of their kind in Nebraska

February 14, 2018
By Tyler Dahlgren The foresight Liz Boyle uses when talking about her 21st Century Literacy class is an intriguing, albeit unfamiliar, element of a conversation I’ve shared with teachers over the last year and a half. Nebraska’s public schools, as I’ve learned, don’t generally back away from shouldering high self-expectations. The state is the land of educational innovation. It’s part of what has...Read More

Road to Recovery: After tornado tears through Bayard, student CERT team helps clear a path to relief

Road to Recovery: After tornado tears through Bayard, student CERT team helps clear a path to relief

January 24, 2018
By Tyler Dahlgren The Storm First, there was chaos. On the night of June 12th, a tornado tore through the Western Nebraska town of Bayard, uprooting trees and ripping roofs right off of buildings. The storm sent the small town’s citizens scattering for cover. It destroyed family homes and took out power lines. It was a nightmare, leaving behind disarray, debris and damage. First, there was chaos...Read More

Headlights on Highway 1: Conestoga's "Breakfast Club" is changing school cuture

Headlights on Highway 1: Conestoga's "Breakfast Club" is changing school cuture

January 11, 2018
By Tyler Dahlgren It’s still dark outside when the headlights start to appear on Highway 1’s horizons, approaching Conestoga High School from both the west and the east. Tuesday’s forecast calls for an unusually pleasant 55 degrees, another reprieve from a recent string of brutally frigid weather, but that doesn’t matter much at 6:30 in the morning. It’s cold-you can see the breath of students in...Read More

The Christmas Store: Students discover the reason for the season

The Christmas Store: Students discover the reason for the season

December 22, 2017
By Tyler Dahlgren Gordon Elementary students walk into their school’s gymnasium, which for a couple December days has been transformed into a holiday-themed winter wonderland called the Christmas Store. It’s amazing how their eyes light up, said principal Casey Slama, then dart from table to table in instant pursuit of the perfect Christmas gift. There’s “Oohs!” and “Aahs!”, a rush of collective...Read More

The Breakfast Club: Lincoln Elementary staff strives to "make kids smile, every day"

The Breakfast Club: Lincoln Elementary staff strives to "make kids smile, every day"

December 19, 2017
By Tyler Dahlgren Every student at Lincoln Elementary in Hastings deserves high expectations, and the school’s staff is passionately adamant about providing them. No matter the odds. Principal Cara Kimball and her pack of tight-knit teachers don’t pay any attention to those anyways. With a staggering 93 percent of their student body below the poverty rate, Lincoln’s staff can’t afford to. “We are...Read More

The Winston Way: Fremont therapy dog "makes everybody happy"

The Winston Way: Fremont therapy dog "makes everybody happy"

December 12, 2017
By Tyler Dahlgren Almost every morning, Winston trots into his workplace on all fours and becomes overwhelmed with excitement, announcing his presence to his friends at Fremont Middle School with an echoing howl. Anne Echtinaw wishes her four-year-old golden doodle wouldn’t make such a noisy entrance, but the morning ritual isn’t entirely Winston’s fault. You see, Winston is a popular pup. Very,...Read More

Retracing Our Steps: Fall Semester 2017

Retracing Our Steps: Fall Semester 2017

December 4, 2017
By Tyler Dahlgren Blink your eyes once and you’re staring directly at the Holiday break. It certainly never seemed that way as a student, but for a guy that darts around the state from district to district telling your stories of public school success, August, September, October and November passed by in one crazy and fun blur. We’re not quite done with 2017 yet, with a handful of visits and...Read More

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