Category: Jr. Sr. High School

Brynn Novotny 9 May 2019 – Link to original article on the FHS X-Ray

The annual Spring Concert included performances from the various instrumental and vocal groups of FHS in the Burkley Fine Arts Center on Tuesday, May 7.

The Spring Concert took time to recognize and honor the seniors partaking in their last performance before graduation. Contrary to previous years, the music department also said farewell to its band director. Maureen Halama, known by many for several years as Ms. Beck, will be departing from Fairbury next school year after taking a position in her hometown of Wilber.

“Knowing this was my last concert in Fairbury was very bittersweet,” Mrs. Halama said. “I have enjoyed so many things about being the band director at FHS. I have been richly blessed with the opportunity to teach great kids in a super district with wonderful colleagues and supporters. I have loved every minute of my time here and am so sad to leave but excited for a new adventure at Wilber-Clatonia Public Schools.”

Also affected were band students of all classes. Mrs. Halama’s action in the community and her personality are two aspects of the director that many individuals appreciate.

“I really enjoyed performing with [Mrs. Halama] and I’m really gonna miss her,” Makenzie Mills ’23 said. “It was really hard not to cry knowing that she’s leaving us. We tried our very best to make sure her last concert went well.”

Also saying farewell to FHS were the various seniors involved in music. Many have contributed their talents since first starting in sixth grade or junior high. This commitment made it difficult for directors and underclassmen to part with them.

“Each year gets harder to see great seniors graduate, but this year was especially difficult because they were my first group of sixth grade band students,” Mrs. Halama said. “They’ve all done great things to build up the band program and I’m so proud of all of them! They will be greatly missed by me and the rest of the band.”

Mrs. Halama oversaw the Ukulele Club, junior high and high school bands and jazz band performances. Other acts included junior high choirs, Crimson Elite, and the high school choir. Certain pieces have been in the works since before the District Music Contest back in April and have had extra time to perfect.

“We have been preparing by singing through all our pieces and going back to parts where we need to work on,” High School Choir Member Brittyn Wentz ’21 said. “I think it went very well. My favorite part of the night was being able to sing with all the seniors in their last concert one last time.”

Vocal Director Joseph Fitzgerald oversaw the various choirs. For each group, he selected one “Most Improved” member and one “Most Outstanding” member from each grade. Wentz received the latter for the sophomore class.

“It felt great!” Wentz said. “I was honestly not expecting it at all so it was a bit of a surprise to me.”

The Spring Concert was the last of its kind for the 2018-19 school year. The high school band and choir will each be performing pieces at the graduation on Sunday, May 12.

Español 2 Plans, Prepares and Celebrates This Latin American Celebration

Last week, señora Johnson’s Spanish 2, period 6 students celebrated a traditional Quinceañera. A Quinceañera is a celebration of a young woman’s 15 birthday. This fiesta is believed to have come from Aztec and Hispanic traditions and is celebrated in Mexico, Central and South American countries.  The students studied and researched information about the fiesta traditions and then planned the celebration. Our quinceañera (the young lady celebrating her 15th birthday) was Taryn Arnold. Taryn is the student closest in age to 15 so she agreed to be the honored guest. The students share the following information about the planning of the Quinceañera and our celebration.

La Música y Baile (The Music and Dance)

For the Quinceñera we choreographed and taught the Surprise Court Dance which is one of the tres bailes (three dances) that take place at a Quinceñera along with el vals (waltz) and Father-Daughter Dance. Traditionally, las chicas (girls) are called damas and los chichos (boys) chambelanes. We used traditional dance moves and music for both the Surprise and Father-Daughter Dance. Usually the Surprise Dance choreography takes up to tres meses (three months) to learn, however, we only had one week but we still managed to pull it off well. We also made a fiesta playlist using up-beat, modern Spanish music. The Surprise Dance was the main event of the Quinceñera y nos divertimos (we had fun)! -Erica, Ellie y Josi

La Comida (Food)

For the Quinceañera the food committee brought papas bravas, picadillo, arroz con leche (rice pudding), and el pastel (cake). We chose to bring papas bravas because it is normally an appetizer used at Quinceañeras. It is made with fried papas (potatoes) that are usually diced and fried in olive oil with some garlic cloves then topped with salsa brava. We made picadillo because its a traditional meal they have at Quinceañeras. It is also a meal that families have for dinner. Picadillo is made of ground beef with a variety of verduras (vegetables) including peppers, cebollas (onions), olives, and raisins. We also made arroz con leche as a second desert for the Quinceañera. Arroz con leche is made up of white rice (arroz), condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cinnamon. This dish can be made for all kinds of different events that is why we decided to make this as a second desert for the Quinceñera. We decided to make a two tier cake because Mexican customs dictate that the cake should be colorful and large with multiple tiers. We decorated the cake with blue frosting to create a wave effect for our “Under the Sea” theme. For bebidas (drinks) we brought Sparkling grape juice to represent el champán (champagne) used for giving toasts. We also bought la limonada (lemonade) because typically there are fruity drinks brought to a Quinceañera for younger attendees. -Taryn, Mikwena, Taylor, and Brittyn

Las tradiciones (Traditions)

Some of the traditions we demonstrated was la coronacion or the crowing of la quinceanera which represents that she is always a princess in God’s eyes. The gifting of the la ultima muñeca or the last doll which represents the changing of priorities from a child to a young women. The changing of los zapatos or the shoes is a tradition when la Quinceañera changes from flats into heels to represent her transitioning into a woman. The giving of la joyería or jewelry in which the aretes or earrings symbolize that God is always listening and the anillio or ring represents all the passages of life she will go through. Over our project we learned a lot about how much the Quinceñera means to the young women and her family. It takes many different people make a Quinceñera happen. The tradiciones (traditions) committee planned the events above throughout the Quinceñera. – Dalton, Carson, and Hailie.    

Las decoraciones y invitados (Decorations and invited guests)

For La Quinceñera we decided to use los colores royal blue and gold, we used royal blue because it is a traditional color and we used gold to accent it. We decided on the theme “Under the Sea” because it allowed us to have fun making our own decoraciones (decorations).

We set up a row of table which were decorated with gold tablecloths and flores azules (blue flowers). For la quinceañera we specialized her chair with blue streamers and balloons. For our centerpieces we created miniature aquariums out of mason jars; which included blue gravel and multicolored decorative plants. On la mesa de comida (food table), we used the same tablecloths, however instead of the blue carnations, we incorporated sunflowers and white fox tails. We chose to use the tradicional (traditional) manner of inviting los invitados (the invited guests) to la Quinceñera with hand delivered invitations. We chose to do las invitaciones  (invitations) in the shape of a seashell and the colors royal azul (blue), amarillo (yellow), and blanco (white) to match the theme of “Under the Sea”. ~Lauren P, Lindsey K, Briaunna K, Marissa R, Rileagh M

by Josephine Blatny Original Article FHS X-Ray

On Thursday, May 2, FFA hosted a petting zoo for the community in the Orscheln’s parking lot. The purpose of the zoo was to help educate younger children about agriculture and how to be safe around a farm. Lambs, goats, ducks, chickens, a calf, a rabbit, and a mini donkey were all contributed by FHS students. Kaylee Sipek ’19 was on the committee for the petting zoo.

“The kids and families enjoyed it because we ran out of food, meaning we had a better turn out than last year,” Sipek ’19 said. “I hope it continues to grow in the future because it’s a really good opportunity for the littles.”

Sipek ’19 also mentioned that her favorite part of the night was when Harlie Blas ’21 accidentally let go of a chicken and everyone started chasing it. Brooklen Bear ’21 also helped out with the petting zoo. Bear ’21 said her favorite part of the night was showing off her own calf.

“I feel like other people had a good time and they enjoyed seeing different animals which they might not always see,” Bear ’21 said. “We hope that the kids enjoy seeing the animals, and that they’ll want to get involved in FFA.”

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Three Fairbury FBLA members advance to national competition following the 2019 FBLA Nebraska State Leadership Conference held April 4-6 in Omaha. The annual conference provided competitive events, leadership training, networking, and fun for FBLA members across the state. Nine members of Fairbury FBLA joined other Nebraska members and advisers to compete and celebrate another successful year in FBLA.

Throughout the leadership event, members participated in competitive events, motivational seminars, and the election of the new State Officer Team. Honorable Mention awards were announced at the second general session, recognizing those who placed in the top 4% of each event. The Awards Program held on Saturday morning announced the top eight winners in each event and revealed who would represent Nebraska FBLA at the National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas, this summer.

Seniors Isaac Robertson, Joy Ondrak, and Mikasa Lierman qualified for the State Leadership Conference in the area of Sports and Entertainment Management after demonstrating their knowledge on a team test. At the State Leadership Conference, these three individuals presented to a group of judges, earning third place overall and advancing to National Competition in June.

Senior Mikasa Lierman also placed seventh in Journalism and Junior Jaelle Johnson earned Honorable mention out of 280 students. Other students earning honorable mention included Sophomore Brylee Yantz in Introduction to Business, Sophomore Josh Robertson in Introduction to Financial Math, Senior Jayson Klaumann in Organizational Leadership, and Junior Jillian Caroon in Insurance and Risk Management.

Fairbury chapter members attending were: Seniors: Devin Holliday, Jayson Klaumann, Mikasa Lierman, Joy Ondrak, Isaac Robertson; Juniors: Jaelle Johnson and Jillian Caroon; and Sophomores: Brylee Yantz, Josh Robertson. Adviser Gale Bly accompanied the Fairbury delegation.

by Kennedy DeBoer, Fairbury FFA Reporter

The 92nd Nebraska State FFA Convention was held April 3rd-5th in Lincoln, Nebraska. This year, the Fairbury FFA had 30 members attend the state convention. We had several members qualify for state CDEs and one student qualify for state LDE contests.

Michaela Buchli placed in the top 10 for her Senior Public Speech over Lab Produced Protein and received a silver medal.     

The Ag Sales team was made up of all sophomores including Devin Wanamaker, Dalton Petersen, John Kerwood, and Kennedy DeBoer. Devin Wanamaker earned a blue ribbon.

The next contest was Agriscience which is a freshman or first year contest. It was made up of Zach Furrow, Chase Dragoo, Brigham Sheetz, and Ashton Blobaum. None of them earned a ribbon, but it was a great learning experience.

The Agricultural Biotechnology team consisted of Sara Huss, Sarah Engleman, Jillian Caroon and Autumn Branson. Huss earned a blue while Engleman and Caroon both earned reds.  They placed 8th overall as a team.

The Agronomy team was made up of senior Autumn Branson, juniors Taylor Runge and Sara Huss, and sophomore Harlie Blas. Sara received a blue ribbon. Harlie received a red and Autumn received a white.

The Natural Resources team was made up of Michaela Buchli, Trevin Arnold, Delaney Miller and John Kerwood. Michaela earned a blue ribbon, Kerwood earned a blue and Arnold earned a white.

The Meats & Technology team was made up of Joe Melcher, Brooklen Bear, Brandon Hinrichs and Bret Cole. None earned any ribbons.

The Farm Management team consisted of Michaela Buchli, Jillian Caroon, Toriann Likens, and Kaylee Sipek.  Tori received a purple ribbon while Jillian and Michaela each received a blue ribbon. The Farm Management team placed 18th overall out of over 70 teams.   

The final contest was Nursery and Landscape. This team consisted of Jared Engleman, Riley Wood, Harlie Blas, and Christina Hickey. Engelman and Wood both earned red ribbons.  

Taylor Runge was the sole representative for Fairbury FFA in the State FFA Chorus.  

The Fairbury FFA Chapter was also represented by 10 FFA members who received their State FFA Degree.  The FFA State Degree is the highest degree the Nebraska FFA Association may bestow upon a member. FFA members must submit two years (24 months) of consecutive SAE record books, complete the FFA State Degree application and meet all minimum qualifications as well as earn a passing score of at least 70% on a State Degree assessment.  Students have to also meet the criteria for financial gain in three ways: productively invested at least $1,000 and must show SAE earnings of at least $3,000, productively invested at least $3,000 and must show SAE earnings of at least $1,000, or must have productively invested at least $1,200 and must show SAE earnings of at least $1,200.  The Fairbury FFA Members who received this award were Bryn Livingston, Michaela Buchli, Toriann Likens, Kaylee Sipek, Kane Hasselbring, Tommy Kroeker, Jared Engelman, Delaney Miller, Colton Starck, Trevin Arnold.

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