FBLA Attends SLC

Success starts here! – has been the theme for Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) this year. The Fairbury chapter has been working on state projects, competitive events, and chapter activities throughout the year. The State Leadership Conference (SLC) is the culminating event to highlight that work. The SLC was held in Kearney on April 11-13. It was great to get back to an in-person conference since the last two years were canceled or virtual due to COVID-19.

Nineteen Fairbury FBLA members attended the conference along with chapter advisor Tammi Mans and sponsor Ryan Garver. The members competed in 21 different tests and attended seminars throughout the conference. The conference started off with keynote speaker, Brooks Harper. He is considered the premier college and career readiness and soft skills speaker in America! He provided the keynote address and seminar sessions for students and advisors to help them discover, develop, market and sell their talents, skills and abilities.

After taking tests and completing presentations on Monday afternoon and night and all day on Tuesday, it is always exciting to attend the Awards of Excellence session on Wednesday to see what awards and honorable mentions our members have earned. Earning awards this year were our American Enterprise project team of Hannah Robertson, Alissa York, and Zane Grizzle-5th place, Grizzle-5th place in Job Interview, Jami Mans-6th place in Electronic Career Portfolio project and Ethan Smith-Public Service Announcement-Honorable Mention.  Our chapter also received the 7-up award for chapter membership and 3rd place for our Trick-or-Treat for the March of Dimes project and donation.

Congratulations to all award winners and to the rest of the chapter members attending the conference for trying your best. 

by Trenton Ruhnke

Original Article

Journalism members walked away from State Journalism with placements ranging from fifth all the way to second.

Four students, Ericka Kroeker ‘22, Jackson Martin ‘23, Trenton Ruhnke ‘23, and Eliza Kroeker ‘24, qualified for state, but only the Kroekers and Ruhnke attended alongside their adviser Jed Martin. While at State Journalism on April 25, Ericka Kroeker placed fifth in Newspaper Column Writing and second in Yearbook Theme Copy Writing.   Ruhnke placed third in Newspaper Layout and Eliza Kroeker placed fourth in Newspaper News Writing.

The Fairbury FFA celebrated with an end of the year banquet.  Mr. Dux and the current officer team made it a special evening. Congratulations to the 2022-2023 Officer team! President-Trayce Blas, Vice President-Lexi Mau, Secretary-Emily Huss, Treasurer-Malayne DeBoer, Reporter-Brendon Runge, Sentinel-Connor Gerths, Parliamentarian-Ava Kroll

Students of the Month are listed below and included on the Jeff List.

The FFA students created a mini petting zoo at the Early Childhood Preschool Learning Center teaching them about animals.

Congratulations to Sean Molloy, Fairbury Jr. Sr. High School Principal,  for receiving the Region I “Outstanding New Principal of the Year” Award!  The staff, administration and community are very proud of your accomplishments.  Sean has been a fantastic leader for us from the first day he’s been in our district. I remember in his interview,  just really listening to his ideas and thoughts and thinking, “This would be great, if we can get him!”

We hired Mr. Molloy to be our Jefferson Intermediate Principal three years ago, and he did a marvelous job of making connections and getting everyone to feel listened to and valued as a person and a member of the team. His focus on students and their academic progress has been fantastic.  I’d like to share some comments from the staff about Sean and how this year has gone (thank you Andrea for collecting these):

• “Mr. Molloy believes that relationships are the center of a successful school. However, he doesn’t just say that as a catchphrase; he has created it!   
• “Anytime a new principal comes into a school, there is a transition period. Sean’s ability to handle this transition and demonstrate true leadership was immediately apparent. After taking the position, he sought out members of all staff to seek input and gain knowledge about Fairbury High School while thoughtfully making tough decisions on how to best serve our students. His priority was and is clear. He values people. He values the students who we try to reach. He values the teachers who try to reach them. He values the parents who want the best for their children. He values a community that knows the difficulty and the challenges providing a good education presents. Again, he values people. I’d wager that winning this award will make Sean uncomfortable. For me, that says a great deal about Sean and his priorities. He values people.”
• “Mr. Molloy has not only continued to have strong relationships with the 7th and 8th graders that he worked with prior to coming to the Jr-Sr High School, but has established many meaningful connections with the
  students he has not worked with previously. The students appreciate
  his sincerity, kindness, but also his firm hand when handling discipline
  problems. Even the students that he has had to discipline have commented
  to me how much positive he is doing for our school.”
• “His positive attitude and his caring personality have helped countless students feel welcomed at school. He is always checking in with teachers about how their days are going and if they need anything for the day. This honor is well deserved.”
• “Mr. Molloy has a unique ability to build meaningful relationships with
  both students and staff. Mr. Molloy takes the extra time to come and visit
  with us to see how things are going. He also will check in with you through a text or a call if he knows something is going on in your personal life. I will
  never forget when I had a family emergency and I was out of the
  country. He reached out to me to see if there was anything I needed. This
  was one of my first experiences with him and it has stuck with me ever since.”
• “Some would say that Sean Molloy saved a sinking ship. I don’t even know if that is mechanically possible in the middle of the ocean, but in the midst of many drowning teachers, he has thrown out a life-line. Not only has he lifted us up to set our feet back on steady ground, but he has brought in the sunshine. While sometimes it is still hard to catch our breath, the leader of our school is aware and willing to help.”

It has been an honor to work alongside him and to watch him grow as a leader. While our philosophies are so similar, I am smart enough to know that I don’t need to get in his way. He makes my job as superintendent easy. I can’t think of a more deserving person to receive the Region 1 New Principal of the Year Award, than Mr. Sean Molloy!

7th graders were graphing inequalities and offering classmates feedback during Into Math using the Station Rotation Model.

Congratulations to the following FBLA members who have been elected to serve as the 2022-23 FBLA Officer team:

American Enterprise, Committee Chair – Cassidy Sipek

Fundraising, Committee Chair – Regan Kapke

March of Dimes, Committee Chair – Karelin Deras