On Monday, March 25 the Fairbury JH Reading Classics team competed in the Jefferson County Reading Classics competition at the ‘47 gym. The competition consists of five rounds of ten questions each, with one of the questions being a current event. The four students can discuss that question and write an answer.
Fairbury won and traveled to the State Reading Classics competition the following Saturday, at Tri-County Schools. There were six teams at state and the competition was three rounds of ten questions. The top two teams made it to finals. Fairbury answered 20 of the 30 questions correct and was the top finisher going into finals. The final competition was Fairbury vs. Falls City and consisted of 15 questions. The students then stood on the stage and buzzed in (similar to quiz bowl) and gave the answer orally without consulting teammates. After fifteen questions, the score was tied 6-6 and five more questions were given to break the tie. Fairbury won 2-0.
Fairbury team members are 8th graders Cora Tatro, and Eli Livingston and 7th graders Toby Julin-McCleary, Schuylar Malone and Eliza Kroeker.
Please join us Tuesday, April 16 at 6pm at the Burkley Fine Arts Center in the Fairbury High School (1501 9th St) for Autism/Disability Resource Night. See the attached flyer for more information.
Join the celebration! National Library Week is April 7 – 13, 2019. This year’s theme, Libraries = Strong Communities, illustrates how today’s libraries are at the heart of our cities, towns and schools.Students at Central Elementary and Jefferson Intermediate enjoyed working together to learn, build, and create through a variety of makerspace activities. Students also voted for their favorite book in the Nebraska Golden Sower Program.
Central students enjoying makerspace activities during National Library Week.
If Small Towns Matter to you, nominate our school now! From March 1st until April 30th, News Channel Nebraska is inviting students, parents, teachers, and community members to nominate an elementary school to win a $5000 Grand Prize and bike helmets for EVERY student in the elementary school…just in time for summer! The winning school will be chosen at random on May 1st and contacted by phone. News Channel Nebraska and UnitedHealthcare will present the Grand Prize and bike helmets before the end of the school year. Submit your nomination below.
This first grade reading group recently read a series of stories about two sisters who were stranded on a deserted island and had to survive by eating fish, coconuts and bananas. In a parallel story they read a nonfiction passage about the layers of a coconut and where coconuts grow. To understand how hard it was for the characters to crack a coconut, these students got to experience it themselves. Using a hammer, each student took turns hitting a coconut until it was in pieces. They identified the different layers of the coconut and had the option to sample the coconut milk and coconut meat. It’s a good thing they weren’t depending on the coconut for survival because only one student liked the taste!
On Saturday, March 30th, Jefferson Intermediate Division One team traveled to Tri County to compete in the State Reading Classics Competition .In the first round Fairbury competed against 9 other nearby counties. After 30 questions, the top two teams were announced and Jefferson was one of the two!! The students were so excited to make it to the final round, also known as the buzzer round! In the Final competition, fifteen oral questions are asked. Jefferson students were amazing and surpassed Seward with a score of 8-4! Congratulations to some excellent readers and competitors! We had 75 books to read for this competition!
On March 25th the Division II team from Fairbury competed at the Jefferson County Reading Classics Competition. This competition was the culmination of six months of extensive reading of 74 books for the six sixth graders on the team. Heidi Ramos,Natalie Heidemann, Adeline Blatny, Addison Marschman, and Mailee Garner, put in a good effort outscoring two Tri-County teams 32 to 20 to 12 out of 50 questions. They will head to Tri-County School March 30th to compete in the State Reading Classics Competition. Good Luck and Well Done Team!
The annual Copacabana oversaw a gathering of local talent in the Burkley Fine Arts Center on Saturday, March 16. The evening featured performances from FHS’s music department, soloists and individually-formed groups along with the display of works from art students.
Potential acts auditioned prior to the event for a place in the show. Some individuals earned several spots for the evening. More preparation time was seen as a necessity for them. Dakota Gladson ’19 believes the time put in was crucial to a successful concert.
Sara Huss ’20 performs a piano piece for the public dinner prior to the Copacabana concert. The meal, along with the main event, featured several musical acts including an appearance by FHS’s Ukulele Club and the playing of a classic Czech polka song by various Band students. Photo by: B. Novotny
“Copa was not only a blast but it was such a privilege to work with the rest of the performers and MCs,” Gladson said. “I personally think that this was our smoothest and best Copa at least since I’ve been in high school. The alumni are missed and greatly praised, but I feel that we either did as good or better than years before!”
Brylee Yantz ’21 plays the saxophone alongside other members of the jazz band. Yantz also participated in two piano solos, a vocal and ukulele duet with Hailie Nicholson ’21 and pieces performed by the general high school band. Photo by: B. Novotny
Some performances featured a more personal undertone. Michaela Buchli ’19 and her mother, Karie Buchli, joined together to sing Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” with former director Karen Grefe Reynolds utilized as a piano accompanist. Karie performed this piece in 1986 as a solo act for the very first Copacabana.
“When I talked to [Karie] about doing a piece for Copa, she brought up this idea of singing as a duet,” Michaela said. “It felt amazing to perform with my mom. She was so excited to be able to relive the moment and I was excited just to be a part of it.”
Other unique moments arose from the event. What resonated with performers and attendees varies from individual to individual. For Gladson, the unveiling of an original work [“Dream With Me”] that included audience participation and publicly asking Jasmine Snyder ’21 to the upcoming Prom stood out.
Jason Hughes ’20 and Lauren Patton ’20 carry out a skit between acts to keep the crowd entertained. Other emcees included seniors Toriann Likens, Joy Ondrak, Dakota Gladson, and Mikasa Lierman. Photo by: B. Novotny
“One part of the night suck out to me the most, and that was when the entire audience stood up and sang with me,” Gladson said. “It took my breath away and made me so honored that I was in the presence of such a great audience. The ‘promposal’ was a big deal to me so I wanted it to be perfect. I no-joke practiced in the mirror so that I wouldn’t freeze up.”
Fairbury will host the District Music Contest April 11-12.
Imagine what it would be like to lose your home or your livestock and crops. Well this is the reality for many Nebraskans at this time. People throughout the state have had to evacuate their homes and leave everything behind. Flooding has left people without homes and also without water. Water in flood areas have been contaminated leaving them undrinkable and many people without water. The boys track team decided to do something to help those people in need and hold a water drive in Fairbury.
“I thought of how I couldn’t enter Beatrice from where I normally do due to the flooding, so then I thought about contaminated pipes, and how water could be pretty nasty at other towns. Then I made a flyer and I asked my parents and if they could get this out for publicity and if I could store it somewhere in the schools,” Freshman Zane Grizzle said.
So far the track team has had great success with the Water drive. There have been multiple business that have donated cases of water to the flood victims. There has also been a delivery made to Peru State College on Wednesday morning. 350 cases of water have been donated so far.
The boys track team is also challenging other track teams across the state to help by starting their own water drive for the flood victims. If you are interested in donating water to the water drive, you can drop off cases of water at Central, Jefferson, and the High School.
