Karen Dux

Sep 22, 2016Oct 10, 2016

SCC Construction Career Days

Students attended SCC Construction Career Days in Milford, NE. There they learned about many different programs at SCC. Students got to participate in hands on activities such as bricklaying, heavy equipment operation, diesel mechanics, computer-aided drafting, construction, electrical lineman work, concrete work, brick laying, nondestructive testing and automotive technology. They even ran into some former students from FHS! It was a productive day. Adam Montague and Brett Sutton both won $100 scholarships.

Students learned about highway maintenance heavy equipment operators.

Ethan Novotny runs a small bucket trencher.

Sep 20, 2016Sep 26, 2016

Brain Dissection

The Dual-Credit Intro. to Psychology Course dissected sheep brains at the conclusion of their chapter about the parts of the brain. Students were able to see some of the various parts that they discussed in class.

Sep 15, 2016Sep 22, 2016

Health Screenings Successful

The State mandatory school health screenings were being completed at Fairbury Public Schools September 12th-14th. FPS nurse Becki Schmidt partnered with SCC Beatrice Nursing Students and Public Health Solutions Dental program to get these done. The State of Nebraska mandates that schools screen student in grades Kindergarten through 4th grade, grades seventh and tenth and any student that has transferred into the district this year. We also screened our Step Ahead Preschool students. The state requires the following screenings to be done: height, weight, BMI, vision, hearing and dental.

This partnership benefited both FPS and SCC students. FPS got their screenings done with very minimal loss of education time. SCC nursing students used the three days as a growth and development clinical rotation. The students had to observe the differences from the high school students vs the early elementary/preschool students, learn how to operate the hearing machine, do some blood pressures, and then fill out their observation paperwork. Many positive comments came from the SCC students as they were able to work one on one with the students. The SCC teachers also voiced how wonderful this rotation was for them and what a wonderful learning experience it was for the students.

Teachers at FPS were also very supportive of this way of screening as the students come by class and do not miss parts of academic time.

Partnering with PHS allowed not only for dental hygienist to screen the dental needs of the students but they also provided sealants and fluoride varnishes to those that had parental consent.

A big THANK YOU goes out to the SCC Students and Teachers, Public Health Solutions, and the FPS teachers and administration, and the staff that helped make the screenings successful!

Sep 15, 2016Sep 20, 2018

TeamMates Raffle

The TeamMates Program is raffling off two tickets to the Nebraska/Iowa VB game on November 7. Drawing will be held at halftime at the last home football game on October 14th. The tickets benefit TeamMates -Fairbury Chapter. Tickets are $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00.

Dr. Jerold & Mrs. Sharon Ebke have very generously donated these for us.

Contact Karen Janssen or Patty Swartz for tickets.

Sep 15, 2016Sep 22, 2016

Teacher’s Working to Improve Their Craft – Professional Development Fridays!

Ahhhh, the dismissal bell tolls early on this sunny, bright fall Friday. “What will I do on such a beautiful afternoon,” asks a Fairbury Public School teacher? This is a new question being asked these days in Fairbury, as this is the initial year of our “early outs” on Friday afternoons. Starting this year, we dismiss each Friday at 1:35pm to allow us the opportunity for staff development time for our faculty.

What is being accomplished during this time? As a k-12 staff, we are learning and working to improve our craft…the art of teaching! Teaching is not easy, teaching is not exact and teaching is definitely not for the “faint of heart!” We are working through Charlotte Danielson’s A Framework for Teaching. It is important to recognize that great teaching is what we want for all of our students and that great teaching is a very complex endeavor.

We are focusing our learning on the “Essential 8” components of great teaching:

Setting Instructional Outcomes
Designing Coherent Instruction
Establishing a Culture for Learning
Managing Student Behavior
Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Engaging Students in Learning
Reflecting on Teaching
Communicating with Families

In addition to learning and working on these components, we are using our Professional Development time to look at our assessment data to improve our focus for instruction and the development of Student Learning Objectives (SLO’s). Too often educators do not use the data that we have available to help inform our instruction. We want change that notion and use the different forms of data (MAP testing, NeSA testing, ACT results, classroom data, etc.) to guide us on where we need to spend our time instructing.

So, as you can see, we are very busy on Friday afternoons!

Sep 12, 2016Sep 16, 2016

Remembering 9/11

Ms. Engle´s 8th Grade American History class participated in a live online webinar sponsored by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. The students got the opportunity to listen to a principal in a school two blocks away from the World Trade Center and what happened that day. The webinar reached all 50 states and students were able to participate by asking questions through an online chat feature. We also had an opportunity to have a class discussion asking questions to better understand what happened this day, since this group of 8th graders were not even alive when 9/11 happened.

Sep 12, 2016Sep 15, 2016

Pythagorean Theorem? Easy as A,B,C!

Geometry students in Mrs. Julie Petersen’s class reviewed the Pythagorean Theorem with paper and pencil, calculators and Chromebooks. After solving a problem, students checked their answer with a QR code reader. This instant feedback of right and wrong answers allows students to quickly learn from any mistakes and make valuable progress with an essential skill. The Pythagorean Theorem is the most well known and most often used formula in mathematics. Do you remember it? It’s as easy as a, b, c.

Sep 9, 2016Sep 15, 2016

First Grade Celebrates Zero the Hero!

On the 10th day of school, first graders in Mrs. Lucking’s room celebrated Zero the Hero. Since Zero the Hero’s favorite number is zero, he makes an appearance every ten days. Students had fun singing Zero the Hero’s song, making a special Zero the Hero scrapbook, and playing a game to decide who would be the Zero the Hero helper. First graders can’t wait until Zero the Hero comes back in another ten days!

Sep 9, 2016Sep 13, 2016

Students as Teachers

Ms. Engle´s 8th Grade Exploratory Careers class, just finished learning about the Education and Training Cluster. The students then chose something that they would like to teach the class to do. The class learned how to make a duct tape bow tie, lava lamp, playdough and paper airplanes, just to name a few.