Schools – Page 81 – Fairbury Public Schools

Reading Classics

Reading Classic began in Nebraska in 1989. It began as a literacy event sponsored by the Nebraska State Reading Association to promote the love and excitement of reading. In 2015 a Reading Classics Committee was formed to continue the program. Reading Classics still promotes and encourages Nebraska Schools to form teams to help recognize outstanding young readers in Nebraska. Schools around the state of Nebraska can participate and compete to answer comprehension questions about the books on the Reading Classic book list.
The Nebraska Reading Classic Committee chooses books for the reading list for each Division with input from coaches, team members and many other sources. The list includes award-winning books such as Caldecott, Newbery, Golden Sower and many other awards.
Division I is for third and fourth grades, Division II is for grades fifth and sixth, and Division III is grades 7th, 8th, and 9th.The Jefferson County Competition will be held on Monday, March 19th in the morning at the 47 gym. The public is welcome to come and watch. The state competition will be held at Tri County School on Saturday morning on March 24th. The public is also welcome.

Moving in Math

Math students in Mrs. Julie Petersen’s classes stay active! While learning and recording traditional notes for vocabulary, properties, and formulas has its place in education, Mrs. Petersen helps her students find success by getting them up out of their seats and involved in problem solving. Geometry and Standards Math students have benefited from a variety of activities over the last two weeks, such as wisdom walks, building models, round robin, task cards, gallery reflection/discussion, card sorting, station rotations, and math libs. Although this generation of students are very visual, they are also kinesthetic. Getting their hands-on the lesson will aid in long-term memory.

A Standards Math student said, “I would rather be up out of my seat than sitting here just doing a worksheet.”

TeamMates Mentors Recognized at Basketball Game

Mentor appreciation night was held Friday, January 19th during the basketball games against York, arranged and equipped by the service here. It was great to have mentors who are new to the chapter and mentors who have been around since TeamMates came to Fairbury in attendance. It was also nice to see TeamMates Mentors from York stand to be recognized. Even as opponents, we are united in our cause.

Mentors are more than just volunteers. They are parents, business owners, veterans, and active members in our community. But once a week, they are even more. To their mentees, they are a trusted friend, a promise keeper, a bright spot in the middle of busy school day. By simply stopping by the school to chat or play a game, they do more than just mentor– they form meaningful relationships with their mentees that often last beyond the student’s time as a Jeff.

While the Fairbury chapter has 36 matches, there are still 23 students on the waiting list who would like a mentor of their own. If you would like to be apart of the mentoring team, please contact Tiffany Ebke for application details at tebke@fairburyjeffs.org

6th Graders Giving Back

For their service project, the 6th graders at Fairbury Public Schools chose a reverse Advent calendar. They identified five items to donate to Blue Valley Community Action – can of soup, dish soap, peanut butter, can of corn or beans and a box of macaroni and cheese; and five items to donate to Hope Crisis Center – box of plastic silverware, box of kleenex, liquid hand soap, roll of paper towels and package of paper plates. The ten school days before Christmas, our sixth grade students brought the items to school! We had fun collecting small items that can make a big difference to our community!

Jr/Sr High Media Center Adds Makerspaces

The Jr/Sr High School Media Center has recently started its own Makerspace Creation Station to help students have a creative place to work collaboratively on projects together. Stop in today to work on a project, code some robots, draw with 3D pens, and so much more! We are always adding and expanding, so if you have an idea you would like to add, talk with Mrs. Carly Winter or Mrs. Janet Beranek today!

Hands on Construction

This year Mr. Scott’s Construction class took on the challenging task of attaching a one car garage onto the home of Chad and Tami Mans. Each job is decided upon with careful thought and planning as there many different requests from the community for a variety of projects. Choosing a project that would keep all students busy and on task has to be taken into account as well as the amount of time available to complete it. Part of our time consideration also includes travel to and from the site, loading up tools and materials, project organization and weather constraints. A project also had to be chosen that will challenge them and teach the standards as outlined in the curriculum guide from the state of Nebraska.

After making a few small projects in the shop during the planning and consideration process, the class decided to build the garage that measured 16′ x 22″ with a 9 foot garage door, two sliding windows and one garage door 7′ x 9′. The homeowner was really excited that in the near future she wouldn’t have to park outside while unloading her groceries during inclement weather. This year’s class consisted of Dalton Buxton, Zach Holes, Cayman DeBoer, Keyten Pfingsten, Trenton Sokolik, Jacob Johnson, and Logan Slater. Careful planning had to take place first with finding roof pitch of the existing structure to match to the garage, estimating a materials list, ordering rafters, siding, windows, a door and planning the layout of all the wall studs. The tips from http://www.garagerepairfl.com/garage-door-repair/ were great help. The boys learned a lot about the construction process. Measuring and accuracy were stressed along with working as a team to accomplish a goal. Many different tools were used along the way and each student gained skills needed to be successful in their future building projects. The class had a few obstacles as we had a few boys that got injured in sports and they did well working around their injured crew. A group picture was difficult as most of the boys were in sports as well. There were many early outs for them to attend sporting events but it all worked out and Mr. Scott was really proud of the boys accomplishments. It was a fun project and one that the boys will never forget. Thank you for the opportunity as it was a success for everyone, the homeowners and the students alike. We finished on the last day of class with the packing up of all tools, ladders and a general sweep of the property for clean up of loose nails and debris that happened to dropped to the ground. Watch for more exciting building to come next season.

High School Students Inducted Into the National Honor Society

Membership in the National Honor Society is one of the highest honors that can be awarded to a high school student. The National Honor Society has worked hard to bring the accomplishments of outstanding students to the attention of parents, teachers, peers and community. Chapters in more than 12,500 high schools across the nation strive to give practical meaning to the Society’s goals of scholarship, leadership, service and character. These four ideals have been considered as the basis for selection of new members. No student is inducted simply because of a high academic average. The National Honor Society strives to recognize the total student: one who excels in all these areas.

Congratulations to the ten new members of the Fairbury High School chapter of National Honor Society including:

Rusti Bassett

Devin Holliday

Josephine Blatny

Kennedy DeBoer

Sara Huss

Jaelle Johnson

Hannah Knigge

Taylor Runge

Izze Schwab

Claire Shumard

These students were “kidnapped” (with parent permission) early in the morning and brought to school. They celebrated with the nineteen current members by eating breakfast together and laughing about their morning adventure. Then they were featured on the Stu Co Show.

A fun note regarding members this year is we have four pairs of siblings – Evie and Izze Schwab, Marah and Claire Shumard, Jacob and Jaelle Johnson (picture with Emily not Jacob), Dawson and Kennedy DeBoer.

A formal induction ceremony will be held on January 16th at 7:30 p.m. in the BFAC.

Geometry Students Calculate Height of New Entryway

Geometry students in Mrs. Julie Petersen’s class studied trigonometry ratios this week. Always seeking an answer to the question, “When will we use this in life?”, students completed a lab to find the height of various parts of the high school such as the classroom, hallway, commons area, and flag pole.

Setting up equations according to the well-known acronym SohCahToa can be done with a traditional worksheet or a more interactive lab. Petersen’s classes used a tape measure and clinometer to estimate the height of the newly constructed entry to be either 18 or 21 feet. The hunt has begun to find a blueprint for the exact answer.

Mrs. Petersen’s enthusiasm was contagious as the excitement on a chilly Friday warmed students to the idea that math can be appreciated in every day life. Influencing long-term memory, a lab makes lessons more meaningful yet takes more time than a traditional worksheet. In the future when these students walk in to the school, they may observe the entry and remember how SohCahToa helped them find the height of the new archway.

Past President of the Nebraska Choral Directors Association Supports Jr. Sr. High Choirs

This past week, retired music educator and Past President of the Nebraska Choral Directors Association Don Reimer stopped by Fairbury Jr./Sr. High School to meet and work with the high school and junior high choirs. Mr. Reimer started his career in Tecumseh before leaving a lasting legacy at Bellevue West High School. We thank Mr. Reimer for his valuable insight.