Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Nebraska Public School Advantage News

The Avenue Scholars Series: Proud alum Qua'Niquia Damper is a shining light at Children's

The Avenue Scholars Series: Proud alum Qua'Niquia Damper is a shining light at Children's

March 7, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Downtime is a rare commodity in the course of Qua’Niquia Damper’s typical day. The 2016 Omaha North graduate is a medical assistant in the Hematology-Oncology Department at Children’s Hospital, where she puts in a full eight hours before heading to Maple Crest Health Center for another shift. Damper is a talented hair stylist, too, and books appointments on the side. Damper, you...Read More

The Avenue Scholars Series: Like he always does, Nazeer Rahy hits the ground running in internship

The Avenue Scholars Series: Like he always does, Nazeer Rahy hits the ground running in internship

March 3, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Nazeer Rahy tends to hit the ground running. When his family came to America from Afghanistan through the Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) in 2014 (his father worked with the U.S. military for years prior), it didn't take as long you'd think for the then-12-year-old to acclimate to new surroundings. For example, though his favorite sport is and always will be soccer, Nazeer took...Read More

The Avenue Scholars Series: Millard South senior Billiana Mekoum cherishes opportunity with United Way of the Midlands

The Avenue Scholars Series: Millard South senior Billiana Mekoum cherishes opportunity with United Way of the Midlands

March 1, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Marquita Lambert remembers the first time she met Billiana Mekoum. It was last school year, Lambert’s first as an Avenue Scholars career coach at Millard South, and Mekoum, a junior at the time, was quiet. Shy, even. Her potential, however, was quite pronounced. “I saw that Billiana had the drive,” said Lambert, herself an owner of multiple businesses. “She wanted to make a...Read More

Sven Strong: An 8th-grader's cancer journey, the community behind him and a spirit that can't be stopped

Sven Strong: An 8th-grader's cancer journey, the community behind him and a spirit that can't be stopped

February 15, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren It’s a Tuesday morning in the corner pocket of Nebraska when Sven Rauch walks through the Dundy County Stratton office doors, introduces himself and reaches for a handshake. The eighth-grader’s Helena Acres hat is ever-so-slightly cocked to the side, his maroon t-shirt tucked in tight to a pair of blue jeans. Sven’s belt buckle shines a polished gold and, as the owner of a...Read More

Scripted for Success: Small pocket of northeast Nebraska is rich with One-Act talent and tradition

Scripted for Success: Small pocket of northeast Nebraska is rich with One-Act talent and tradition

January 28, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Chapter 1: Setting the Stage After a decades-long run of One-Act brilliance, the trophy case walls at Wausa and Hartington-Newcastle are starting to close in. In early December, “Wausmond” (the school started a play production co-op with nearby Osmond four years ago) brought home the C-1 title from the State Play Production Championships in Norfolk, its 13th in the last 16 years...Read More

Two-generation approach helps Learning Community make lasting impact in Omaha: "The family learns best when they learn together"

Two-generation approach helps Learning Community make lasting impact in Omaha: "The family learns best when they learn together"

January 24, 2022
​ By Tyler Dahlgren Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties exists to create opportunities for metro children and their families, and CEO Dr. Brad Ekwerekwu refers to the organization’s approach to doing so as holistic. With on-site programming at their North Omaha and South Omaha centers, a steady, collaborative presence in several elementary schools and an innovate Parent University...Read More

Nebraska’s ESUs gather in Kearney for a day of PD around mental health: “It’s become a priority for us, because it’s a priority for our schools.”

Nebraska’s ESUs gather in Kearney for a day of PD around mental health: “It’s become a priority for us, because it’s a priority for our schools.”

January 21, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Three times each year, Nebraska’s 19 Educational Service Units (ESUs) gather under the same roof for a day of invaluable professional development, addressing a rotating assemblage of issues in education. ESUCC has seven subgroups that select those focuses based on data gathered and input from districts across Nebraska, ensuring relevance at each ESUPDO event. On Jan. 12 at ESU...Read More

The Avenue Scholars Series: A Conversation with Dr. Ken Bird

The Avenue Scholars Series: A Conversation with Dr. Ken Bird

January 20, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren This all started with lunch. The year was 2008. Dr. Ken Bird had just retired after 16 years serving as superintendent of Westside Community Schools, the same district in which he got his start as a special education teacher in the fall of 1970. After 38 years in education, you’d have thought Bird would be in for a rest. Then the phone rang. It was Walter Scott, an iconic Omaha...Read More

Lee Perez's Road to Purpose: No success goes uncelebrated in Nebraska Teacher of the Year's classroom

Lee Perez's Road to Purpose: No success goes uncelebrated in Nebraska Teacher of the Year's classroom

January 4, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren It was March 2020, Lee Perez’s first day educating in a totally remote setting, and the teacher’s hands were shaking. His palms were sweaty, too, but that wouldn’t matter much. It’s not like Perez’s students would notice over Zoom. No, it was the other things they’d pick up on if he let them. The uncertainty, the nerves, the worry. They were unavoidable, but Perez was intent on...Read More

The Greatest Assist: Unified basketball game between Ashland-Greenwood and Milford draws big crowd and bright lights

The Greatest Assist: Unified basketball game between Ashland-Greenwood and Milford draws big crowd and bright lights

December 22, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren Presley Hobbs lights up when you ask him about the highlight reel from Saturday’s unified basketball game between his Ashland-Greenwood Bluejays and the visiting Milford Eagles. To properly tell the story, though, we first have to set the stage. A cold Saturday afternoon, one of those days just made for basketball. A packed gymnasium, where standing room only literally meant...Read More

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