Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Nebraska Public School Advantage News

The Hope Squad: Chadron Middle School's 31 Keepers of Kindness

The Hope Squad: Chadron Middle School's 31 Keepers of Kindness

February 18, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren Rebecca Dubs learned everything she needed to know about the character of the first-ever Chadron MIddle School Hope Squad by observing one intentionally impracticable group activity. In their hands, 31 students heldcards containing 31 different pictures, from pieces of furniture to colors to articles of clothing. Anything and everything. Categorically, some made sense. Others...Read More

The Mind Inside: Episode Three introduces viewers to levels of support that live beyond the surface and the heroes who stop at nothing to provide it

The Mind Inside: Episode Three introduces viewers to levels of support that live beyond the surface and the heroes who stop at nothing to provide it

February 15, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren From the opening scene, the filmmakers at I Love Public Schools lift the audience from the comforts of wherever they’re viewing The Mind Inside: Episode Three and drop them into the middle of a different world. For educators, this world will feel heartbreakingly familiar. The film focuses on North Platte Public Schools, where more than half of the students in the district live...Read More

Silver Linings Series, Chadron's Jerry Mack: Conversations around COVID-19

Silver Linings Series, Chadron's Jerry Mack: Conversations around COVID-19

February 5, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren *This is the second installment in the three-part “Conversations Around COVID”. This discussion occurred on November 16 for an article titled “Silver Linings (Without the Playbook),” which ran in the winter edition of the NCSA Today Magazine. Jerry Mack is principal at Chadron High School, and his podcast “Chadron Cardinal Cast”, which he records with school counselor Loni...Read More

Why Data Matters: Deep digging paves direct path to deeper needs

Why Data Matters: Deep digging paves direct path to deeper needs

February 3, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren For school leaders, a deep examination of data can be a revealing and downright daunting experience. In the midst of a global pandemic, you’re safe to underline the latter part of that statement--maybe even twice. Immersing one’s self in data is exhausting yet worthwhile. Intimidating yet necessary. Participants in ESU 17’s Data Dig last Monday are certain the proof will come in...Read More

By Building Familiarity, "Falcon Families" Helps Bring Freeman Students Closer Together

By Building Familiarity, "Falcon Families" Helps Bring Freeman Students Closer Together

January 26, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren After 10 minutes of calm following the day’s first bell, Freeman Public School sprang back to life early Friday morning, as excited packs of students spilled into its hallways and took off on a quest to find their Falcon Families. Flo Rida’s “My House” echoed from the PA system, only slightly muffling the sound of an enlivened blend of kindergartners through sixth-graders. After...Read More

Celebrating Kindness: Falls City Middle School awards students for empathy

Celebrating Kindness: Falls City Middle School awards students for empathy

January 15, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren After 16 years spent working in Omaha Public Schools, Jack Bangert came home to Falls City with a clear idea of the culture he planned to foster at his new school. That’s not unique for principals entering a new district. Bangert’s model, however, is quite unique. In all the right ways. “Any principal, when they take a job, they want to create a culture,” Bangert, now in his...Read More

Silver Linings Series, South Sioux City: Conversations around COVID-19

Silver Linings Series, South Sioux City: Conversations around COVID-19

January 11, 2021
School districts throughout Nebraska plunged headfirst into an unprecedented pandemic in March of 2020. The world as we knew it was tipped upside down, but through it all, schools stood strong. Schools weathered the storm by showing remarkable flexibility, adaptability and, perhaps above all, courage. They were shoved, abruptly and without notice, into a world of impossibilities and used...Read More

The Year in Review: An Inspiring Storytelling Journey

The Year in Review: An Inspiring Storytelling Journey

January 4, 2021
By Tyler Dahlgren Out of a year unlike any before it came an unbelievable number of inspiring, uplifting and heartwarming stories unlike any before them. There's no way around it, 2020 was tough. Most reading this would likely be fine without running that one back, but we would be remiss not to reminisce on the remarkable things that took place in public schools across Nebraska in the face of the...Read More

The Kindness Tree: Boone Central Middle School Student Council Spreads Positivity, Holiday Cheer with Heartwarming Idea

The Kindness Tree: Boone Central Middle School Student Council Spreads Positivity, Holiday Cheer with Heartwarming Idea

December 18, 2020
By Tyler Dahlgren While sitting in class one day not too long ago, eighth-grader Dayna Sharp’s mind wandered where minds often wander this time of year. “I was thinking about Christmas trees,” Dayna said. “I know, it’s kind of odd.” She thought of the holiday season and the cheer we’re so used to spreading as the calendar turns to December and Christmas music starts to take over radio waves. She...Read More

The Show Goes On: Kearney One-Act team grows closer, cherishes memories from challenging season

The Show Goes On: Kearney One-Act team grows closer, cherishes memories from challenging season

December 10, 2020
By Tyler Dahlgren Kearney’s One-Act team learned over the course of a peculiar 2020 season to appreciate each and every opportunity to grace a stage. Their path to performance was, after all, cluttered with obstacles. Quarantines and illnesses that sporadically separated cast and crew, and periods of time where it became uncertain if the curtain would again draw. On the first night of December,...Read More

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