Nebraska Public School Advantage News

Nebraska Public School Advantage News

York General hosts first Rural Health Day

York General hosts first Rural Health Day

February 2, 2023
(This article was originally published by the York News-Times on Jan. 31, and is appearing on Nebraska Public School Advantage as a guest piece. The photographs are courtesy of the York News-Times and the author, Naomy Snider.) By Naomy Snider Twenty-nine York middle school students attended York General’s very first Rural Health Day. The students had the opportunity to discover a wide range of...Read More

Leaning into Purpose with Nebraska Administrators: Mike Meyerle and Brent Hollinger

Leaning into Purpose with Nebraska Administrators: Mike Meyerle and Brent Hollinger

January 25, 2023
By Tyler Dahlgren Author's note: This piece was written for the NCSA Today Magazine, and was originally published in the Winter 2023 edition. Leaning into Purpose with Nebraska Administrators was a four-part series that ran over the course of the last year. There’s a parallel in the career arcs of Mike Meyerle and Brent Hollinger, the subjects of this installment of Leaning into Purpose with...Read More

Cross County Staff Stunned by School Board's Surprise Visits: "Having people thank you along the way, sometimes that's the fuel you need to keep going"

Cross County Staff Stunned by School Board's Surprise Visits: "Having people thank you along the way, sometimes that's the fuel you need to keep going"

January 18, 2023
By Tyler Dahlgren Part One: Surprise, Surprise! Teachers at Cross County are no strangers to classroom drop-ins. We’ve written about the district’s instructional rounds and profiled their school improvement team, too. Professional development, most of it peer-driven, is taken to the next level here. Even when unannounced, having a colleague sneak through the door for 15 minutes of observation...Read More

Desh the Halls!: Dragons put a bow on another December to remember

Desh the Halls!: Dragons put a bow on another December to remember

December 22, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren There’s so many directions we could have gone with the headline. “Deshing Through the Snow….” “You know Deshler and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen….” “Desh the Halls….” The latter, albeit predictable, was the least of a stretch, not to mention incredibly accurate. Throughout the month of December, Deshler’s Dragon lair is overflowing with seasonal flavor. And that’s to be taken...Read More

Cozad begins building for the future the "Haymaker Way": "There's a terrific sense of ownership in this community, a drive to be the best we can possibly be"

Cozad begins building for the future the "Haymaker Way": "There's a terrific sense of ownership in this community, a drive to be the best we can possibly be"

December 21, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Before he was the interim superintendent of Cozad Community Schools, James Ford was a part of a legion of basketball coaches who swear by an age-old adage: Look good, feel good, play good. Ask any athlete. The mantra is tried and true, and it extends well beyond any field or court. “Same thing goes for learning,” said Ford. “If you’re comfortable in the learning space, if it has...Read More

Building a Kingdom of Wellness: "Wellness 4 All" model gives students in Seward County districts a comfortable space to center

Building a Kingdom of Wellness: "Wellness 4 All" model gives students in Seward County districts a comfortable space to center

December 14, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Early in the first semester of his senior year at Milford High School, Alec Shook learned a lesson as valuable as anything a dozen years of curriculum could possibly offer. “It’s healthier to speak about your problems than to let them build up,” Shook said. For years, Shook had done the latter. He’d stash worries and file burdens until the coast appeared clear, figuring an “out...Read More

Veteran and longtime school administrator Ramon Otero shares a powerful message at South Central USD 5's Veterans Day Program

Veteran and longtime school administrator Ramon Otero shares a powerful message at South Central USD 5's Veterans Day Program

November 29, 2022
I snuck in the side of Sandy Creek's gymnasium halfway through Ramon Otero's speech, crossing the stage as quietly as I could. It was Friday, Nov. 11th, and South Central USD 5 in Fairfield was holding its annual Veterans Day Program. The gymnasium was packed, with Otero, the husband of the district's superintendent, at the podium. I was there to spend some time with the school's digital media...Read More

Sandy Creek's Storytellers: Digital Media team leaving its mark on South Central USD 5

Sandy Creek's Storytellers: Digital Media team leaving its mark on South Central USD 5

November 23, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Folks around Fairfield will be talking about the 2022 football season for a long, long time. Their Sandy Creek Cougars played eight-man football for the first time in 55 years, and they played it well, racking up six wins and advancing to the second round of the Nebraska Class D-1 State Playoffs. It’s quite a story. One the players, their families, the coaches and fans will...Read More

From a bank in Southwest Kansas to becoming ESU 17's first mental health provider, Stephanie Fling's journey is a rewarding whirlwind

From a bank in Southwest Kansas to becoming ESU 17's first mental health provider, Stephanie Fling's journey is a rewarding whirlwind

November 16, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren The story of ESU 17’s first mental health provider starts at a family-owned bank in Southwest Kansas. Before her move to the foot of Nebraska's Sandhills, that’s where Stephanie Fling worked. Throughout her career, though, she couldn’t shake the inclination to pursue a career shift into education. More specifically, into mental health work. Six years ago, a life shift happened,...Read More

The Library Magic: Collaborative spirit and passion brings one of Nebraska's eight joint school/public libraries to life

The Library Magic: Collaborative spirit and passion brings one of Nebraska's eight joint school/public libraries to life

November 11, 2022
By Tyler Dahlgren Tucker Tejkl's bad days are few and far between. If you follow the Shelby-Rising City superintendent on social media, you know that already. But if he ever catches himself in a mood, a quick pass through the school's library almost always does the trick. "You always get a smile as you go through here," Tejkl said. "Seeing the kids, how they're interacting and just the energy in...Read More

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