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Tigerbytes
Fremont Public Schools Newsletter
FEBRUARY 2015
Vol. 19 • No. 3
Fresh, Local Ingredients Part of
After-School Program
by Sarah Smith
An innovative approach has taken place
with Farm to (After) School in Fremont,
Nebraska. Fremont’s k-4th graders, 250 of
them, are tasting and working with fresh, real,
local ingredients after their school day has
ended. Leah Hladik, program director for this
special effort, makes it a priority to promote
enriching, hands-on experiences with the
students, and Farm to School activities are a
natural fit.
In December, Fremont students learned
about how the lettuce they would eat that
afternoon was grown hydroponically at Oak
Ridge Farms in Ord, Nebraska. They studied
the nutritional value of this dark, leafy green
and then went on to make their lettuce
wrap snack. The kids loved the snack and
want the lettuce wraps to make a lunchtime
appearance on their trays.
Leah is also working to be sure the
schools are conscious of food waste. “They
bagged scraps for me to bring home to feed
to my animals. In the spring we will start using
the scraps for a compost pile for our school
garden project. The kids liked that they were
bagging scraps for Ms. Leah’s chickens.”
The after school program is part of the
21st Century Community Learning Centers
(21st CCLC), a federally-funded and national
competitive grant program that supports
establishment of community learning centers
serving students in high-need school
buildings. In Nebraska, the program is
awarded and administered by the Nebraska
Department of Education.
For the 5.5% of students in Nebraska who
participate in After School Programs, 75%
are eligible for the Free and Reduced Lunch
Program, and 14% are English Language
Learners. Leah knows that bringing the Farm
to After School contributes to these students.
“We live in a rural area, so the importance of
knowing community economic health is key.
We want to bring to the table the idea that
kids can raise their own food. We are able to
offer them experiences that they might not
get otherwise, and we really put the health,
nutrition, farm to school benefits in that light.”
After School programs keep students
safe and provide a place to learn, develop
skills and relationships, and explore other
interests. Connect with your state Department
of Education for more information, and your
state or regional Farm to School lead to help
implement Farm to (After) School activities in
your communities.
Fremont After School is a pilot school in
our USDA-funded Farm to School Initiative.
To find out how your school can participate,
contact Sarah Smith at [email protected].
(This article has been reprinted with permission from
The Center for Rural Affairs.)
inside:
2
From the Superintendent
JC Students Plan Cities
Celebrity Readers Share Their
Love
3
4
5
6
JC Team 6B students react after touching a coin frozen
by dry ice. Science teacher Julie Herrick demonstrated
several experiments to show her students the various
components of dry ice.
Cynthia Stogdill, Library/Media Specialist at Fremont Middle School and Johnson Crossing,
was awarded the Sound Off for School Libraries Award at the Nebraska School Librarians
Association Conference. The award is based upon an individual’s demonstrated creativity and
innovation in the library profession.
Molly Schiermeyer was named
Fremont High School’s Student of the
Year by the Fremont Optimist Club at
a ceremony in November. Fremont Drama Club members
took home the following honors from the Morningside College One-Act Play competition: Drama
Best Supporting Actor: Kendrick Smith, Best Supporting Actress: Petra Nolan, Best Actor:
Austin Perez and Best Actress: Amy Ellis. Austin and Amy were also awarded $5,000 a year
scholarships to Morningside College.
Six Fremont High School seniors signed letters of intent to their respective universities
on November 12. Molly Schiermeyer - volleyball/track – University of South Dakota, Mallory
McQuistan – softball - South Dakota State University, Gessica Gdowski - volleyball – University
of Nebraska/Omaha, Jessica Shepard - basketball – University of Nebraska/Lincoln, Brenna
Schmidt - track – University of Sioux Falls and Ashley Nelson - basketball - Northwest Missouri
State. Way to go ladies!!
FHS Spanish Honor Society adopted five families from the district and provided a
Thanksgiving dinner of turkey (donated from Hy-Vee), mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean
casserole, stuffing, buns and a pie (donated from Village Inn). The club members each contributed
their own money to purchase the items that were not donated.
7
Once A Teacher
Students Dissect pellets
Lincoln Students Benefit from
Partnership
Davenport Celebrates Athletes
Writing Projects
VisoBook Benefits
Team 5C Book Day
Kindergartners Celebrate 100th
Day
Washington Hosts an Event
Tri County School District Visit
After School Celebrations
Bell Field’s Love Your Library
Week
Defining a Hero
Successful Season for Speech
and Debate
Second Graders Keep Fremont
Beautiful
Science Olympiad
Multicultural Club
Spotlight on Art
Thanks to contributions from the office
staff and family members at Johnson
Crossing, BNI, Cudly Massage, Sid Dillon
Chevrolet-Fremont, Farm Bureau-Sherry
Leriger and Staples, 21 Johnson Crossing
families received holiday baskets filled with
gift cards, board and card games, scented
soaps, blankets, popcorn, notebooks, pens
and pencils and other assorted items.
Howard Elementary students James (7
years) and Andrew (6 years) Fittje were
honored as heroes by the Fremont Police
Department and City Council for saving their
grandfather’s life. Joe Belchal, the boys’
grandfather, suffered a medical emergency
while watching the boys.
FHS Activity Director Bill Fitzgerald and
head boys track coach Dave Sellon have
been named finalists for the National High
School Athletic Coaches Association and
Nebraska Coaches Association’s National
Coach of the Year.
from the
Superintendent
2
TIGERbytes FEBRUARY 2015
Happy New Year! With every new year comes the excitement
of a new beginning, a time to reflect and a time to set goals. The
Board of Education this past fall went through a similar process. In
September and October the Board reviewed the District’s Goals,
received updates on the progress towards completing the goals,
reviewed additional data and adjusted them.
In November the Board adopted nine new goals based on the
six current goals related to student achievement, participation of
all students in the general curriculum, development of appropriate
social skills and behavior and building level continuous improvement.
Mark Shepard
The new goals include an emphasis on Graduation Rates / Dropout
Superintendent
Rates, Career Technical Education, Student Grading, Increased
Achievement by English Language Learners and Budget / Financing Strategies.
Each of the goals are very much interrelated. Increasing student achievement leads to higher
graduation rates / lower dropout rates, this ultimately results in additional State funding. The same
can be said for many of the other goals.
Upon further examination of the goal related to Career Technical Education, providing
opportunities and real life experiences to enable students to pursue their dreams is, in large part,
what we are about. In this day and age of almost everything being driven by technology and
technical skills, the timing is right for the District to explore these opportunities for our students.
This past summer, through the efforts of many, the Welding Lab at FHS was completely
renovated and re-tooled. Through the assistance of a private foundation grant and the expertise of
industry leaders, the students today are learning in a state-of-the-art industry-relevant lab. They are
learning skills which will lead to industry certification while earning college credit. The partnership
between Fremont Public Schools, Metropolitan Community College and Valmont has students in
command and excited about their education and potential future opportunities.
The District applied for and was awarded a $10,000 Department of Education ReVision Grant.
The grant will allow us to evaluate all of our career-based programs and identify, with the help of
local industry leaders, needs that our students can help fill. During a recent community engagement
session, local leaders came together to provide insight into their current operations and talk about
opportunities for partnership which, like the welding partnership, will lead to better opportunities for
FHS graduates. The next step will be to formulate a plan, seek partners and funding and implement
changes in our curriculum.
The Goals that the Board of Education adopted are current, relevant, measurable, time
sensitive and attainable. The Administration and staff will provide periodic updates at monthly Board
of Education meetings. For a listing of the goals, action plans and matrix for measurement, please
visit our website at www.fpsweb.org/SB/goals.cfm.
It’s an exciting time to be in Fremont and part of Fremont Public Schools!
Mark Shepard
GO TIGERS!!!
JOHNSON CROSSING STUDENTS
PLAN FUTURE CITIES
Twenty-four Johnson Crossing sixth
graders from Fremont, under the direction of
Science teacher Travis Case, competed in
The Future City Competition held in Omaha
recently.
The competition is a national, projectbased learning experience where students in
grades 6-8 imagine, design and build cities
of the future. They work as a team or teams
with an educator and engineer-mentor to plan
cities using SimCity™ software; research and
write solutions to an engineering problem; build
tabletop scale models with recycled materials;
and present their ideas before judges at
Regional Competitions.
Fifteen teams competed in the Omaha
regional event. Johnson Crossing was
represented by two teams, the Awkomahbaeca
and Costa Nebbia.
Stated teacher Travis Case “Although
neither team finished in the top four, the
students did extremely well and were
complimented by engineering judges and
competition personnel about their knowledge
and mature behavior. I couldn’t have been
more proud; they exceeded my expectations.”
Students that participated were Brady
Benson, Holly Robinson, Emily Nau, Conner
Richmond, Braydon Knockle, Noah Sorensen,
Alexander Berry, Amaru Cook, Amelia Knosp,
William Furnas, Abril Rivera, Katelyn Johnson,
Aiden Foreman, Jaden Mark, Owen Wagner,
Elijah Merrill, Grace Burns, Cristofer Sanchez,
Mara Hemmer,
Olivia Nolan,
Hayley Kohl,
Elijah Martinez,
Haley Bogenreif
and Aiden
Gomes.
Teacher Travis Case and members of the Future City teams (not pictured Aiden Gomes.)
Just one of the fitness cup displays made by students
during PE class at Fremont Middle School.
Students Landon Winn and Nicholas Nemec along with
the rest of Team 5C students earned a Board Game Day
through Johnson Crossing’s PBIS Program.
CELEBRITY READERS
SHARE THEIR LOVE OF
READING
Former teachers and Partners in
Education helped Johnson Crossing
celebrate National Young Readers Week.
National Young Readers Week is an
annual event that was co-founded in 1989
by Pizza Hut and the Center for the Book
in the Library of Congress. To make this
week special, many schools recruited
local “celebrities” to read aloud a favorite
children’s book to classrooms. Classrooms
could also listen to a free story each day
courtesy of BOOK IT! and One More Story.
JCAC would like to thank all the
“celebrity” readers who took time out of their
day to share the love of reading with the
students!!
Sixth graders Maggie Norris and Alex Berry dissect a
fish in Mr. Case’s Science class at Johnson Crossing
Academic Center.
Fremont Public Schools
3
Students Dissect
Pellets in Science
ONCE A TEACHER, ALWAYS A TEACHER
After retirement, Lillian Schulz just could not give up teaching others. In fact, she just finished
tutoring her last student this past December. Lillian is in her nineties.
Lillian said she fell into the teaching profession. She always liked school and in her day there
weren’t very many career choices for girls. She received a $75 National Scholarship from Nebraska
Wesleyan University and earned her teaching degree. For the next five years Lillian taught in two
different country schools in Gage County. She rode with a fellow teacher who taught at a school 2
½ miles from hers. Later Lillian and her sister Pearl got rides from their mother when Pearl got a
teaching position at a school also 2 ½ miles from Lillian.
There was no phone, electricity or medical kit in her country schools.
Lillian did not worry about it at the time, but now is thankful nothing serious
ever happened to any of her students. When the weather was bad she had
a place she could stay for $1 a night but did not stay very often….that would
have cut into her $45 a month salary.
Fremont Public Schools then hired Lillian to teach commercial, later
called business, at the downtown high school, now the FPS Main Street
Education and Administration Center. After the new high school was built at
16h and Lincoln, Lillian moved into the second floor business department
Lillian Schulz
teaching bookkeeping, typing and shorthand. Typing was a favorite class for
students, most taking the course for two years. Lillian’s favorite course to
teach was shorthand because it was like teaching 1st grade reading…... by the end of the course,
she could tell exactly how much the students had learned. One of her students could write 100words a minute in shorthand. When that student attended Wayne State College, her professor was
amazed she could write so quickly.
Lillian’s 43-year teaching career wasn’t over after retiring in 1980. She and her sister Pearl, who
taught music for FPS for 17 years, became certified in the Laubach Method of Teaching and began
tutoring. They never advertised their services. Students came by word-of-mouth and sometimes the
sisters had more than they could handle, although most of the time they did not refuse anyone their
free services.
Students would set the number of times they wanted to come and the length of their sessions.
The sisters’ tutoring eventually evolved into teaching English to Spanish-speaking adults. Neither
sister spoke a word of Spanish and the sessions were always spoken in English.
Lillian’s last student came for over 10-years. Although she no longer is a student of Lillian’s,
their friendship and visits continue.
Pearl is now deceased but Lillian related she and her sister were very pleased when their
students received their citizenship papers or driver’s licenses and she is delighted to see former
students and their successes. “It was such a pleasure to get to know the young people we tutored”
said Lillian.
For Lillian and Pearl, teaching was and is a lifetime profession. Once a teacher, always a
teacher.
Linden Students Benefit
from Bank Partnership
After learning about Economics (spending/saving,
needs/wants, etc.) as part of their Social Studies
curriculum, Linden 2nd graders toured First State Bank &
Trust, one of the school’s Partners in Education. After their
tour they participated in a spending and saving money
activity and listened to a story on banking.
Fremont’s First State Bank Linden Branch opened for
business October 29th. Kindergarten through fourth grade
Linden 2nd graders learn about the bank’s
students who wanted to become savers at the Linden
drive-though area
Branch and had their account papers in order could open
an account with a minimum $1.00 deposit. On the first day only, First State matched the deposit of
any saver that saved up to $5.00.
Student tellers were on hand to accept deposits and post them into the student’s account.
Savers can earn incentives like banks, stuffed tigers, water bottles and even lunch with the bank
president and Linden principal when their savings reaches certain amounts.
Members of the
Fremont High School
National Honor Society
volunteered at Low
Income Ministry, helping
clean and organize in
preparation for the
holiday season. From
left: Molly Schiermeyer,
Sam Hartmann, Blaise
Ronspies, Ty Hansen,
Chase Husen, Cari Leick,
Rachel Gibbs, Alex Perry,
Zach Smrcina, and Shelby
Svatora.
Students from left Hannah Allerton, Collin
Stewart, Kimberly Salguero and Zachary
Furnas are intent in their dissection of an
owl pellet. The fourth graders from Bell Field
Elementary were looking for rodent and bird
bones in the pellets.
Pellets contain regurgitated bones, fur and
feathers that owls cannot digest. Students were
working off of a worksheet from teacher Julie
Muller from which they had to find and identify
different bones and skeletons from the contents
of their pellets.
Davenport Celebrates
Young Athletes
Davenport School
students displayed their
athleticism at the school’s
Young Athletes Event held in
November.
Elementary PE teacher
Jeremy Larsen set up six
stations for the classrooms to
rotate through with volunteers
and para-educators providing
direction. There was bowling,
striking from a t-ball stand,
Christian Tedrow
a soccer kick, an obstacle
and Allison
course, a basketball shooting Leedom take
station and a throwing station. their turns on the
obstacle course.
Spectators encouraged
the participants along
the way, many of whom waited patiently for
their turns at the different stations….quite an
endeavor for 3 and 4 year-olds!
Johnson Crossing students have fun using the scooters
during PE.
Fremont Middle School
Spirit Door Designers and
Decorators back row left
to right Annie Cooper,
Maddie Moore and Shiann
Janousek. Front left to
right Kailey Rensch and
Avery Decker.
“If I Lived in a
Snow Globe”
A writing project from students on
Team 5A at Johnson Crossing
One cold snowy morning, I woke up in
a snow globe. It was very odd. It was cold
in the snow globe. I was in a small tight
house. I was getting really cold so I went
to my closet and drawers. I got my sweat
pants, fuzzy socks, t-shirt, a sweatshirt,
slippers, my lap top, and my headphones.
After I went to the couch and layed down,
but before I grabbed my blanket. I grabbed
my lap top and opened it up. I typed
in Netflix and got my headphones and
watched a movie. I watch Cyberbully.
After awhile I got up and made myself
some hot chocolate in my sisters mustache
mug. My hot chocolate was delicious. Later
I went to bed and when I woke up, I was
outside the snow globe! I was clueless. I
wish I could’ve stayed in the snow globe
forever!
4
TIGERbytes FEBRUARY 2015
Fourth and Eighth Grades
Share Written Works
Young writers in fourth and eighth grades had the
opportunity to share their written works and collaborate on
writing in December. Fremont Middle School eighth graders
visited fourth grade classrooms at Bell Field, Clarmar and
Howard. The young authors read their stories to each other and
asked questions like “Why did you bring this story to paper?”
and “How do you think of stories to write about?”
Nancy Christensen, Literacy Coordinator for FPS, said the
two grades were paired together because they both spend time
on narrative writing and participate in the NeSa Writing Tests.
Howard fourth grader Jenna Knuppel
reads her story Dissecting an Owl
Pellet to eighth grader Payton Eyler.
Bella Jackson
I was getting ready for a Christmas
party when….an evil snowman from under
my bed captured me! He said he was
tired of being in that dumb snow globe all
these years. I quickly glanced at my snow
globe on my nightstand and saw that there
wasn’t a snowman in there. “Are you the
snowman from my snow globe? If you are,
how did you get so big?” I asked. “Yes I
am, and I use my size-a-rator to get big.”
“What do you want with me?” I asked.
“Since I’m leaving the snow globe I need
a replacement and you’re the perfect fit.”
He said. “What are you talking about? I’m
5 feet tall” I responded. All of a sudden
he shrank me and put me into the snow
globe. I started to look around. I saw a
whole town! Parks, houses and even an ice
rink. I knocked on someone’s door. It was
a family. “Hello” I said. They let me in their
house. The family and I baked cookies,
went sledding, and we went ice skating (ice
skating was my favorite part!) But after a
while I was sort of missing my family, so
I asked, “How do you get out of here? Is
there a secret exit or something?” “I know
a way” said someone behind me. I turned
around…”Santa Claus, what are you doing
here?” I asked. He said that he came when
he heard I was in trouble. He used his
powers and zapped me in my room. I woke
up on Christmas morning just in time to
open Christmas presents.
Miranda Keyser
After reading a biography of Helen Keller, Clarmar
2nd graders learned about Braille from Valerie
Hruska, Braillist for Fremont Public Schools.
Mrs. Gustafson’s 1st graders from Howard use the iPads in
their classroom from the iPad Initiative.
Learning Center students and staff made 105 ornaments for residents
of Arbor Manor.
Linden 4th graders
received a musical
surprise during the
school’s community
in January. Fellow
students and staff
broke into a flash mob,
dancing to Continental
Drift from the movie
Ice Age. Following the
dance, staff lined the
hallway offering words
of encouragement and
waving pom-poms to
the 4th graders who
were taking the NeSa
tests later in the day.
Mrs. Nelson’s first grade holiday photo from Milliken Park.
Fremont Public Schools
5
STUDENTS BENEFIT OF
USE OF VISIOBOOKS
Two Fremont Middle School students are able to work more
effectively in classes thanks to VisioBooks. A VisioBook is a full-color
reading device for visually impaired users of all ages. It is used for
magnification, distance viewing and as a mirror.
When 7th grader Serria and 8th grader
Josh Bixby uses the
Josh’s classes are over, they fold the portable,
VisioBook.
rechargeable magnifiers and take them to their next class. The use of the
VisoBook has made a tremendous difference for Josh in his Industrial
Technology class, allowing him to see details that were not visible before.
Funding for the two VisioBooks, at a cost of $3,000 each, was
provided by the Federal Act to Promote the Education of the Blind. Federal
Serria Smith using the
Quota funding provides educational materials to eligible students who meet
VisioBook
the definition of blindness.
The VisioBooks are for use in the building only but will move with the students as they progress
from middle to high school.
TEAM 5C CHARACTER
BOOK DAY
Johnson Crossing’s Team 5C participated in an
Enrichment Reading Class for a 3-week time period,
twice a week for 45-minutes.
The team focused on the trait of characterization
and descriptive writing. Students came up with words
describing their character’s actions, words, looks,
feelings, etc. With their parents they put together a
simple costume at home, (nothing purchased), that
depicted these traits. Throughout the three-week
Back Row, left to right: Ty Leriger, Pirates of the
period students worked on many character-study
Caribbean, Brady Millard, Where the Wild Things
activities that related to the final assignment.
Are, Micah Moore, Alexander and The Terrible, No
Good, Very Bad Day, Jackson Korman, Snowmen
Students were given a rubric to follow to guide
at Night. Front row: Braden Taylor, I, Crocodile.
them in their Book Character Report which was
then presented to their group. The rubric contained
elements of proper punctuation, creativity, neatness and descriptive writing. They wore their book
costume during their presentation.
Kindergartners Celebrate 100th Day
of School
District kindergartners
celebrated their 100th day of
school with various themes
based on the number 100.
Following the continuous
learning calendar, Grant
kindergartners celebrated their
From left: Myles Bechtel, Miguel Amaya, Calvin Hand, Makenzie Spang,
100th day on January 12. They Kourtney Christensen, Johnyla Bell, Honora Andreasen, and Rayme
Hansen are all smiles after finding Hershey’s kisses during their 100th
were given two round cookies
Day hunt.
and one wafer cookie. Before
they could eat them, they were to make the number 100. Other activities included finding 100
candy kisses hidden in various classrooms, decorating and cutting out crowns which they later
wore, sharing their 100 item collections with fellow classmates, writing 100 words, walking 100
footsteps to see where they would end up, dancing 100 seconds to Happy from Despicable
Me2 and exercising for 100 seconds.
M is for Marshmallow
After studying the letter Mm all week, Bell Field kindergarten teacher Sharla Schreiber received
a bag of marshmallows from one of her students. Confused at first, Schreiber asked the student
what the marshmallows were for. The student smiled and replied, “marshmallows start with M silly!”
Thinking creatively on how to best use the marshmallows, Ms. Schreiber put a video up
simulating a marshmallow-roasting fire. Students put their marshmallows on popsicle sticks and
then “roasted” them for their snack!
It was a totally spontaneous learning activity for the class.
Washington Hosts a
Turkey-Tasting Event:
PowerPoint
Genesis Alvarez, Thomas Larios and Jeny Lopez enjoy
their turkey-tasting at Washington Elementary.
Washington Elementary staff, students and
their families shared turkey baking tips and
tasting time prior to the school’s PTA meeting in
November.
Teachers Debra Skokan and Cindy
Stollberg, along with her husband Larry, gave a
live demonstration on preparing and cooking a
turkey. A PowerPoint presentation accompanied
the demonstration. Audience members enjoyed
tasting turkey baked earlier in the day in the
school’s kitchen.
Each family in attendance received a
cookbook and a large foil pan, perfect for
baking a Thanksgiving turkey. A drawing was
held with two lucky families receiving turkeys.
Children, under the care of Fremont High
School Spanish Honor Society members,
colored, played games and made their own
turkeys out of Rolos, peanut butter cups and
frosting before having their own turkey-tasting
in the gym.
Businesses in the Fremont community
generously donated turkey gift certificates for
Washington families, made monetary donations
for supplies for the event and donated adult
coats, available that evening.
District Visited by
Tri County School
District
Three educators from Tri County Public
Schools visited Fremont Public Schools in
November. Molly Reuland, Jenni Borer and
Kim McCain spent the day visiting several FPS
buildings to see how technology resources
have been integrated into classroom instruction.
With the addition of the FPS Foundation
iPad initiative and the purchase of additional
iPads and Chromebooks, FPS teachers
and students have been expanding their
experiences in digital
learning and creativity.
Tri County is currently
considering technology
options including
1:1, carts, iPads and
Chromebooks. Fremont
Public Schools was
recommended to Tri
County as a district
moving forward
with technology
use and innovation
in the classroom.
Eighth grader Jackson
FPS buildings and
Ritchhart answers
questions from a Tri
teachers visited
County educator about
were Fremont High
using Chromebooks in
School - Jeff Hayden
class.
(Social Studies)/Chuck
Story (Principal); Johnson Crossing - Jamey
Semrad (Gr. 5 math); Fremont Middle School
- Sara Bigsby (Gr.8 English); and Bell Field
Elementary - Julie Muller (Gr. 4).
Schools Host After
School Celebrations
The Fremont Community Learning Centers
located at Linden, Milliken Park and Washington
Elementary Schools hosted celebrations at the
end of October to highlight the importance of
afterschool programs in the Fremont community.
The Lights On! afterschool celebrations were
part of a
nationwide
event that
brings
attention to
the program.
Guests
received
guided tours
and had the
opportunity
Litzzi Jaimes and Sandra Nolasco work to visit with
on their eco-bot.
students
about the program and the activities offered
and witness how important the program is to
the positive development of community youth.
A typical afterschool day would include students
rotating between homework time, either computer
or physical fitness time and stem and club
activities
For the celebrations each building presented
activities based on a theme. Linden’s was
STEM (science, technology, engineering and
math), Milliken Park’s was a carnival theme and
Washington’s was career-oriented.
More than 10.2 million youth are in
afterschool programs per the Afterschool Alliance
website. Fremont’s afterschool program serves
250 students between the three schools. Linden’s
program alone has 90 students enrolled with 40
more on the waiting list.
Bell Field
Celebrates Love
Your Library Week
Bell Field Elementary celebrated Love Your
Library Week in November with theme days.
• Monday: The Dot Book, was Dot Day with students
and staff wearing clothes with dots on them, and an
interactive dot story was read during library class.
• Tuesday: The Day the Crayons Quit. Every class wore
a different color in honor of the book. Library Media
Specialist Dana Schipporeit also made an iMovie with the
students based on the book.
• Wednesday, in honor of silly authors like Joe Scieszka,
Roald Dahl and Jack Prelutsky, students wore their silliest
socks to school.
• Thursday was Stop, Drop and Read Day. Twice during
the day when students heard the cue “Stop, Drop and
Read” over the intercom, they did exactly that and read or
were read to for five minutes.
• Friday students dressed as their favorite storybook
characters. Calli and Ester were Belle from The Beauty
and the Beast, Phoebe’s favorite is The Very Hungry
Caterpillar, Eja is Fancy Nancy, Zachary is Harry Potter,
Madalynn, Addison, Abby and Megan were Anna and
Elsa from Frozen. Traiten dressed as Rodrick from the
Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Emma was a ballerina
from The Nutcracker, Gabrielle was Junie B. Jones,
Dathan’s favorite was Harry Potter, Yesi and Peyton were
characters from the Monster High books and Ty’s favorite
was the Johnny the Tractor books.
6
TIGERbytes FEBRUARY 2015
DEFINING A HERO
Johnson Crossing Academic Center teachers Julie Herrick and Kristine Chlopek created a
character unit for their Team 6B in October. Team members discussed heroes during character lessons
in homeroom. Throughout the week, students participated in intellectual conversations and individual
and partner activities. They focused on what a hero truly is, what heroes do and heroic characteristics.
Students were incredibly thoughtful, insightful and did a superb job with the activities.
The students identified heroes as being people who take risks that don’t have to be taken and
risk their lives for others, concerned for others’ quality of life (among many other examples). Some
characteristics students established heroes exhibited include courage, altruism, leadership, integrity,
generosity, perseverance and humility.
As a culminating activity of the hero unit, teachers Julie Herrick, Mari Maxwell, Kristina Chlopek
and Jodie Sams dressed as superheroes on October 31.
A SUCCESSFUL SEASON
FOR SPEECH AND
DEBATE TEAMS
Besides numerous individual honors at the Norfolk
Speech and Debate Invite held in November, the
Fremont High Speech and Teams took Runner-up
Sweepstakes honors and also combined to take home
the Richard H. Cross Overall Sweepstakes Champion
Trophy!
In Student Congress, Kenna Ritchhart placed 5th
Norfolk Debate winners.
in Varsity. In Novice, Amanda Melcher placed 1st,
Elizabeth Hansen placed 3rd and Sarah Marchese
placed 4th.
Senior Sarah Leeper placed 6th in Humorous
Prose at the Lincoln Pius X Speech Tournament which
was held in November. By placing in the top six, she
also obtained a bid for the NIETOC tournament which
will be held at Lincoln Southwest in May.
At the Elkhorn South Debate tournament in
November, Ashley Salguero (junior) and Cesar Magana
Linares (senior) were semi-finalists in Public Forum.
Cesar also earned a third place speaker award. Chase
Norfolk Speech winners.
Cate (freshman) was a finals runner-up in LincolnDouglas.
At the Papillion LaVista South Speech Tournament held in December, the duet team of Sarah and
Hannah Leeper placed 4th and Elizabeth Hansen placed 7th in Informative.
Also in December at the Lincoln Southeast Speech Tournament, Elizabeth Hansen placed 6th
in Honors Finals in Informative. Elizabeth and Amanda Melcher placed 7th in Merit Finals in Duet
and earned one bid for the NIETOC tournament. They will need one more bid to fully qualify for this
tournament. Sarah Leeper placed 2nd in Honors Finals in Humorous Prose and earned herself another
NIETOC bid.
At the Millard North Speech Tournament held in January, Elizabeth Hansen placed 5th in Honors
finals in Informative with her speech about Ghost Organs.
Sarah Leeper placed 6th in Humorous and Elizabeth Hansen placed 5th in Honors Finals in
Informative at the Westside Speech Tournament.
SECOND GRADERS
LEARN HOW TO KEEP
FREMONT BEAUTIFUL
Howard 2nd graders learned ways they can
help keep Fremont clean during a presentation
by Cathi Samson of Keep Fremont Beautiful.
Controlling litter, recycling and beautification are
ways everyone can help and are goals the KFB
KFB representative Cathi Samson gives a presentation
office concentrates on.
to Howard 2nd graders.
Students watched a short film, viewed posters
about littering and went over city rules about littering and recycling. Ms. Samson brought a bag full
of recycled items like a jacket made out of recycled plastic bottles, a piece of hard plastic made out
of plastic bags that is used to make benches and picnic tables and writing paper made from recycled
paper.
Each student received a KFB litter bag with a magnet, a flyer with a listing of recyclable items and
where to take them, a list of city ordinances, a hazardous waste homework sheet for parents and a fun
activity sheet for the students.
7
Fremont Public Schools
MULTICULTURAL CLUB SUPPORTS
TOYS 4 SMILES
Bell Field Elementary 4th graders Kess Martin and
Xander Parker test their straw tower’s ability to hold a
battery for 10-seconds.
Fremont Students
Attend Science
Olympiad at
Midland University
Fremont High School’s Multicultural Club had a busy December spreading cheer and
celebrating the holidays. Club members visited the Omaha Durham Museum’s Ethnic Holiday Fair
on December 5th. They adopted two families through the Salvation Army’s Adopt-A-Family program
and collected toys, clothes and baby supplies for Toys 4 Smiles.
Fremont High School Multicultural Club members Helga Garay and Pierse Coen organized the
3rd Annual Toys 4 Smiles Campaign. They and other club members collected toys, clothes and
baby supplies from fellow students and staff at the high school.
During Christmas break Helga, an FHS 9th grader, and her family visit the General Hospital in
Reynosa, Mexico where her aunt is a nurse. They delivered all the presents to sick children who
were spending Christmas in the hospital. The Garay family’s mission is to bring holiday cheer to
those children through their Mission: Toys 4 Smiles.
Elementary students from TekamahHerman, North Bend, Bancroft-Rosalie,
Oakland-Craig, West Point and six district
schools participated in the First Annual ESU #2
Elementary Science Olympiad held at Midland
University on December 4.
Unlike the middle school and high school
Science Olympiad which takes preparation
before the contest, these 100 4th and 5th grade
students discovered the events they were to
participate in the day of the Olympiad.
Teams spent 40-minutes at the stations,
rotating through Catapult, Sink or Float, Straw
Towers, Estimania, Clay Boats, Write It/Do It
and Picture This.
Teams were given plastic straws and
rubber bands to build the strongest and tallest
tower at the Straw Tower station. The goal
was to build the tallest tower, able to hold the
largest load, which included batteries and
wooden blocks, for 10 seconds.
Mrs. Cooper’s class from
Howard gets into the spirit of
team shirt/jersey day during
Red Ribbon Week.
During Red Ribbon Week/
Hat Day, Washington
reading specialist Andrea
Hilgenkamp integrates
the new FPS Foundation
iPads in a vocabulary
lesson with third graders
from right: Yahir Silva,
Emanual Pablo Luna,
Jessi Lopez, Derrick
Alfaro and Yahir Alvarez.
Fourth graders in
Nancy Becher’s room
at Linden use their
laptops for IXL Math.
SPOTLIGHT ON ART
Hannah Wagner • Grade 12 • Graphic Design 1
Left: Typeface; right: Tim Burton Character
High School sculpture student Madison
Carlson with her real-life casted, cultural
mask.
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Fremont, NE
Permit No. 48
Tiger Bytes is a publication of the
Fremont Public Schools
130 East 9th Street
Fremont, NE 68025
The MISSION STATEMENT of the Fremont
Public Schools is to produce creative,
adaptable, productive citizens committed
to lifelong learning.
ECRWSS
POSTAL CUSTOMER
Visit our web site at: www.fpsweb.org
Public Notice of Non-Discrimination • Fremont High School
Students, their families and potential
employees of Fremont High School are hereby
notified that the Fremont High School does
not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national origin, age, religion, marital status, sex
or disability in employment, genetic information,
military obligations, or status in any other
group protected by local, state or federal law
in career and technology programs or activities
as set forth in compliance with federal and
state statutes and regulations. Any persons
FPS Board Members:
Todd Hansen
Jon Ludvigsen
Dan Moran
Sandi Proskovec
Terry Sorensen
Grady Wells
Main Street Education and
Administration Center
130 E. 9th Street
402-727-3000
Learning Center
402-727-3180
Student Services
402-727-3084
Johnson Crossing
Academic Center
200 Johnson Road
402-721-2003
Fremont Middle School
540 Johnson Road
402-727-3100
Fremont High School
1750 N. Lincoln Street
402-727-3050
Bell Field Elementary
1240 E. 11th Street
402-727-3178
Clarmar Elementary
1865 E. 19th Street
402-727-3175
Davenport School
940 Michael Street
402-727-3173
Grant Elementary
226 N. Grant Street
402-727-3171
Howard Elementary
240 N. Howard Street
402-727-3169
Linden Elementary
1205 N. L Street
402-727-3150
Milliken Park Elementary
2950 Dale Street
402-727-3160
Washington Elementary
515 S. Broad Street
402-727-3164
having inquiries concerning Fremont High School
compliance with Title II, Title IV, Title VI, Title IX and/
or Section 504 may contact:
Executive Director of Human Resources and
Administrative Operations
130 E. 9th St. (402-727-3008)
Fremont NE 68025
Fremont High School offers the following career
and technical education programs for all students
regardless of race, color, national origin, age, religion,
marital status, including those with limited English
proficiency, sex or disability: Business, Family
Consumer Science and Industrial Technology.
Persons seeking further information concerning
the career and technical education offerings and
specific pre-requisite criteria should contact:
Mr. Chuck Story, Principal
Fremont High School
1750 N. Lincoln Ave. (402-727-3050)
Fremont NE 68025
To obtain this information in a language other
than English, call 402-727-3088.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR
RESIDENTS OF FREMONT PUBLIC
SCHOOLS DODGE COUNTY
SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1
Beginning on October 15, 2012 Fremont Public
Schools no longer approved requests for students
to option out of the Fremont District if the request is
received after March 15. Requests to option out of the
district for 2014-2015 must be received by March 15,
2014 and all requests for all following years must be
received on or before the preceding March 15 except
for students who have relocated after February 1. In
such cases, applications do not require approval of the
resident district.
Requests to option into Fremont Public Schools
will be accepted and approved at any time during the
calendar year provided the maximum enrollments for the
specific grade level(s) or program(s) are not exceeded.
If the application is filed after March 15 for the following
year, the request must be approved by the resident
school district before it is filed with Fremont Public
Schools.
The option enrollment alternative shall be available
only once to each student prior to graduation unless:
(a.) the student relocates to a different resident school
district,
(b.) the option school district merges with another district,
(c.) the option would allow the student to continue current
enrollment in a school district, the option would allow
the student to enroll in a school district in which the
student was previously enrolled as a resident student,
or
(d.) The student has completed either the grades offered
in the school building originally attended in the option
school district or the grades immediately preceding the
lowest grade offered in the school building for which a
new option is sought
This information is provided as a service to
those individuals who may be interested in the option
enrollment program, and is in compliance with state law.
Fremont High ELL students enjoy bowling at the 30 Bowl. “We
take the kids on several activity-oriented field trips throughout
the school year to show them what is available to them in the
community” states English Language Learner teacher Megan
Bunn. The group will also go swimming and ice skating as part
of their activities this year.
Independent Living Students
Open TIGER JAVA at the High
School
Students from the Independent Living Skills
Program at Fremont High School hosted a Grand
Opening for their Coffee Shop, Tiger Java during
TST/Tiger Success Time prior to finals. ILP students
collected money, served regular, decaf and a special
Christmas blend and made sure the sugar/creamer
station was well-stocked.
Tiger Java, the ILP program’s first big endeavor,
was well-received by FHS students and staff. The
program’s goal is to add items or services to Tiger Java
each quarter.
Daniel O’Connell
(right), David
Muhle (center) and
Tyler Prohaska
(left) fill cups
of coffee for
customers at Tiger
Java.