Author: Karen Dux

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Fairbury FBLA Attends State Leadership Conference

Three Fairbury FBLA members advance to national competition following the 2019 FBLA Nebraska State Leadership Conference held April 4-6 in Omaha. The annual conference provided competitive events, leadership training, networking, and fun for FBLA members across the state. Nine members of Fairbury FBLA joined other Nebraska members and advisers to compete and celebrate another successful year in FBLA.

Throughout the leadership event, members participated in competitive events, motivational seminars, and the election of the new State Officer Team. Honorable Mention awards were announced at the second general session, recognizing those who placed in the top 4% of each event. The Awards Program held on Saturday morning announced the top eight winners in each event and revealed who would represent Nebraska FBLA at the National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas, this summer.

Seniors Isaac Robertson, Joy Ondrak, and Mikasa Lierman qualified for the State Leadership Conference in the area of Sports and Entertainment Management after demonstrating their knowledge on a team test. At the State Leadership Conference, these three individuals presented to a group of judges, earning third place overall and advancing to National Competition in June.

Senior Mikasa Lierman also placed seventh in Journalism and Junior Jaelle Johnson earned Honorable mention out of 280 students. Other students earning honorable mention included Sophomore Brylee Yantz in Introduction to Business, Sophomore Josh Robertson in Introduction to Financial Math, Senior Jayson Klaumann in Organizational Leadership, and Junior Jillian Caroon in Insurance and Risk Management.

Fairbury chapter members attending were: Seniors: Devin Holliday, Jayson Klaumann, Mikasa Lierman, Joy Ondrak, Isaac Robertson; Juniors: Jaelle Johnson and Jillian Caroon; and Sophomores: Brylee Yantz, Josh Robertson. Adviser Gale Bly accompanied the Fairbury delegation.

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FHS Students Attend SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference

Kenny McMillian, Dalton Buxton, Andrew Notony, Ashton Blobaum and Zach Furron just recently attended the SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference in Grand Island, Ne at Fonner Park.  The boys did very well at the competition placing 3rd and medaling in Advanced Drones at the High School Level and Basic Drones at the High School level as well.  The “Basic Drone” competition is geared for freshman and Sophomores while the Advanced Drone competition is more for Juniors and Seniors.  This years basic drone team consisted of Zach Furrow and Ashton Blobaum.  Despite a few technical difficulties the boys managed to place third.  Students are judged on their Engineering Notebook which has many things in it from the FAA license to the flight time logs, safety and how to operate the drone safely.  A parts list is also included in case you crash and break items.  The boys informed me that although flight was not so good, the notebook and the written test were better.  The same story went on with Dalton Buxton and Andrew Novotny.  They too  placed 3rd in the state and flew against some pretty tough competition.  The drone we used was a Phanton 3 and it was almost a bit too big for the hoops they had to fly through.  Students Kenny McMillian and Zach Furrow entered the Metric 500 competition where they design, build and test a CO2 car out of balsa wood.  The boys found stiff competition in this contest and although they did not place in the top 3, noone worked harder and longer than this group of Fairbury students getting ready for the competition.  Upon arrival at the contest, students had to check in their car race ready. 
Studens Kenny McMillian, Dalton Buxton and Andrew Novotony also took part in the Technical Team Problem solving challenge.  Each year the challenge is different.  This year the students had to construct a device that simulate a spacecraft that had a payload of a water bottle.  This so called device had to protect the payload against meteorites.  The payload was a small water bottle.  The spacecraft had to also have a functioning door.  The device that all made was weighed and the lightest one that did the best was declared the winner.  The meteorites were nothing more than golf balls dropped at a series of different heights.  The boys made a device out of the materials supplied at the beginning of the contest. The contest was timed as well.   This is a design challenge and teaches them to work together collectively.  Although they did not place in the top three, they did do a good job and their craft did not fail under pressure from the golf balls.  Our group asked lots of questions and the judges seemed to be impressed.  This competition had many entered and it took around three hours to complete from start up and explanation, to planning, to testing to final project.  
Once again it was a fun time for all.  There were some conflicts with other school activities for all the STS teachers in the state so numbers were down this year.  The boys learned a lot and going up on the big stage at the end to receive a medal was priceless to see on their smiling faces.  I was very proud of them all.  Until next time, see ya!!!

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Fairbury FFA Competes at Nebraska State FFA

by Kennedy DeBoer, Fairbury FFA Reporter

The 92nd Nebraska State FFA Convention was held April 3rd-5th in Lincoln, Nebraska. This year, the Fairbury FFA had 30 members attend the state convention. We had several members qualify for state CDEs and one student qualify for state LDE contests.

Michaela Buchli placed in the top 10 for her Senior Public Speech over Lab Produced Protein and received a silver medal.     

The Ag Sales team was made up of all sophomores including Devin Wanamaker, Dalton Petersen, John Kerwood, and Kennedy DeBoer. Devin Wanamaker earned a blue ribbon.

The next contest was Agriscience which is a freshman or first year contest. It was made up of Zach Furrow, Chase Dragoo, Brigham Sheetz, and Ashton Blobaum. None of them earned a ribbon, but it was a great learning experience.

The Agricultural Biotechnology team consisted of Sara Huss, Sarah Engleman, Jillian Caroon and Autumn Branson. Huss earned a blue while Engleman and Caroon both earned reds.  They placed 8th overall as a team.

The Agronomy team was made up of senior Autumn Branson, juniors Taylor Runge and Sara Huss, and sophomore Harlie Blas. Sara received a blue ribbon. Harlie received a red and Autumn received a white.

The Natural Resources team was made up of Michaela Buchli, Trevin Arnold, Delaney Miller and John Kerwood. Michaela earned a blue ribbon, Kerwood earned a blue and Arnold earned a white.

The Meats & Technology team was made up of Joe Melcher, Brooklen Bear, Brandon Hinrichs and Bret Cole. None earned any ribbons.

The Farm Management team consisted of Michaela Buchli, Jillian Caroon, Toriann Likens, and Kaylee Sipek.  Tori received a purple ribbon while Jillian and Michaela each received a blue ribbon. The Farm Management team placed 18th overall out of over 70 teams.   

The final contest was Nursery and Landscape. This team consisted of Jared Engleman, Riley Wood, Harlie Blas, and Christina Hickey. Engelman and Wood both earned red ribbons.  

Taylor Runge was the sole representative for Fairbury FFA in the State FFA Chorus.  

The Fairbury FFA Chapter was also represented by 10 FFA members who received their State FFA Degree.  The FFA State Degree is the highest degree the Nebraska FFA Association may bestow upon a member. FFA members must submit two years (24 months) of consecutive SAE record books, complete the FFA State Degree application and meet all minimum qualifications as well as earn a passing score of at least 70% on a State Degree assessment.  Students have to also meet the criteria for financial gain in three ways: productively invested at least $1,000 and must show SAE earnings of at least $3,000, productively invested at least $3,000 and must show SAE earnings of at least $1,000, or must have productively invested at least $1,200 and must show SAE earnings of at least $1,200.  The Fairbury FFA Members who received this award were Bryn Livingston, Michaela Buchli, Toriann Likens, Kaylee Sipek, Kane Hasselbring, Tommy Kroeker, Jared Engelman, Delaney Miller, Colton Starck, Trevin Arnold.


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Reading Classics Champions

On Monday, March 25 the Fairbury JH Reading Classics team competed in the Jefferson County Reading Classics competition at the ‘47 gym. The competition consists of five rounds of ten questions each, with one of the questions being a current event. The four students can discuss that question and write an answer.

Fairbury won and traveled to the State Reading Classics competition the following Saturday, at Tri-County Schools. There were six teams at state and the competition was three rounds of ten questions. The top two teams made it to finals. Fairbury answered 20 of the 30 questions correct and was the top finisher going into finals. The final competition was Fairbury vs. Falls City and consisted of 15 questions. The students then stood on the stage and buzzed in (similar to quiz bowl) and gave the answer orally without consulting teammates. After fifteen questions, the score  was tied 6-6 and five more questions were given to break the tie. Fairbury won 2-0.

Fairbury team members are 8th graders Cora Tatro, and Eli Livingston and  7th graders Toby Julin-McCleary, Schuylar Malone and Eliza Kroeker.

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National Library Week

Join the celebration! National Library Week is April 7 – 13, 2019.  
This year’s theme, Libraries = Strong Communities, illustrates how today’s libraries are at the heart of our cities, towns and schools.Students at Central Elementary and Jefferson Intermediate enjoyed working together to learn, build, and create through a variety of makerspace activities.  Students also voted for their favorite book in the Nebraska Golden Sower Program.  

Central students enjoying makerspace activities during National Library Week.

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Small Towns Matter

News Channel Nebraska

If Small Towns Matter to you, nominate our school now!  From March 1st  until April 30th, News Channel Nebraska is inviting students, parents, teachers, and community members to nominate an elementary school to win a $5000 Grand Prize and bike helmets for EVERY student in the elementary school…just in time for summer!  The winning school will be chosen at random on May 1st and contacted by phone.  News Channel Nebraska and UnitedHealthcare will present the Grand Prize and bike helmets before the end of the school year.  Submit your nomination below.

http://newschannelnebraska.com/small-towns-matter/

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Cracking a Coconut in Reading!

This first grade reading group recently read a series of stories about two sisters who were stranded on a deserted island and had to survive by eating fish, coconuts and bananas. In a parallel story they read a nonfiction passage about the layers of a coconut and where coconuts grow. To understand how hard it was for the characters to crack a coconut, these students got to experience it themselves. Using a hammer, each student took turns hitting a coconut until it was in pieces. They identified the different layers of the coconut and had the option to sample the coconut milk and coconut meat. It’s a good thing they weren’t depending on the coconut for survival because only one student liked the taste! 

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Jefferson Division One Reading Classics Team Announced as Champions

On Saturday, March 30th, Jefferson Intermediate Division One team traveled to Tri County to compete in the State Reading Classics Competition .In the first round Fairbury competed against 9 other nearby counties. After 30 questions, the top two teams were announced and Jefferson was one of the two!!  The students were so excited to make it to the final round, also known as the buzzer round!  In the Final competition, fifteen oral questions are asked. Jefferson students were amazing and surpassed Seward with a score of 8-4! Congratulations to some excellent readers and competitors!  We had 75 books to read for this competition!

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