Category: Chance School

March 18, 2020 – The Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA) today announced it will offer educational programming for elementary and secondary students that will be available free to all Nebraska children beginning Monday, March 23.  NSEA is partnering with News Channel Nebraska and Lincoln Public Schools on the project, with financial support from the National Education Association.

NSEA President Jenni Benson said four hours of daily live programming will be available through nearly every video and cable TV service, as well as online or via mobile app from Flood Communications News Channel Nebraska.

“Our 28,000 members care deeply about their students and want them to continue their learning during these school closures,” said Benson. “We are pleased to partner with News Channel Nebraska and Lincoln Public Schools to make this educational programming available statewide.”

Many Nebraska schools are closed due to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic. More school districts are expected to close in the coming weeks.

“During this time of unprecedented challenge to maintain educational continuity for the students of our city and state, I am most appreciative of the leadership of NSEA to organize a delivery system that will reach many of our students,” said Dr. Steve Joel, Lincoln Public Schools superintendent.

“We are working with our members to coordinate this educational programming,” said Maddie Fennell, NSEA executive director. “From read alouds to learning games to instructional lessons with teachers, we will work to support our students and their families as we navigate this pandemic together.”

Benson said that educational programming for elementary students will air from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and for secondary students from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.

“And, because we know every family’s schedule is different, all the live content our members create and provide will be captured and available for on-demand playback at any time,” said Benson.

“The NSEA represents the teachers who change lives everyday throughout Nebraska.  During this difficult time, thanks to the NSEA, children can continue learning and their parents will see firsthand some of the magic that happens in our classrooms every day,” said Andy Ruback, CEO Flood Communications/News Channel Nebraska.

There are multiple ways to watch this new educational programming. Families can live stream NCN at www.newschannelnebraska.com, download the NCN app on any mobile device, or access the programming through their local cable provider, NCN on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Roku apps. Those living in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Beatrice, Norfolk, Columbus and South Sioux City can also use an over-the-air antenna to access the live presentations. NCN will share the programming with its 300,000 social followers.

The programs will also be available on-demand through NSEA’s website at nsea.org and NSEA will provide an online forum for questions and supplemental educational resources.

The Jeffs’ Best Award was created by the Fairbury Public School Board of Education to highlight and celebrate the great work of our staff.

On behalf of the Board of Education, I would like to congratulate Mr. Cory Schweitzer as our first recipient of the “Jeffs’ Best” Award!!

Anyone in Jeffland is invited to nominate any Fairbury Public Schools Employee by filling out the form below:

http://bit.ly/2DPRwG1

On Wednesday, August 14th, Fairbury Public Schools in partnership with Three’s Pieces and the Fairbury Community Foundation hosted their second Disability Resource Night.  

The speakers were Mary Phillips, Student Services Director at ESU 6, who spoke about transition services but also spoke honestly about her experience having a child with developmental disabilities who is now an adult and receives adult disability services.  Jen Quaranta, Southeast Nebraska Regional Coordinator for the ASD Network, also spoke sharing strategies for parents on managing behaviors in the home.

Several community members as well as school staff attended, and feedback was very positive.  A very important message for families to hear is that if you think your child might need adult services, you need to apply soon as the wait list is currently 7 years!

On Thursday, August 15th, Fairbury Public Schools offered a full day training on autism and classroom strategies to support students with autism for staff.  Nearly thirty staff members, both general education and special education teachers attended the training.

As a strong advocate for ALL students, but especially students with disabilities, it is really important for me that Fairbury Public Schools offers resources and support not only to our staff but also to our community.  I’m excited about the partnership with Three’s Pieces and am eager to continue offering trainings and resources to both the school staff and the public on a variety of topics related to students with disabilities. I’m hopeful that our partnership will be a model to others in our state so that schools and community organizations can bring resources to families in their own community.  If you have a question or a topic you would like us to consider, please reach out to me.

Dr. Jill Timmons, NCSP
402-729-5041
jtimmons@fairburyjeffs.org

 I look forward to seeing you as the school year gets started!

Go Jeffs!

~Mr. Stephen Grizzle

Fairbury has been fortunate to have several donations of pork and beef throughout the last two years.    The DeBoer families donated two beef to kick off our Farm to School Program in the spring of 2018. Since that time, we have had more beef and pork donated by several generous families.  We have also had many monetary donations. Monetary donations are used to help defray the cost of processing the beef and pork. In addition to pork and beef, in the fall we have had donations of fresh garden produce.

The Farm to School Program is great for our school.  It gives our students pride in where there food is produced.  They get fresh from the farm foods. The cafeteria staff does a great job in serving the foods in creative and tasty dishes.   Some of the beef dishes served have been, fresh 100% ¼ lb. hamburgers, roast beef, beef and noodles and beef enchiladas. The variety of pork dishes include: Pork Tetrazinni, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Southwest BBQ Pork Pizza, Roast Pork Loin and Pork Tacos.  Fresh salsa was prepared with some of the locally produced and donated tomatoes and peppers. Fresh cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes have enhanced flavor and color of the fruit/vegetable bars. Nothing is better than a home-grown tomato. Yum…

Donations are accepted throughout the school year.  Please contact Mr. Grizzle at the district office (402-729-6104) for more information on donating beef or pork.   For donations of fresh produce, please call Jane Rhine at the high school cafeteria, (402-300-3094)

A big thank you goes out to everyone for all generous donations. Our students really appreciate all the fresh local food.  

There has been an extension on the registration deadline for the Parent Pyramid Model series in Fairbury due to low registration. Registration is open until this Friday, October 19^th with the first class starting on Monday, October 22.

This parenting series is free to register and dinner and childcare are provided at no cost each night. This is a wonderful opportunity being offered to parents in Jefferson County and feedback from last year’s class was very positive.