Category: Schools

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Strategies For Keeping Your Sanity With Homework

Welcome back to the new school year!  For some parents, homework can be a nightmare so here are a few tips to help make homework time more efficient and less stressful for you, as well as more productive for your child(ren)!

  1. Identify a space in your house for homework completion.  This might be the kitchen table, the student’s room or an office space.  All spaces have advantages and disadvantages and it’s really up to you and your child to identify the best space.  If your child is easily distracted, it might be the best space is his room or an office area.  If your child needs more supervision, a kitchen table might be a better space.
  2. Keep a schedule for homework and maintain it. For many families coming home right after school and completing homework is the best plan for them.  For example, your child might come home and have a snack from 3:45-4:00 and then have “Homework Hour” from 4:00-5:00 every day.  Choose a time that works for your child and family.  Even if your child says they don’t have homework, keep the schedule.  This is a great time for students to do some personal reading if there is no homework!

*A good rule of thumb is for every grade they should have 10 minutes of “homework time” after school.  So first grade = 10 minutes and their “homework hour” is only 10 minutes long.  Second grade =20 minutes so their “homework hour” is 20 minutes long, and so on.

  1. Pre-correct for obstacles in getting homework done. For example, if your child is disorganized and will “forget” pencils and paper, have them ready to go.  If your child will “forget” their reading book have a book or magazines for them to read stored in your homework space.  If your child puts everything off until the end of the day and THEN remembers he or she has homework, schedule your homework time for right after school and not in the evening.  You could even make a rule that there is no free time, video games or time with friends until homework hour has been completed.

If this is something new you are trying for the first time, don’t be surprised if your child tries to ignore, argue or escape from this new routine.  But be persistent!  This is not only helps them get homework done and reduces your stress, it also teaches them good study habits for whatever is next for them, Intermediate school, Junior high, High School and post-high school education.

Finally, if you ever need any help, I’m here to provide it.  Call me or email me anytime!

Jill Timmons, Ph.D. NCSP
School Psychologist
Fairbury Public Schools

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Fairbury FFA Attends 90th State FFA Convention

The 90th Nebraska State FFA Convention was held April 4th-6th in Lincoln, Nebraska. This year, the Fairbury FFA had 28 members attended the state convention. We had several members qualify for state CDEs at our district competition back in March.

The Ag Sales team was made up of all sophomores including Devin Wanamaker, Dalton Petersen, John Kerwood, and Kennedy DeBoer. None of them earned a ribbon, but it was a great learning experience! The next contest was Agriscience which is a freshman or first year contest. It was made up of Riley Wood, Taylor Gustafson, Harlie Blas, and Sarah Engelman. Riley Wood and Taylor Gustafson both earned red ribbons. The agronomy team did extremely well this year! The team was made up of senior Ashley Griffee and juniors Michaela Buchli, Tori Likens, and Delaney Miller.  Griffee placed 2nd overall and earned a purple ribbon while Buchli earned a blue. The Natural Resources team was made up of seniors Jake Maschmann, Brock Barton, junior Trevin Arnold, and sophomore Dalton Petersen. Maschmann earned a blue ribbon while Barton earned a white. The next contest was floriculture. This team was made up of seniors Jordan Ruhnke, Shavara Kroeker, Paige Livingston, and freshman Brooklen Bear. Ruhnke earned a red ribbon in this contest. Junior livestock judging also went to state this year! To be in the junior division, you must either be a freshman or sophomore. The team was made up of freshmen Shelby Klaumann, Sarah Engelman, and Konnor Hasselbring. While none of them earned a ribbon, they all learned a lot about livestock judging! The Meats & Technology team was made up of juniors Jared Engelman, Kane Hasselbring, Colton Starck, and sophomore Taylor Runge. The final contest was Welding. This team was made up of sophomore John Kerwood and seniors Jesse Graves and Brock Barton. Taylor Runge was also part of the 2017-2018 Nebraska State Chorus. He had to audition back in December and was talented enough to be selected.  Fairbury Jr/Sr High School Principal Mr. Nicholas Kroon received the Cornerstone Award. This is awarded to school leaders who have a school wide vision for Career and Technical Education and support Career Education Programs within their school.  The Fairbury FFA Chapter also had four seniors earn their state degrees including Brock Barton, Jesse Graves, Miranda Heidemann, and Paige Livingston! It was a great year and an amazing experience!

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Physical Forms

All 7th graders are required to have a Physicals and Up to date Immunization records to include a current Tdap. These are due August 1, 2018 in the High School office.
Any student wishing to participate in sports in the 2018-2019 school year must have a sports physical. These are due prior to the start of the first practice for the sport the student wishes to participate in.
Parents MUST fill out the parent section and sign prior to the physical appointment.
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Recycle or Trash

Continuing our project based learning lessons after Earth Day, students in Mrs. Julie Petersen’s standards math class dug in to the trash to collect data.  With the leadership of guest speaker, Julie Diegel from Nebraska Recycling Council, students sorted a large bag of trash collected from Fairbury Public Schools.  Step one was to categorize the trash: aluminum, plastic, office paper, color paper, compost, and landfill.  Students wore gloves and aprons and participated to a varying degree.  Ms. Diegel helped us understand the recycle symbols and contaminated products.  Step two was to weigh each category and approximate the volume.  Step three included calculating the amount of trash this one bag sent to the landfill rather than recycling.
Special thanks to custodians Bill and Tommy for their assistance with this educational project.
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Skills USA Students Attend Annual State Leadership Conference

On April 12, 2018 the Fairbury SkillsUSA students traveled to Grand Island Nebraska for the annual State Leadership Conference. Skills USA for those that don’t know is a national organization who’s goal is to provide people with Skills to keep America’s workforce strong.  People who can fix things, figure out how things tick and to fill a never ending demand for trained service people.  This year’s participants  were:  Dalton Buxton, Josh Robertson, Hailie Nicholson, Traislynn Nicholson, Keely Schramm, Taylor Gustafson,  Taylea Mills, and Andrew Novotny.  Students from all over the state competed in over 250 different contests some of which were going  on at the same time.   The following students competed in these events:

Dalton Buxton and Josh Robertson went with Advanced Drone Technology.  They finished second overall and will receive silver medals. The boys had to prepare a notebook worth 700 points and fly the drone through an obstacle course behind a screen using a cell phone application as the means to see what the drone could see.  The boys were also scheduled to compete in Team Technical Problem solving but due to the weather many schools were forced to leave early so we did not get to compete in the late event.  The interstate was even closed west of Grand Island and we have very very high winds and roads were to get very slick.
Taylea Mills competed in Prepared Speech and did a fine job.  I got to see her compete and many others as well.  It was neat to see the different styles of speeches and methods used.  Her topic was what being job ready means to her in the area of Skills Technical Sciences.   She also competed in Early Childhood Development where she had to prepare a lesson plan and show what she would teach if she were teaching in a public school.
Keely Schramm competed in Cosmetology where she had to prepare hairstyles the judges wanted.  She did a fine job and this was her first year in this competition.  She also competed in State Tee Shirt Design where students design the Tee shirt that will be picked for next year’s State Leadership Conference.
Taylor Gustafson took part the state tee shirt competition as well and photography.  This was also her first year in SkillsUSA as a competitor.  She did a fine job and learned a lot from the experience.  I was proud of her.
Traislynn Nicholson signed up for Nursing contest.  There were many students in this contest.  Each student had a written knowledge test and a performance test where they had to perform a task and were graded on it.  She too was scheduled to compete in Team Technical Problem solving but could not due to the weather.
 Andrew Novotny took part in Power Equipment Technology or what some call Small Engine Mechanics and Repair.  Here students had to visit different stations where they did tasks on all stations from measuring with micrometers, to trouble shooting, to engine part inspection and failure analysis.  Andrew did a fine job his first year and learned a lot of what to expect in the future.  He also drew up plans for his CO 2 car and competed in the Metric 500 race.  He had to design and build a car before the competition and hand it in.  The cars are inspected and measured before they are raced by a team of judges.
Our last competitor I wanted to mention was Hailie Nicholson.  She competed in Commercial baking.  In this event, students are given certain recipes they have to make and a time limit.  They are graded on appearance of the food items on display, taste and techniques used.  They are also graded on food preparation safety as health is a big issue in the restaurant business.  She also competed in the State Tee Shirt design contest.
Overall, the students learned a lot and even though we were a young team and most students did not know what to expect as this was their first competition, I was proud of their accomplishments.  I am looking forward to next year.  I would also like to thank Mr. Ben Mills and his wife Nicki for helping drive and chaperone the students. I could not have made it all happen without them.  Thank you!
We would like to invite anyone that would like to know more about SkillsUSA and what it can do for them to stop by and talk to either Mr. Scott or one of the SkillsUSA members.  We will be glad to let you know what Skills has to offer.  Until next year, keep on learning and discovering new things and learning new Skills!
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Annual Agribusiness Banquet Successful

This year’s Jefferson County Agribusiness Banquet held on Friday, March 16, at Fairbury Junior-Senior High School was successful. The Jefferson County Agribusiness Banquet is an annual event organized by the Jefferson County FFA Alumni to give an opportunity for agriculturalists and business people to meet for an evening including a meal, awards and entertainment. The FFA is very involved – setting up for the banquet, serving the drinks, and cleaning up afterwards.

“The Fairbury FFA is proud to be a part of this annual event,” said Thomas Dux, Fairbury FFA Advisor. “It’s great experience and exposure for our chapter, and an enjoyable evening.”

This year’s banquet served about 325 guests, and had 35 local businesses serve as table sponsors and additional businesses as speaker sponsors.

The event is not designed to be a fund-raiser, but rather is a community service of the FFA Alumni. The ticket price assists with expenses.

“We are pleased to see this long-time tradition in Jefferson County,” said Lana Likens, Fairbury FFA Alumni secretary. “We are very appreciative of all of the work of our local FFA chapter to make it possible, as well as of the area businesses who serve as table sponsors and speaker sponsors.

The evening included Fairbury Public Schools Superintendent Steven Grizzle providing information on the Farm 2 School program, which provides locally raised beef and pork for the Fairbury School lunch program. He also honored donors to the program so far, and accepted a donation from the Fairbury FFA Alumni.

The Fairbury FFA Alumni Scholarship of $500 was presented to Ashley Griffey, who will be attending Southeast Community College-Milford.

Entertainment was provided by Dave Thorell, member of the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Thorell retired from dedicated service to rural listeners in 2016 after 42 years of service on KRVN in Lexington. Thorell speaks of agriculture and rural Nebraska with authenticity and humor.

The meal was catered by Ricky’s of Hanover, Kan.

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Students Break Out and Learn About Earth Day

Fairbury High School juniors in Mrs. Julie Petersen’s standards math class shouted expressions of success on Wednesday, April 25th, as they worked together to solve math questions and unlock their team box.  Working with data involving Earth Day and recycling, students completed research, answered numerous questions and opened four locks.  After opening the directional lock,  Mrs. Karen Dux told Olivia, Jade and Paige that “Collaboration is one of the most important skills of the 21st century.”  When you think out loud, the ideas start to flow and connect, directing you to success.

Teammates encouraged one another saying “You got it girl!  See how we need you?!”
Inspired by Earth Day that began April 22, 1970, this week students are answering the Project Based Learning question “How can one teenager make a difference in our local, national and global environment?”  One person can influence all of the data!
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National Library Week Activities at Jefferson Intermediate

Students at Central and Jefferson Intermediate celebrated National Library week April 8-14th.  Libraries aren’t just places to borrow books or study – they’re also creative and engaging community centers where students can collaborate using technology and develop their skills and passions.  During the last two weeks students explored creative MakerSpace Stations such as space building sets, puzzles, 3D pens and Breakout sessions. Contests and prizes were awarded throughout the week.

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Fairbury Job Fair

Please see the flyer for all details! We encourage you to spread the word! Employers enjoy having students attend and are looking to hire them, especially for summer jobs!

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