Continued on page 2

Thoughts of a Superintendent From the Desk of Fred Helmink

SUPERINTENDENT - FRED HELMINK ASSIST. PRINCIPAL/ACTIVITIES DIR

JR./SR HIGH PRINCIPAL - JEFF VETTER P.J. SMITH

JEFFERSON INTERMEDIATE PRINCIPAL CENTRAL ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL

JEREMY CHRISTIANSEN TAMMI MANS

CALENDAR

EVENTS

APRIL 3

NO SCHOOL

SPRING BREAK

APRIL 6

NO SCHOOL

SPRING BREAK

APRIL 14

5-6 GRADE CON-

CERT

6:00

APRIL 14 & 16

1ST GRADE PRO-

GRAM

APRIL 18

PROM

APRIL 23

NO SCHOOL PREK-6

PLANNING DAY

1:00 DISMISSAL 7-12

DISTRICT MUSIC

APRIL 24

NO SCHOOL

DISTRICT MUSIC

FAIRBURYFAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLSPUBLIC SCHOOLS

APRIL 2015

Annual Report Card – Part II:

On behalf of the Fairbury School District

and the Board of Education, I am proud

to present Part II of the 2014-2015 annual

report card. Please look it over carefully

and call my office if you have any ques-

tions about data or information shared.

Thanks again for your part in supporting

our schools and making Fairbury a great

place to live and work.

As you can see on the next two charts,

the general fund levy and the levies for

all funds combined have decreased sig-

nificantly over the years. In 1990, the

overall combined levy was nearly $1.72

and during the current fiscal year, it

is .975 cents, which is an all-time low.

The general fund levy has fluctuated up

and down, depending on the state aid re-

ceived, but recently the general fund levy

has been under $1.00 and this year stands

at .942 cents. The general fund levy has

averaged over $1.10 for the past twenty

years and the overall levy has averaged

nearly $1.23 during that time. The Fair-

bury district has no bonded indebtedness

for buildings except for a .30 cent levy

for the Qualified Capital Purpose Fund

Thoughts of a Superintendent, continued from page 1

which is used for building infrastructure replacement and repair. With the antici-

pated final loss of all equalization aid from the state, the general fund levy will

likely continue to drop if agricultural land valuations continue to increase.

Total Combined Levy 1991 - 2015

Total General Fund Levy 1998 - 2015

PTA FUN NIGHT

The PTA’s annual FUN NIGHT is almost here! All Fairbury children and fami-

lies are invited to attend this year’s FUN NIGHT celebration Friday, April 10th

from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the ’47 Gym. Carnival-

type games will begin at 6:00 p.m. and tickets will

be sold until 8:00 p.m. Ticket prices for the games

are four (4) for $1.00. Lots of delicious treats will

also be available for

purchase.

Come join us for FUN NIGHT on April 10th! Partici-

pation in our annual night of fun and games is not only

entertaining, but also supports the continued efforts of

the Fairbury PTA to provide quality enrichment pro-

grams and experiences for children in our schools. We

look forward to seeing you there!

ACT – National Test The ACT measures the skills and higher order thinking necessary to be successful

in college. As a group, Fairbury student have consistently scored above national

averages and typically also score the Nebraska state average. In 2013, there was a

new baseline for the ACT that included scores of students requiring special accom-

modations, so those results should not be compared to earlier years. As you can

see from the data, Fairbury students did extremely well on the assessment this year

and had an all-time high for an average score at 22.9!!!

NeSA Competition Teams set for Junior High by Jeff Vetter, FHS Principal

Every spring students across the state of Nebraska take the NeSA (Nebraska State Assessment) test. This is a standardized test and the results for grades 4, 8, & 11 are publicly reported for each school district. Standardized tests are a constant in education, but depending on the perspective of the stu-dent taking them, may or may not reflect their true abilities. I could discuss various thoughts on these tests, but I prefer to share something we are doing at FHS to try and help motivate students to put forth their best effort.

At the 7th & 8th grade level we have set up competition teams. This is some-thing we have done for a number of years, and the goal is to make it fun and potentially rewarding for our students. Using the previous years NeSA scores, we divide the teams as evenly as possible - this year there are eight teams with about 17 students per team. Each team is assigned a couple of teachers to lead them. Yesterday each team met with their coaches to brain-storm and goal set. They brainstormed a name for their team, some are pret-ty original, and they also brainstormed and discussed four things they could do personally to help them perform better on the NeSA test this spring. Each student was also given their results from last year and were asked to set a personal goal for this year’s test.

Since each team consists of students of all ability levels, every student has a chance to be on one of the top two highest scoring teams. All members of those two teams are guaranteed a trip to a Husker baseball game later

this spring, complete with a tailgate party. The remaining seats on the bus will be filled with the highest individual scorers who were not part of the two winning teams. With everyone having a chance to help their team win, we are hopeful that every student will be motivated to give their best effort on the NeSA test! For those 11th graders taking the test, the motivation is that we have allowed open campus privileges their senior year for all students who pass all the NeSA tests.

Staying In Touch With Your Child PJ Smith, Assistant Principal/Activities Director

I wake up in the morning, hop in the shower, get dressed, grab something to eat, tell my children and wife good morning, and run out the door. I get home at different times depending on what is going on that day. On a great day, I get home in time for supper. On a busy day filled with events, I get home af-ter 10 PM. There are many days that I see my children one time each morn-ing. I’m sure this sounds familiar to most of you as well! We have gotten so caught up and busy with work and stress that we have unintentionally devot-ed less and less time for family. It’s time to take a step back and get our pri-orities straight again. Watching your children grow, communicating with them on a daily basis, and staying highly involved in their life is what is im-portant. Some of my fondest memories are the things I did with my dad grow-ing up. We spent a lot of time together. Whether it was fishing, hunting, play-ing catch in the yard, going to games, you name it and we did it. He got to know me well. He was able to tell when I was hurting, and he was also able to tell when I did something I shouldn’t have! Because of this relationship, he has helped me grow into the man I am today. He is also the one I turn to no matter what.

Fast forward to today. Our lives have become so busy that the word “family” and what comes with it has been lost. We need to get this back! Our kids, whether they will admit to this or not, want to have their parents involved in their lives. They want us to hold them accountable. They want us to push them to succeed. They want to talk to us when something is wrong. But, in order to do this, we must set time aside to be with them on a daily basis. We must sacrifice our “busy lives” in order to make family time mandato-ry. Finding a way to do this will help our children succeed in life. It will ease the stress in their life because they will become closer with you and will have someone to turn to instead of trying to handle it themselves. Suicide rates are up with regards to teenagers. More and more teens are becoming addict-ed to drugs. Depression is becoming very common amongst chil-dren. Perhaps finding time on a daily basis to spend with our kids will help change the trends in these scary times!

So, I challenge each and every one of you! Demand it out of yourself to spend some quality time with your child on a daily basis. He or she may say “I don’t want to” at first, but don’t offer it as a yes or no, demand it. After a while, your child will look forward to spending this time with you, and in turn will have you to lean on. It’s this relationship that truly can have the most positive impact on a child’s life.

NEW SUPERINTENDENT SELECTED

On March 9, the Fairbury Board of Education formally approved the contract of

Stephen Grizzle to be the next superintendent of District #8. Stephen has been

the superintendent of the Pawnee City Public Schools for the last 6 years and

prior to that he served as principal in West Point, Nebraska for 7 years. Ste-

phen completed his undergraduate degree in Life Sciences from the University

of Nebraska at Omaha and taught and coached at Pawnee City for 7 years. He

also holds a Masters in Educational Leadership from Doane College and an Ed-

ucational Specialist degree from Wayne State College. He will begin his duties

in Fairbury on July 1.

Stephen’s wife, Gina Grizzle, is a housewife who enjoys substitute teaching

and volunteering in the community. The Grizzles have three children. Chase,

18, is a freshman at Morningside College in Sioux City, IA, majoring in Com-

puter Science. Chase is also a member of the Mustang basketball team at

Morningside. Trent, 15, is a freshman who is active in football, basketball,

track, One-Act, and enjoys playing the trumpet, tuba, valve trombone & bari-

tone. Zane, 11, is a 5th grader who plays football and basketball and also plays

the trumpet. He has also been involved in Reading Classics.

We would like to welcome the Grizzle family to Fairbury and look forward to

getting to know them personally once they join the community. Their family is

excited to begin a new chapter in their lives and is looking forward to making

the move to Fairbury!

Yee, Hah!!!

Kindergarten Roundup was held on Friday, March 20th for

next year’s prospective kindergarten students. Fifty-five

excited and anxious children participated in our half-day

morning Kindergarten Roundup session. Students were

eager to learn more about being a kindergarten student,

classroom expectations and activities. Roundup activities

included colors, shapes, alphabet, and number reviews,

physical education class, music class, art projects and

lunch.

An informational meeting was held on Tuesday, March 17 for parents and guardi-

ans to learn more about our Kindergarten program, expectations and registration

procedures. Our incoming Kindergarten students, the future Class of 2028, will

begin next year with around 62 students. These students will be shared among

three sections of Kindergarten teachers (20, 21, 21).

LIFE “Learning Independence through Functional Education”

The Fairbury Public Schools provides high-quality educational services to all

students, including those with significant developmental disabilities. Through

the district’s special education program, our schools maintain and provide educa-

tional support and related services for each identified student’s needs (e.g., cog-

nitive, social, medical and behavioral) with consideration of students’ ages and

grade-level placements. Students with disabilities are included in the general

education environment and curriculum to the greatest extent possible.

In 2006, the Fairbury Public Schools Board of Education endorsed the creation

of the LIFE Program “Learning Independence through Functional Education” (a

developmental learning program). The following program objectives were estab-

lished:

Improving functional core academic skills with a focus on reading, writing,

and mathematics.

Improving social and communication skills.

Participating in age and developmentally appropriate functional life skills

activities.

Increasing mobility within the community.

Improving self-determination skills.

Developing age-appropriate leisure and recreation pursuits.

The LIFE program has been developed to meet the individual learning needs of

students with moderate to severe disabilities that would benefit from participat-

ing in community-based instruction using a functional, life skills curriculum.

Instructional efforts and curriculum topics identified emphasize those significant

areas related to transition to adulthood and community living as reflected in stu-

dents’ individualized education plans. Such areas of emphasis include:

Functional Academics (e.g., personal finance, shopping/menu planning, environ-

mental print reading/comprehension)

Social Skills, Self-Advocacy, Relationships and Personal Boundaries

Household Living (e.g., chores, housekeeping)

Personal Safety and Emergency Awareness

Employment, Living Options and Transportation

Recreation and Leisure Activities

The LIFE Program is located at the Jefferson North site (former National Guard

Armory - 1010 K Street) and includes classrooms, laundry, kitchen, bathroom,

and gymnasium facilities. Our local program continues to successfully meet the

individualized learning needs of district students and also provides limited con-

tractual opportunities to eligible students from neighboring districts. For more

information, please contact Jeremy Christiansen, Principal/Director of Student

Services (jchristiansen@fairburyjeffs.org).

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Wear Blue on April 2nd

!!! All staff, students and families are en-

couraged to wear blue clothing to

school and throughout our community

on Thursday, April 2nd to help develop

greater awareness regarding Autism in

our schools and communities.

Each April 2, Autism Speaks

celebrates Light It Up Blue

along with the international

autism community, in com-

memoration of the United Na-

tions-sanctioned World Au-

tism Awareness Day. Light It Up Blue is a

unique global initiative that kicks-off Au-

tism Awareness Month and helps raise

awareness about autism. In honor of this his-

toric day, many iconic landmarks, hotels,

sporting venues, concert halls, museums,

bridges and retail stores are among the hun-

dreds of thousands of homes and communi-

ties that take part to Light It Up Blue.

Other upcoming activities that will be happening

for Central Elementary students include:

PTA Program/ Joe Odhiambo Wednesday, April 8

PTA Fun Night Friday, April 10

1st Grade Program 2:30 pm

Roelfs/Maschman Tuesday, April 13

Horky/Lucking Thursday, April 16

Earth Day Celebration Monday, April 27 & Tuesday,

April 28