Brent Toalson

This week we hear an interview Jason Keese did with Brent Toalson, who is retiring next month after serving as the principal at Southeast High School for the past eight years. As you’ll hear, Brent has a passion for education and Southeast that will be greatly missed but always remembered. 

Interview with Azcia Fleming

This week we’ll hear an interview with Azcia Fleming, who recently graduated from Lincoln High. Jason got to know Azcia through her work on a communications diversity advisory committee and the annual MLK Youth Rally. She’s an incredibly thoughtful young woman and is destined for big things – as you’ll hear.

Interview with Oscar

This week we’ll hear an interview with Oscar Rios Pohirieth, the Cultural Specialist and Coordinator for the Bilingual Liaison Program at LPS . Oscar has a fascinating life story and he also talks about some of the many challenges faced by so many of our refugee families here in Lincoln, especially over the last few months.

Bryan, Yankee Hill virtual graduations

This week we hear inspiring words from the recent virtual graduation ceremonies for Yankee Hill Education Center and Bryan Community Focus Program. Their ceremonies included speeches from their principals, our superintendent, board of education members and of course, graduating students.

Chris Haeffner

This week we’ll hear an interview with Chris Haeffner, our director of Library Media Services. Chris and her team did an amazing job of pulling together online resources for families during remote learning at the end of the school year. She talks about what they did, how they did it, and what they’re still doing this summer.

Mark Larson

This week we’ll hear an interview with Lincoln High Principal Mark Larson. Jason had a chance to talk to Mark about what the last two months have been like as principal of the largest high school in Lincoln. They talked about those first days when COVID-19 reached Lincoln, the challenges of remote learning, potential silver linings from all of this, Zoom meetings and the future of his quarantine beard.

School Psychologists

This week we’ll hear an interview that our communications colleague BriAna Campbell did with Carrie Foster. Carrie is one of our special education supervisors at LPS and one of the groups she oversees is school psychologists, who play a critical role in the education of so many of our students. Just like all of our educators, they’ve had to adjust to working with students when they can’t meet with them in person. But as you’ll hear, they’re still working to meet the needs of students and families.

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week we’ll hear members of the Board of Education offer words of deep thanks to our teachers as part of National Teacher Appreciation Week, which was last week.

Coding with Carl

This week we hear about Matt Rinne, a computer science teacher at Pyrtle Elementary. Matt is creating these amazing 10-minute videos that teach elementary students the basics about computer science and coding. If you’ve ever watched any of Bill Nye’s videos, you can definitely see the influence. We are blown away by Matt’s videos. He spends as much as 30 hours a week making these and you can tell.

LPS Sharing Music

Episode 59 — April 27, 2020

This week we’ll hear about how LPS music teachers and students are spreading the joy of music by recording performances of themselves in their homes, which are then shared with local nursing homes whose residents are unable to experience live performances right now because of COVID-19.

• Inside the New Classroom: Moore Middle School
• Mickle honored as national Green Ribbon School
• Facebook: Embryology Week Two
• Relive: Earth Day 2020
• Music students, teachers perform for senior citizens – virtually

Episode 58 — Embryology

Episode 58 — April 20, 2020

After a long break as we adjusted to pandemic-life, we are back! Please accept our apologies for the sound quality — we still have some learning to do on that front, but we’re all lifelong learners right?! Today we get to hear about how our educators are stepping up to the challenge of teaching in this new environment we’ve all found ourselves in, including the continuation of a favorite elementary activity — the embryology unit!

Roper 25th Anniversary

Episode 57 — March 9, 2020

We have a number of schools celebrating anniversary milestones this year and the latest was Roper Elementary. It’s been 25 years for the school in west Lincoln and to mark the occasion they held an open house event on March 1st. We were there and we’ll listen to some of the guest speakers.

• • Thank You Teacher
  • Humann Teacher wins History Nebraska Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Scholastic Arts Awards Ceremony

Coming Up This Week

• It’s Spring Break!!
• Boys state basketball will be in town, using LPS facilities at Southeast and East high schools along with the Devaney Center and Pinnacle Bank Arena.
• District Speech will be going on this Saturday
• Then we’ll be into the 4th quarter! Hold those 4 fingers up high in the air!

Episode Transcript

Brian Fitzgerald
This is stories from Lincoln Public Schools Episode 57 for the week of March 9 2020.

Hello from Lincoln Public Schools. I’m Brian Fitzgerald.

Jason Keese
And I’m Jason Keese. Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools – our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the amazing place that it is. We have a number of schools celebrating anniversary milestones this year, and the latest was Roper Elementary. It’s been 25 years for the school in West Lincoln and to mark the occasion they held an open house event on March 1. We were there and we’ll listen to some of the guest speakers in a few minutes. But first let’s see what’s making news on lps.org.

We announced the winners of the annual Thank You Teacher contest on Thursday during a ceremony at the governor’s mansion. You can read the winning nomination letters, check out photos from the event and even watch a video coverage from the big day. One warning if you do watch keep your Kleenex nearby. A fourth grade teacher from Humann elementary was honored for the creative ways she teaches Nebraska history to her students. Stacey Haney won the History Nebraska Excellence in Teaching Award. Congratulations, Stacey.

And on our website, you also can find that which LPS students placed first at the Scholastic Arts Awards ceremony held in Omaha. 39 students earned a gold key award with a chance to move on to the national competition. You’ll also find photos of many of the winning pieces. As always, you can find all of this and much more on any one of our social media platforms.

Brian Fitzgerald
There’s a lot of great stuff going on this week… actually, I think I just said that out of habit. There’s not a lot of great stuff. Although…

Jason Keese
… Depends how you define great. Students would define this as…

Brian Fitzgerald
students would define this as the greatest because it is spring break week. So of course our schools are closed but offices are open so if you still have business to do with LPS we’re here.

Boys State basketball is going to be going on the latter half of the week. They’ll be using some LPS facilities will be at Southeast And East. And then of course, they’ll also be at the Devaney Center and Pinnacle bank arena. And then the end the week ends with district speech going on Saturday, and then we’ll be into the fourth quarter. So kind of like the football game, you can hold your four fingers up in the air and finish strong. That’s right. That’s what’s going on this week, Spring Break week at Lincoln Public Schools. You can view our calendars up at lps.org/podcast.

Jason Keese
Now let’s listen in on Roper elementary is 25th anniversary celebration. You’ll hear from Don Mayhew from the Lincoln Board of Education. Lee, a Roper student, Joy Citta, a retired Lincoln police officer, Tim Muggy, a former principal at Roper, and Cindy Williams, who has taught at Roper for 16 years and before that was president of the school’s first PTO.

Don Mayhew
Good afternoon. Thank you all for joining us on this beautiful day as we celebrate 25 years of excellence at Roper Elementary. Hulda Roper was such an incredible force for the children in our community, from her work as a police woman, which I think we’ll be hearing about in a couple of minutes. Her role in starting Cedars Home for Children. Her efforts, she started the juvenile court system. All of these things speak to her dedication to our community’s children, especially our kids who have had some big challenges in their life. I had the honor of representing the Roper community on the school board, and like the school’s namesake, Roper Elementary is dedicated to the growth and well-being of all of our children. That was true when the school first opened its doors in 1995 and it’s true today. Lincoln can be be very proud of the work that is happening in Roper’s classrooms. So on behalf of the Lincoln Board of Education, I’d like to thank the students, staff, parents and the community members who all play a role in making Roper Elementary a model of excellence. A school committed to meeting every child’s unique academic, behavioral, social, and emotional needs. Go rockets! Thank you very much.

Lane
Good afternoon. My name is Lane and I hope you’re enjoying this time. You’re watching Roper. At this time I would have introduced Joy Citta, who was retired captain for the Lincoln Police Department. Captain Citta is an expert on history of the Lincoln Police Department and has gathered a lot of information on Hulda Roper for whom it is named.

Joy Citta
Good afternoon. My name is Joy Citta. I am a retired Lincoln Police captain. I was with the police department here in Lincoln for 40 years. And I was most recently also the historian, so I have some information on Hulda Roper form whom your school is named. In 1944, Hulda was a Lancaster County Welfare caseworker. She attended a speech given by then chief of police, who would have been Joe Carroll. And he talked about the need for more police women on the department. Hulda was hired that year in 1944 to serve as a police officer and later Hulda was promoted to detective. Your school Roper Elementary is named for Hulda Roper. So you might ask why is that? Why would an elementary school be named for a police officer? Well, it’s because of Hulda’s love for children and her unwavering help that she gave to children here in Lincoln over her entire career and life. Hulda Roper was the 14th police woman on the Lincoln Police Department. She also refused to carry a gun, even though repeatedly, chief Carroll tried to give her one. She would have none of it and continued to refuse to carry a gun, instead wanting to rely on her wits and her conversational ability to handle situations. Hulda Roper was a driving force for the betterment of children in Lincoln, and is certainly a fitting name for your school. Congratulations on 25 years of Roper Elementary, and congratulations on being named after an outstanding dedicated woman for children here in Lincoln area.

Tim Muggy
In my mind school are much more than the brick and mortar that we have built. Schools are the kids who come every day and who worked very hard. They are the parents who support their kids and their children’s teachers every every day and working in partnership with the school. And of course, they are the staff members who work very hard. Teachers who work very hard, not only teaching reading, writing math, but other skills.

Cindy Williams
There are so many stories that span 25 years, and anyone who knows me can attest the fact that I love to share them. Roper started out as a medium-sized building with 15 classrooms, small smaller gathering rooms, and not near enough bathrooms to a school today that has more than doubled in size thanks to additions. But Roper is way more than walls. It’s a community — both educators and parents — that stood up and is still standing up to support the children that live in the greatest small town within Lincoln city limits. If you are here as a former staff, or retired member of Roper staff, I say thank you. Thank you for being there for the past 25 years supporting my children and the ones that followed as they learned and grew into the people they are now. If you are here as a student, or a parent of a student who graced the halls and expanded ropers great traditions, I say thank you. Thank you for being a part of Roper’s story. You made it better for being here. If you’re a student, or a parent of a student, now I say thank you. Thank you for continuing the stories. I challenge you to walk proudly as a Roper Rocket from the beginning has grown a wealth of great stories. And I can’t wait to hear the new ones created in the next 25 years.

Jason Keese
Well, I was at the Roper event and that was a lot of fun. One of the things I really love about these school anniversary events is they bring together neighborhoods. You could just feel it when you were there. There was so much pride at Roper about it being their neighborhood school and a lot of people that are talking about the store, remember so well, 25 years ago what a big deal it was that they didn’t have to walk so far drive so far to a school and that they could just walk, stay in their neighborhood.

Brian Fitzgerald
I think a lot of times, it’s finally getting a school in an area of town is like a validation like, hey, yeah, we’re here and we’re part of town, right, got our own school. And it’s something that everybody kind of centers around. So…

Jason Keese
Yeah, definitely.

Brian Fitzgerald
If there’s anything that you’ve heard today that you’d like to learn more about, there’s links to everything along with full links to our calendars at lps.org/podcast. If you’d like to subscribe and get notified every week when we put up a new episode, you can find us on your favorite service. We’re on iTunes, Spotify and Google podcasts. And you can find links to all those also at lps.org/podcast. And that is all the time we have for today. Thank you for joining us here at stories from Lincoln Public Schools

Teacher Appreciation Superintendent Spotlight

Episode 56 — March 2, 2020

Thursday is Nebraska Teacher Appreciation Day, so on this episode we’ll listen to the latest Superintendent Spotlight. Steve Joel talks about the powerful impact that teachers can have on students, families and communities.

• • ‘Really cool science’ at Park Middle School
  • Southeast hosts 9/11 survivor, honors theater’s namesake
  • High School Design Preview

Coming Up This Week

• Monday  3/2
  • Boys Basketball districts wrapping up Monday and Tuesday
  • 7pm – LNS N Live (also Tuesday)
  • 7pm – LSE/Irving Showcase Concert
• Tuesday 3/3
  • 7:30pm: LNE Theatre present The Bat by Mary Robert Rinehart at the LNE Drama Center
    • Continues through Friday
• Wednesday 3/4
  • 7pm: Singing Knights, Knight Sounds — LSE
• Thursday 3/5
  • Girls State Basketball starts, continues through Saturday
    • Games happening at Southwest, East, Devaney and Pinnacle
• Friday 3/6
  • Last day of 3rd Quarter and Beginning of Spring Break
• Sunday 3/8
  • Daylight Savings Time starts!

Episode Transcript

Brian Fitzgerald
This is stories from Lincoln Public Schools Episode 56 for the week of March 2 2020.

Hello from Lincoln Public Schools. I’m Brian Fitzgerald.

Jason Keese
And I’m Jason Keese. Welcome to stories from Lincoln Public Schools. Our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the amazing place that it is. Thursday is Nebraska Teacher Appreciation Day, so in this episode, we’ll listen to the latest Superintendent Spotlight. Steve Joel talks about the powerful impact that teachers can have on students, families and communities.

But first, let’s see what’s making news on LPS.org. Speaking of great teachers, we just posted a story and video about a Park Middle School teacher who’s piloting some cutting edge science curriculum, as he says “It’s really cool.”

LPS released the initial designs for the two new high schools. We have a special web page where you can check out the site-plan documents and watch a rendered fly-through video of what’s inside of the new schools will look like.

And we also have a story about a great event hosted recently by Southeast High School. A 9-11 survivor spoke to students about his experience in New York City that day. His talk held special significance for Southeast. The school’s theatre is named after Jennifer L. Dorsey-Howley, a 1985 graduate who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. Family and friends of hers also spoke at the event.

And as always, you can find all of this and much more on any of our social media platforms.

Brian Fitzgerald
Here’s some things going on this week at Lincoln Public Schools…

Boys Basketball districts are wrapping up Monday and Tuesday. Also Monday, March 2 at 7pm, we have LNS N live up at North Star and also 7pm Southeast and Irving are having a showcase concert. Tuesday the 3rd at 7:30pm Northeast Theater presents The Bat by Mary Robert Reinhardt at the Northeast Drama Center and that continues every night through Friday. Wednesday, the 4th at 7pm we have Singing Knights, Knight Sounds over at Southeast. And on the 5th, girls state basketball starts and that of course continues through Saturday. At the time of recording. Northeast, East High, Lincoln High and Southwest are still in contention for that but we’ll see who’s going to be making it to the finals there. And games will be happening at Southwest, East, Devaney and at Pinnacle. And then on the 6th is the last today of the third quarter and of course the beginning of spring break comes with that. And Sunday, March 8th, remember daylight savings time starts and so we spring ahead. This is the one where you lose an hour so…

Jason Keese
Boo

Brian Fitzgerald
Boo? But you get the evening sunlight which I cannot wait for so that’s some of what’s going on this week and Lincoln Public Schools you can view links to more academic, activity and athletic calendars at lps.org/podcast.

Jason Keese
Now it’s time to listen to the latest episode of Superintendent spotlight, which shines a light on the power of public education and the impact of a good teacher.

Mindy Burbach
Hello, I’m Mindy Burbach, communications director for Lincoln Public Schools. Welcome to Superintendent spotlight an opportunity to sit down with Dr. Joel twice a month and hear about the latest going on in our district. Welcome, Dr. Joel.

Dr. Steve Joel
Thank you, Mindy.

Mindy Burbach
And we have a lot to celebrate this week. This week is National Public Education Week. Public Schools week. Next week we get to honor Nebraska teachers on Tuesday. Its Nebraska teacher recognition day and the next Thursday, we are honoring five of our teachers with one of my favorite events: Our Thank you teacher event where we invite teachers in and we get to recognize them at the governor’s mansion. We have selected five award winners. And so let’s start with National Public Education Week. Why is public education so important, not only for our community but for our state and for our nation.

Dr. Steve Joel
Well, you know, as a history major, I always go back to a quote that Thomas Jefferson said years and years and years ago, you know, when we’re trying to form this country, and that is that the backbone of democracy is going to be education. And so you know, when you build it off of that premise, the most important thing that a society can convene or conveyed to their children is an education so that they become better citizens, they can become an educated electorate, they can realize their dreams in terms of what they want to do with their life. Without education, you know, you don’t have any of that. So, you know, fortunately in this country, we have continued to be the backbone doesn’t mean that we’re not being challenged by you know, certain issues and you know, very, very often when there’s a something that has to be addressed as a society, education is often given the instructions on you know what people think we should do to that, but at the end of the day, it’s reading and writing and arithmetic. Now we’re throwing 21st century skills, you know, collaborative collaboration, communication, critical Thinking, decision making, you know, all of those things are important too. So, you know, we do a great job and LPS, you know, our kids get our high quality education. I often say when I speak at graduation, this diploma carries some weight. I mean, you, you have you have a high degree, we have a high degree of graduation requirements. And we often hear from our students that have gone off and done some really good things that they’re prepared for college.

Mindy Burbach
And you’ve heard that I mean, you’ve talked about that before, where you go out every time you go out into the community and you run across a student, you ask them about their school experience, or where they went to school, and you’ve heard how it’s prepared them for the next step.

Dr. Steve Joel
And you know, about the only negative that I get sometimes we my wife and I were out to eat, or about two weeks ago, and waitress came over and I just said, So did you go to an LPS school which I was there and you know, Linda rolls her eyes kind of like, Oh, here we go again. And she said, Yeah, I did. And she told me the high school and I said, Well, how do you feel that it’s prepared you knowing that she’s waiting tables, and she said, You know, I wish I would have taken better advantage of the opportunities that I had, and so many of her friends have gone off and done some things and she was she was in her mid 20s. So she’s trying to go the non-traditional route. So I really think it’s one of those things. We’re trying to work hard with our children to say take advantage of what you got it because this is a golden opportunity to get a tremendous education from some of the best instructors in the entire country.

Mindy Burbach
And part of the strategic goal and the goal the board has set forth is that 90% on-time graduation rate, and we’re striving to it. What efforts are we doing to get there?

Dr. Steve Joel
Well, it comes down to one to one relationships, right? So you know, we have an awful lot of children that are dealing with challenging baggage and you know, latest poverty rates 45 or 46%. And we have high mobility and so, you know, we have kids that are adjudicated in the court system. So you know, we now pinpointed you know who those students and aren’t making it — what can we do to help them make it but you know, at the end of the day, school is hard, right? So you know, you can’t come to school and be a chronic, be be enrolled and be a chronic truant. We have an awful lot of kids that miss 20 or more days. And it’s very, very difficult for teachers to be able to get them caught up. So you know, what we’re trying to do is what are agencies that we can partner with in the community that can help us get these children and we know we get them here, we can create relationships for them, but I’ll tell you down the road, what we’re really starting to look at our focus programs, that we’re going to be able to introduce kids to their, to their interests, and perhaps help them explore different ways for them to express their creativity. And I think that’s going to be exciting. I’m looking forward to April, when we put these focus new focus program packages together, and we’re able to talk about these great community partnerships. Hopefully, some of our students that are less inclined to achieve academically may be inclined to achieve, you know, working with their hands or working in technology or, you know, aviation at North Star, which isn’t any secret. So, you know, we get a lot of good things on a plate, but you know, at the end of the day, students have to come, parents have to be accountable for getting them here. And then, you know, we got six and a half hours to work with them, you know, so it’s, it’s this onus on us,

Mindy Burbach
And so it takes our staff and we have a lot of dedicated staff that work with our students and build those relationships. Our teachers play a really important role in providing those opportunities for our students. Why do you think it’s so important that we honor teachers in their work as we’re planning to do next week

Dr. Steve Joel
The most important function that we have some classrooms, right? So all of all of the rest of us are our job is to support instruction. If we didn’t have great teachers in front of our kids, that we wouldn’t have the results we have. So we’re very, very thankful that, you know, LPS is a destination location, meaning that a lot of these young people are graduating from colleges in the area, want to come to Lincoln Public Schools, and as we look at our, you know, 30-year litany of employees, many of them stay. And so I was looking at a statistic the other day where 40% of the teachers in America — in America — that start a first year don’t see a fifth year, and so I went down and Dr. Webber’s office I you know, where do we compare here, I always think we’re better while we are 11%. So you know, people come here, they just stay. We hear constantly from teachers that we support instruction, better from whence they came if they came from another district. But you know, as you know, there’s there’s always financial challenges with that to a class sizes are really good. But at the end of the day, you have to have a skilled practitioner in front of that classroom who loves kids, who meets kids where they are, that are culturally proficient than our content masters, and have multiple strategies to deliver instruction, and when I go visit schools on a regular basis, that’s what I see.

Mindy Burbach
Wonderful. So do you remember a particular teacher that made an impact on you?

Dr. Steve Joel
Yeah, it was Mr. Adler, my sixth grade kind of math science teacher and he was… and in I grew up kind of want to be a police officer and major league sports player and he was the one that told me Ds in math are not going to even get me the major leagues. And so I always… he was a motivator. You know, he was one of those guys that taught you a hard yelled at you in class, but at 3:30 went in the gym and would beat you up on the basketball court. And it was all about kind of teaching us how to become young men. And, you know, so he’s somebody I always look back on and say, you know, thank you for that. And then I lost track of him. Funny side of that story is he didn’t like… I didn’t know until I got my master’s degree and became a principal that he hated administrators while he was a teacher. He just felt like they got in the way at too many rules. And when I got my master’s degree, I just sent him a copy of it. And I said, I just want to say “thank you” and he sent it back to me with his picture sitting in his classroom. And he said, the next time you you pick on a poor teacher, that’s just working their tail off, I want you to look at the smiley face and remember me because quite frankly, we need more teachers and less administrators. I never forgot that either. It didn’t stop me from, you know, pursuing my journey. But he was just one of those guys that kids meant everything to him, and you know, and broke the rules. And he didn’t he didn’t worry about the ramifications of breaking the rules.

Mindy Burbach
Sounds wonderful. Thank you for sharing that story. Well, now so the favorite part of our program where we get a question from one of our students, this one comes from Eva, a sophomore at East High School.

Student
My name is Eva. I’m a sophomore at East. And if you could teach any subject for any grade, what would it be?

Dr. Steve Joel
Well, either that’s a great question. I’m a I’m a history, political science kind of major-minor. And I can tell you that teaching Junior Achievement right now, I’m not doing a very good job of following the scripted materials because there’s so much happening in our world today, that when you teach history teach PoliSci or you teach economics, you have the ability to take what’s happening as we speak, meld it into a lesson. And at the end of the day, hopefully your students, like yourself Eva, are becoming critical consumers of information so that you can make your own educated decisions as you begin to process what’s happening. And I think that’s really our role in school and we have to try to do it in an unbiased way. Which sometimes it’s very, very difficult because you know, we we are informed, but I would, I would walk into any political science class history class, economics class, tomorrow and and just have a ball.

Mindy Burbach
Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thanks, Eva, for your question. That’s all the time we have for today. Thank you for joining us.

Jason Keese
Well, I really liked Eva’s question Brian, so I’ll throw it to you. If you could teach any subject, any grade level, what would it be?

Brian Fitzgerald
You know, I think I would probably go towards some sort of, you know, computer programming, computer applications

Jason Keese
Very on-brand.

Brian Fitzgerald
Right, right. You know, I’ve, in the past been able… to have the opportunity to do some things with our , what used to be called the ITFP program, the focus program, and it was so fun to work with those students to do some digital design. So I think that’d be a fun thing to do all the time. How about you?

Jason Keese
Oh, I probably have an obvious choice like you did probably a journalism advisor, something like that. Plus, I feel like you know, when they’re in a when they choose to take journalism, they’re probably they probably already have a maybe not necessarily a passion but an interest in that. So I, I would question my ability to inspire students unless they were already interested in what I was teaching. So all this all this is probably just a way of saying that it’s, it probably worked out well that I’m not a teacher.

Brian Fitzgerald
Well thank you to all of our teachers.

If there’s anything that you’ve heard today that you’d like to learn more about, there’s links to everything along with links to our full calendars on our podcast page at LPS.org/podcast. Also, if you’d like to subscribe and get notified each week when we push up a new episode, you can find us on your favorite podcast service. Links to all those are also at LPS.org/podcast. And that is all the time we have for today.

Thank you for joining us here at stories from Lincoln Public Schools.

Post-Bond Issue: What’s Next?

In this episode we listen to the latest episode of Superintendent Spotlight, where Steve Joel and Director of Operations Scott Wieskamp discuss next steps now that the bond issue has passed.

• • 2020 Bond Issue
  • Learning Lunch — We the People
  • Jaime Bodecker, Nuernberger Education Center interview

Coming Up This Week

• Monday  2/24
  • 7pm – LSE Jazz Bands Concert
  • 7pm – LSW Band and Orchestra Concert
• Tuesday 2/25
  • PLC Day – Early Dismissal
• Wednesday 2/26
  • 6:30pm – LSW All Choir Concert
• Thursday 2/27
  • State Swimming and Diving Championships
    Thursday and Friday: Devaney Center
  • 6pm: The Jungle Book Kids at Everett Elementary
  • 7pm: LHS Theatre: The Music Man
  • 7pm: LNS Theatre: Matilda
  • 7pm: LSE Orchestra and Lefler Orchestra Concert at LSE
• Friday 2/28
  • All Day: UNL Honors Strings
  • All Day: UNO Jazz Festival
  • 7pm: LHS Theatre: The Music Man
  • 7pm: LNS Theatre: Matilda

Nuernberger Education Center Principal Jaime Boedeker

Jason Keese interviews Jaime Boedeker, the principal at Nuernberger Education Center. Jaime talks about his journey to LPS, what they do at Nuernberger, misconceptions about their students and how he deals with the stress of such a demanding job.

• 2020 Bond Issue
• U.S. education official lauds LPS special education, early childhood programs
• Moore sixth-grader wins LPS spelling bee

Coming Up This Week

• Monday  2/17
  • President’s Day – Schools in elementary schools are not in attendance
  • 7pm: East high bands concert at EHS
  • 7:30pm: LSE Percussion ensembles and wind ensemble concert
• Tuesday 2/18
  • 12pm: LPSDO Learning Lunch: We the People — The Citizen and the Constitution. Jaci Kellison, K-12 curriculum specialist for social studies will be discussing the opportunities that LPS Government students have to showcase their civic and constitutional knowledge through the “We the People” program and competition.
  • 5:45pm: Girls Basketball LSW at LHS
  • 7:30pm: Boys Basketball LSW at LHS
• Wednesday 2/19
  • 7pm: LSW Jazz Band Concert
• Thursday 2/20
  • State wrestling at CHI Health Center in Omaha (Through Saturday)
• Friday 2/21
  • Speech tournament at EHS
• Saturday 2/22
  • LPS Vocal/Instrumental Solo and Ensemble Contest at LSE

African-American Read-In

In this episode we listen to a couple performances from this year’s African-American Read-In event held at LPS District Office. You’ll hear a North Star High School student perform the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and a group of students from Belmont Elementary School read parts of the poem “The Undefeated,” by Kwame Alexander.

• African-American Read-In
• Service learning fairs
• Community Partnership Award
• Ghost Boys

Coming Up This Week

• Saturday  2/8
  • Southwest Showdown Show Choir Contest at LSW
  • 9am: Wrestling: LHS Invitational w/ LSE, LSW and Papillion-LV South 
• Tuesday 2/11
  • 7pm: Lincoln East Orchestra Cadenza Concert
• Thursday 2/13
  • District musicians will be participating in the Wesleyan Honors Festival through the 15th
  • Swimming and Diving: Heartland Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships
  • 7pm: Nite of Knights Variety Show. Over 60 years of Singing, dancing, light shows, comedy, short plays, rock bands, and skits
  • 7:30pm: Girls Basketball: LSE at LHS
• Friday 2/14
  • Valentines Day
  • Swimming and Diving: Heartland Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships
  • 5:45pm: Girls Basketball: LSW at EHS
  • 7pm: EHS Theatre: Cabaret: A Tribute to Theater
  • 7pm: Nite of Knights
  • 7:30pm: Boys Basketball: LSW at EHS

Superintendent Spotlight – Student Questions

Today, we’ll listen to the latest episode of Superintendent Spotlight, our biweekly online interview show with Superintendent Steve Joel. He talks about the power of public education as we celebrated I Love Public Schools Day this week, and he answers a series of questions from students.

• LPS, LES partnership powers valuable physics lesson
• Three world language teachers named best in the state

Coming Up This Week

• Saturday  2/1
  • 5PM: Reception for FiberFest Exhibition by Arts and Humanities at Lux Center for the Arts
    • Show runs through February
  • Spartan Spectacular Show Choir Event at East
  • Speech contest at LNE
  • Debate at LHS
• Tuesday 2/4
  • 5pm: Wrestling: EHS and LSW at LNS
  • 5:30pm: Swimming/Diving: LHS at LNS
  • 5:30pm: Swimming/Diving: LNE at EHS
• Wednesday 2/5
  • 12-1pm: African-American Read-in at LPS District Office
• Thursday 2/6
  • 5:30pm: Swimming/Diving: LSW at LSE
• Friday 2/7
  • 5:45pm: Girls Basketball: LNE at LNS
  • 7:30pm: Boys Basketball: LNE at LNS

Transcript

Brian Fitzgerald
This is stories from Lincoln Public Schools Episode 52 for the week of February 3 2020.

Hello from Lincoln Public Schools. I’m Brian Fitzgerald.

Jason Keese
And I’m Jason Keese. Welcome to stories from Lincoln Public Schools. Our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the amazing place that it is. Today, we’ll listen to the latest episode of Superintendent spotlight. Our biweekly online interview show with Superintendent Steve Joel. He talks about the power of public education as we celebrated I Love Public Schools day this week and he answers a series of questions from students. But first, let’s see what’s been making news on LPS.org.

Something we just posted yesterday. There are nearly 900 wind turbines operating in Nebraska providing more than 14% of the state’s energy. Now thanks to a partnership with Lincoln Electric System, a group of physics students at North Star High School recently learned firsthand what it takes for a turbine to produce all of that energy. LES provided physics teacher Karen Koval and her students all of the supplies necessary to construct and test energy produced by miniature turbines. Students use supplies such as paper plates, compact discs, construction paper and masking tape to create blades they attach to a turbine roughly 12 inches tall. It’s one example of the many partnerships LPS has with businesses and community organizations.

Three LPS world language teachers were honored as the best in the state. The Nebraska international languages Association honored Jamie Holbein Swanson from northstars, the 2019 Spanish teacher of the year. Sasha Van Zandt from Southwest High School was named the 2019 French teacher of the year, and Kelleen Browning, a German teacher at Southeast High School won the 2019 New Language Teacher of the Year award which recognizes someone who shows great promise during their first five years of teaching.

Remember, you can find all this and much more on any one of our social media platforms. Our colleague, BriAna Campbell does a great job and she’s constantly adding new content to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Brian Fitzgerald
A lot of things going on the calendar this week.

Starting Saturday, February 1… Can you believe we’re in February already? 5pm there is a reception at the Lux Center for the Arts. And there is a show being done by arts and humanities called FiberFest. It’s an exhibition there. That’s going to be running the entire month of February. So if you can’t be there Saturday, don’t worry. You can catch it all through the month. But there’s a reception there – 5pm Saturday afternoon. There is a show choir event called the Spartan Spectacular going on at East. There is a speech contest at Northeast and debate at Lincoln High School. That is all going on Saturday the first. Then we’re going to jump to Tuesday, the fourth — we have wrestling — East High and Southwest at North Star — so a three school wrestling meet there — 5pm on Tuesday. Then two swimming and diving meets at 5:30pm. We have Lincoln High at North Star and Northeast at East High. Wednesday, the fifth right here at the LPS District Office on O Street. At noon, we have the African-American read-in and it’s a great event that happens every black history month every February, where we have folks from all around the community come in and share some of their great some other favorite African-American pieces of literature. So please come and join us for that. Thursday, the sixth 5:30 in the afternoon swimming and diving that’s Southwest at Southeast. Then at the end of the week, Friday, February 7, we have a pair of basketball games. Both are Northeast at North Star. The girls are playing at 5:45 and the boys are playing at 7:30. So that’s some of what’s going on next week at Lincoln Public Schools, you can view more of our academic, athletic and activity calendars at lps.org/podcast.

Jason Keese
Now it’s time for the latest episode of Superintendent spotlight, which includes Steve Joel answering a series of student questions. Let’s take a listen.

Mindy Burbach
Good morning. Welcome to Superintendent spotlight. I’m Mindy Burbach, communications director, and this is an opportunity every two weeks where we get to sit down with Dr. Joel to talk about hot topics around the district. Welcome. Dr. Joel.

Dr. Steve Joel
Thanks Mindy! Great to be here.

Mindy Burbach
Thank you. So today we have a special show. We’re going to do mostly student questions. But first, I have to ask you, you’re wearing a Lincoln High shirt and we’re celebrating I Love Public Schools Day. Tell us about the shirt. How did you get it?

Dr. Steve Joel
Well it worked out very, very well. I visited Lincoln High today. I met with faculty at 7:15 till about eight. And then they presented me with the shirt, which I appreciate principal Larson doing that and it fits very well. I do have a lapel – I Love Public Schools. I was wearing that on my coat. And then I had an opportunity to meet with about seven or eight of the students that wanted to talk to the superintendent, which I always do when I visit secondary schools including middle. We just had this great conversation about education and what LPS meant and what Lincoln High meant, and it never fails to motivate me even more to the best job I can, when I want to have a chance to interact with young people that are consuming what it is that we offer. They have had success. They love their teachers, you know, Lincoln High is a special place because of the, you know, the cultural openness that they have and the diversity that is represented by the student body. And I asked them questions like, how did you make the decision to come to Lincoln High? I mean, it was just Dr. Bob Rauner was with me, and we were both just mesmerized with how intelligent these young people are and really how important LPS has been to them and how complimentary they are to our schools.

Mindy Burbach
I love going out and especially when you I’ve been with you when you’ve talked to students and listening to those tough questions that they have for you as well. It’s not just the questions you have for them, but they ask you some tough questions as well.

Dr. Steve Joel
They really do and we got a couple today. I mean, you know, it’s honestly about recruiting diversity in our adult ranks that came up and I shared with them, you know what our efforts are. That’s part of our strategic plan and, you know, the challenges that come with that. And then I said to every one of them in the room that you all need to be teachers. I mean, this will help us a lot in our diversity numbers. But a couple said, “Well, I’m thinking about it.” So I, you know, these are just great interactions. And you know, I know that most people really believe public education is excellent in Lincoln, and you know, but I, but I can tell you this, that gets reinforced many, many times when you start talking to the students that are going to be graduating, and each one of these kids are going to go off and do some incredible things.

Mindy Burbach
And why is I mean, you mentioned public education. Why is public education so important to not only our community, but our state and our country?

Dr. Steve Joel
Well, you know, as we say, many, many times here all means all. So every young person that makes it their way in our schools, they get the very, very best of what we have. And when a student has a high school diploma, particularly from Lincoln Public Schools, it carries a lot of weight, and it opens up a lot of doors, you know, and it used to be that you didn’t need a high school education in order to get an entry level position someplace. But that’s not the case anymore because of how society has evolved. So even more importantly, students have to, I mean, they just don’t have much chance of being successful without it. And, you know, it’s a community responsibility. I mean, you know, it goes back to Thomas Jefferson days when he said, education is the backbone of American democracy. Right? So you know, we still are and and so every community and every state has as a primary responsibility of making sure that education is well funded, and that the doors are open for every single student. And it’s changed so much over the years, right. I mean, we can look at specialized departments, we can look at, you know, new accountabilities and requirements. And, you know, at the end of the day, it’s about each student being successful.

Mindy Burbach
That’s great. And now, as promised, it’s our favorite part of the show where we have student questions. We have five student questions for you today. Some of them might be a little tough. All right. The first one is from Emerson fourth grade student from Arnold Elementary.

Emerson from Arnold
Hi, I’m Emerson. I’m in fourth grade and I go to Arnold Elementary School and I wanted to know if you’ve ever gone ice skating before.

Dr. Steve Joel
Oh, great question Emerson. So I grew up in New York where, where my dad was this big New York Ranger fan. And, you know, every winter when the ice was thick enough, we found a pond and we went out and played and I thought I was pretty good hockey player actually, was going to try for the high school hockey team decided not to. And then I tried and I when I left, graduated high school, never never ice skated again. And then about three, four years ago, I put skates on with my granddaughter’s down in the Haymarket, and I couldn’t walk for about a week. So you know, my ice skating career is over. I love ice skating, being outdoors. Lot of fun, thanks for the question.

Mindy Burbach
A lot of great things to do even in the wintertime in Nebraska. Thank you, Emerson. All right. Our next question is from Reise. He’s a fifth grade student student at Belmont.

Reise from Belmont
My name is Reise and I’m a fifth grade scholar at Belmont. My question is what challenges did you face growing up?

Dr. Steve Joel
So challenges that I faced growing up were, I was a pretty shy kid. Primarily because my, my dad had such a dominant personality. And as I look back, and and so trying to come out of that shell was probably the most difficult thing for me. Fortunately, sports was kind of my gateway. And, you know, and that opened up a lot of doors. other challenges where, you know, I recognize pretty quickly, I was really good in certain subjects, and I wasn’t so good and other subjects. And so I had to figure out how to become better in subjects that I wasn’t very good in, because I wanted to be the very first child in my extended family, not just my immediate family to go to college. And so, academics was a little bit tough for me, particularly math and science. But I excelled in language arts and history, and I became a history teacher.

Mindy Burbach
So you found a way to overcome those overcome those challenges.

Dr. Steve Joel
I found a way to covercome them.

Mindy Burbach
Thanks, Reise. Alright, our next one is from Carlos, an eighth grader at Park Middle School.

Carlos from Park
Hi, my name is Carlos. I’m in eighth grade and I go to Park Middle School and what I want to ask you is How did football help out your career in the future?

Dr. Steve Joel
So that’s a great question. Thank you. I don’t get asked that very much. I discovered football in midget leagues back in New York. I mean, that was the one thing my father let me participate in. And I absolutely love the sport, not only from the standpoint of you can go out there and, and tackle people, but from the standpoint of what a team sport, when you think about 11 people that either have to move the ball forward or move the ball or stop the ball from moving forward. It created this synergy that I couldn’t replace anywhere in my life. So, you know, I decided early on I think I was a better baseball player in high school and it was a football player. And I had more scholarship offers in baseball, but I thought when the football opportunity came, I wanted to continue with that sport, and so my best friends today are my high school football mates and my college football mates. And while we’re a whole bunch older now and of course the stories are more vivid. The end of the day is the experience of what we had working together as a team to solve issues and solve problems is something that I’ve been able to take with me throughout every step of my career.

Mindy Burbach
And football is the reason why we have you here in Nebraska now.

Dr. Steve Joel
Yep, yep. Football scholarship. Doane College, 1972 from New York, radical move. That’s a whole other interview someday but best thing that ever happened to me.

Mindy Burbach
Great. Thank you, Carlos. Alright, our next question is from Taniiya, a Belmont fifth grade student.

Taniiya from Belmont
Hi. My name is Taniiya and I’m a fifth grader and I’m from Belmont Elementary School. My question is to you since your job is so time consuming, when do you get free time and what do you do with it?

Dr. Steve Joel
I love that question. Thank you. You’re Right. This time of year, there’s not a lot of free time we’re actively engaged in, in messaging a school bond issue. But what I like to do in free time, I’ll just give you my Saturday, Saturday mornings on my best day. I wake up typically early. I read the paper, I’m not rushed to get to work or a couple of cups of coffee, I go to the gym for about an hour and a half. Come back, you know, my wife and I always create this little list of things we want to accomplish on weekends, try to get through those as quickly as possible. I like to watch sports on TV. I’ve got about three books that I’m halfway through that one of these days I’m going to finish. So I spent a lot of time my grandkids when I can, in fact, this weekend, you know, I’m going to get some grandkid time. So I am able to say that while it’s not entirely balanced, I do make sure that I step away from the job enough that I enjoy what my family life offers, but also the things that I like to do personally

Mindy Burbach
Important to find that balance. Thanks Taniiya. All right, our last question is Omar, a fifth grade scholar from Belmont Elementary?

Omar from Belmont
Hi. My name is Omar and I’m a fifth grade scholar at Belmont. My question is, what’s the hardest part of your job and why?

Dr. Steve Joel
Omar, that is a really, really good question. You know, I love the work that I do. So I would say that on any given day, there’s one or two challenges that I have to try to meet and overcome, that. I might have said, boy, I really wasn’t ready for that one today. You know, it could be could be the calling of a snow day it could be, you know, could be an angry patron. That’s, that’s having a bad experience with Lincoln public schools. Those are hard. But I am so fortunate with what I’m doing. But I can honestly say this, I have never gotten up in the morning not wanting to come to work. In fact, sometimes over long weekends, you’re not going to want to hear this as a student. I really wish we had school because I get a little bit bored at home. So I love the work that I do. But the tough things that I have to do is when I have to say No to people, or I can’t give somebody you know the solution or the answer that they’re hoping for and you know, that happens pretty frequently.

Mindy Burbach
Well, thank you for your time today and answering these student questions. We appreciate it. And thank you for joining us. We’ll see you again in a couple of weeks.

Jason Keese
Be sure to check out the next episode of Superintendent Spotlight on Wednesday, February 12.

Brian Fitzgerald
And if you’re following us on Facebook, that might pop right up on your phone saying hey, we’re live so stop whatever you’re doing, tell your boss you’re busy and catch Superintendent Live. If there’s anything you’ve heard today, you’d like to learn more about, there’s links to everything along with links to our full calendars on our podcast page at lps.org/podcast, of course, a lot of those stories that Jason talked about earlier right up at LPS.org. If you want to subscribe and get notified each week when we put up a new episode, you can find us on whatever your favorite podcast service is. If we’re missing, let us know and we’ll get it up there too. Otherwise, you can find links to that lps.org/podcast. That’s all the time we have for today.

Thank you for joining us right here at stories from Lincoln Public Schools.

Lunchroom Chats

Today, you’re in for a real treat. Our fellow communications team member Caitlin Lukin rang in the new year by visiting lunchrooms in schools across the city. She asked students from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade about their hopes and goals for the new year and the new decade. Topics included martial arts, unicorns and ninjas who fight garbage!

• Eighth-graders experience Jr. ROTC focus program
• Scott Middle School honors community leader Nate Woods
• Students ‘Walk Together’ to honor MLK’s legacy

Coming Up This Week

• Saturday  1/25
  • All Day: Speech contest at LSW
  • All Day: Debate at LNS
  • 9am: Wrestling (multiple schools) at LNE
  • 3:15pm: Girls Basketball: LHS at EHS
  • 3:30pm: Girls Basketball: LNE at LSE
  • 5pm: Boys Basketball: LHS at EHS
  • 5:15pm: Boys Basketball: LNE at LSE
• Sunday 1/26
  • 3PM: Winter Winds Festival at UNL’s Kimball Recital Hall
    arts.unl.edu/music
• Monday 1/27
  • PLC Day: Early Dismissal
• Thursday 1/30
  • 5:30pm: Swimming & Diving: LHS at LSE
• Friday 1/31
  • 5:45pm: Girls Basketball: EHS at LSE
  • 5:45pm: Girls Basketball: LSW at LNS
  • 7:30pm: Boys Basketball: EHS at LSE
  • 7:30pm: Girls Basketball: LSW at LNS

Superintendent Spotlight

Today, we’ll listen to the latest episode of Spotlight Superintendent, in which Steve Joel shares some important information about the upcoming bond election on February 11th.

• Scott Middle School honors community leader Nate Woods at annual MLK event
• Irving students step up for service learning project
• 2020 Freedom Breakfast honors Martin Luther King Jr.

Coming Up This Week

• Saturday  1/18
  • 8am: Spartan Debate Invitational at East High
  • 10am: Lincoln High Swimming and Diving Invitational
• Monday 1/20
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Schools not in session
  • Martin Luther King March and Rally
    • Rally 9am at UNL Union Ballroom
    • March from UNL to Capitol around 11:30
    • https://mlkweek.unl.edu/
• Tuesday 1/21
  • 5:30pm: Swimming and Diving: EHS at LHS
  • 5:30pm: Swimming and Diving: LSE at LNE
• Wednesday 1/22
  • 7:30pm: Wrestling: LSE at LSW
• Thursday 1/23
  • 5pm: Wrestling: LNE and EHS at LHS
  • 5:30pm: Swimming and Diving: LNE at LNS
  • 6pm: Bond Informational Session at LNE
  • 7:30pm: Boys Basketball: LNE at LSW
• Friday 1/24
  • East is participating in the UNL Winter Winds Festival
  • 5:45pm: Girls Basketball: EHS at LNS
  • 7:30pm: Boys Basketball: EHS at LNS
  • 7:30pm: Girls Basketball: LNE at LSW

Marco Pedroza

Today, we’ll listen to an interview with Marco Pedroza, the principal at Scott Middle School. Marco talks about his non-traditional path to the principal’s office at Lincoln’s largest middle school. He’ll also answer one of the most confounding questions of our time: would he pick super strength or the power to be invisible.

• One hour at Dawes
• Northeast special education students open thriving snack business for staff
• The ride of a lifetime

Coming Up This Week

• Saturday  1/11
  • Midwest Cup Show Choir Contest at UNL
  • 7pm: LSW Varsity Concert Choir doing a joint concert with Nebraska Wesleyan Choirs at First Plymouth
• Sunday 1/12
  • 3pm: Lincoln Youth Symphony fundraiser “LYS Goes to the Movies” at the Rococo Theatre. Learn more at lincolnyouthsymphony.org
• Tuesday 1/14
  • Learning Lunch: information session about the bond issue featuring Liz Standish, associate superintendent for business affairs. Happens in the board room at the District Office near Cotner and O. Will also be live-streamed on Facebook and our website.
• Thursday 1/16
  • 7pm: Boys Wrestling: East at Southeast
• Friday 1/17
  • 4:30pm: Swimming and Diving contest at Lincoln High School

Board Preview Live — Bond Issue, Celebrating Success, Ballet, Safety Training

Today, we’ll listen to the December 10th episode of LPS Live, Board Preview, when members of the Board of Education discussed their agenda items related to the bond resolution they ultimately approved at their meeting.

• Celebrating student success
• Backstage at the Ballet visits Lakeview Elementary
• LPS, Region V partner for vital school safety training

Arts and Academic Calendar

• Thu and Fri
  • LHS Art Show in the LHS Library Library
• Thursday 7pm
  • Lincoln East Show Choir Showcase
  • LSE Jazz bands I, II, III Concert
• Friday
  • Speech at Lincoln High School
  • 7PM: LSW Show Choir Concert
• Monday
  • 7PM: LSW Concert Choirs Holiday Concert
  • 7:30PM: LSE Winter Choral Concert
• Tuesday
  • PLC Day — Early Dismissal

Athletics Calendar

• Thursday
  • 5:30pm Swimming Diving, LNS at EHS
  • 7:30pm Boys Basketball, LNS at LHS
• Friday
  • 7:30pm: Girls Basketball, LNS at LHS
• Monday
  • 5:30pm Swimming Diving, EHS at LSE
• Tuesday
  • 5:30pm Swimming Diving, LSW, LNE at LHS
  • 7pm: Wrestling: LSW at LNE

Superintendent Spotlight, Reading, Music, AP District Honor Roll

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the wonderful place it is… Today, we’ll listen to the latest episode of Superintendent Spotlight with Steve Joel, with host Mindy Burbach, recorded on November 26th.

On LPS.ORG

• Addition to reading program already showing results in kindergarten, first grade
• LPS students earn all-state, children’s choir honors
• LPS earns spot on AP District Honor Roll for gains in student access and success

Arts and Academic Calendar

• 🎓 Thu and Fri
  • Southeast Fall Art Show in LSE Art Studios
  • LHS Art Show in their Library
  • High School Plays including Second Samuel at Lincoln High, The Last Illusion at North Star and A Christmas Story at Southwest High School
• Monday Evening, East, Southeast and Southwest have winter band concerts
• Tuesday evening, east choral concert
• Wednesday evening, southwest jazz
• Tuesday evening, the 10th, board meeting, voting to approve purchase of new high school sites discussed at last board meeting
• See more on the Arts Calendar

Athletics Calendar

• Wrestling
• Boys and Girls Basketball
• Monday afternoon, Unified Bowling State Tournament at Sun Valley Lanes
• Heartland Athletic Conference Calendar

Superintendent Spotlight, TED, Culinary Conference

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the wonderful place it is… In this episode we catch up on the latest Superintendent Spotlight!

On LPS.ORG

• Students learn history of Rome, plan future of Lincoln
• The Career Academy hosts annual Culinary Conference
• Lincoln High teacher’s TED Talk resonates, goes viral

Arts and Academic Calendar

• 🎶 Friday at 4:30pm: LSW Varsity Concert Choir performance for the Nebraska Music Education Association at St. Paul Church downtown
• 🎓 Tuesday PLC Day — Schools dismiss early
• 🎭 Lincoln High One-Act Festival (multiple schools)

Athletics Calendar

Monday (11/25)

• 🎳 Unified Bowling
  • 3:30pm LHS vs EHS at Hollywood
  • 3:30pm LSE vs LNS at Sun Valley Lanes
  • 3:30pm LNE vs LSW at Parway Lanes

Tuesday (11/26)

• 🏀 Girls Basketball
  • 6pm Waverly at LSW

The Career Academy

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the wonderful place it is… In this episode we hear from the director of The Career Academy, Dah Hohensee, as he speaks with board member Don Mayhew in last night’s Board Preview Live.

On LPS.ORG

• Special guest conductor visits North Star orchestras
• Lincoln Public Schools staff, students honor Veterans Day
• Two from LPS honored with national teaching award

Arts and Academic Calendar

• 🎨 Thursday from 3:15 to 5pm: Lincoln Northeast Fall Art Show in the LNE Library
• 🎶 Saturday at 7pm: Night at the Acropolis X in East High South Gym – East Music Dept fundraising showcase, 3 stages, an MC, Dessert, Soloists, and all East music Groups
• 🎤 Tuesday at 12pm: Learning Lunch: Meeting the Needs of All Students: Supporting our Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
• 🎭 Tuesday at 7pm: EHS Theatre Presents Rumors of Polar Bears in EHS Auditorium

Athletics Calendar

Wednesday (11/13)

• Unified Bowling
  • 3:30pm LNE vs LNS at Hollywood
  • 4pm LHS vs LSE at Sun Valley Lanes

Monday (11/18)

• Unified Bowling
  • 3:30pm LNE vs LHS at Hollywood

Wednesday (11/20)

• Unified Bowling
  • 3:30pm EHS vs LSE at Parkway
  • 3:30pm LSW vs LNS at Sun Valley Lanes

Goodrich Middle School 50th Anniversary

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the wonderful place it is… Today, Mindy Burbach, Jason Keese, and BriAna Campbell take us to the sounds of the 50th Anniversary Open House at Goodrich Middle School.

On LPS.ORG

• One hour at Meadow Lane, a lifetime of lessons
• Schoo librarian awarded national fellowship with global focus
• Bubba’s Closet bundles 400 students in warm clothing
• Elliott’s Lewis named paraeducator of the year

Arts and Academic Calendar

• 🎶 Saturday, 2pm: Marching Bands at the Veterans Day Parade near the State Capitol

Athletics Calendar

Friday (11/8)

• In State Playoffs
  • 🏈 7:00pm: #2 Lincoln Southeast vs. #7 Omaha Westside

Lanny Boswell

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the wonderful place it is… Today, Communications Director Mindy Burbach talks with Board of Education President, Lanny Boswell about his children who attended Lincoln Public Schools and his experience serving on the board.

On LPS.ORG

• From Olympians to Dragons, Goodrich celebrates 50th anniversary
• CLCs celebrate 20 years with family-focused event

Arts and Academic Calendar

• 🎭 Tomorrow, Halloween, EHS Theatre presents Bye Bye Birdie in the East High Auditorium at 7pm
  • Continues Friday and Saturday at 7pm
• ⏰ Time Change Sunday Morning.
  • Set clocks back one hour
• 🎶 Sunday 3-4pm: Lincoln Youth Symphony Concert in LSW Auditorium

Athletics Calendar

Friday (11/1)

• In State Playoffs
  • 🏈 7:00pm: #15 Omaha North at #2 Southeast at Seacrest
  • 🏈 7:00pm: #11 Lincoln Southwest at #6 GI 
  • 🏈 7:00pm: #13 Lincoln East at #4 Bellevue West

 

Community Learning Centers

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make LPS the wonderful place it is… Today we are going to join Lincoln Board of Education member Don Mayhew as he speaks with Community Learning Center director, Nola Derby-Bennet.

On LPS.ORG

• 2019 LPS Marching Band Invitational
• Reunification drill the latest effort to keep students safe
• Belmont’s Zabel honored as Nebraska school psychologist of the year

In the Arts

• 🎨 Friday: 5-7pm, Arts and Humanities Focus Program Art Show
  • Hor D’oeuvres will be provided!
• 🎶 Saturday: All Day: Nebraska State Bandmasters Association (state competition) Marching Band competition
  • Details at NSBMA.ORG
• 🎓 Tuesday: PLC Day — Early Dismissal

In Athletics

Thursday (10/24)

• 🏐 5pm: Heartland Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament
  • At Southwest High School
• 🏈 7pm: LSW vs LHS at Seacrest

Friday (10/25)

• 🏈 4:30pm: LSE vs LNE at Seacrest

Monday (10/28)

• 🎳 3:30pm Unified Bowling: LSE vs LSW at Parkway

Tuesday (10/29)

• 🏐 Volleyball Districts

Wednesday (10/30)

• 🏐 Volleyball Districts Continue
• 🎳 3:30pm Unified Bowling: EHS vs LNE at Hollywood Bowl
• 🎳 4pm Unified Bowling: LNS vs LHS at Sun Valley Lanes

 

Superintendent Spotlight

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make Lincoln Public Schools the wonderful place it is. In this episode we hear from Superintendent Steve Joel and Communications Coordinator Mindy Burbach as they present the latest Superintendent’s Spotlight. Also, Jason Keese joins the podcast to share his stories of the week!

On LPS.ORG

• Astronomy Night at Beattie Elementary features telescope with special meaning for teacher
• Irving art teacher honored as best in the state

In the Arts

• 🎓 Today is the last day of the 1st quarter!
• 🍁 Fall break on Thursday and Friday
• 🎓 Next Monday starts the 2nd quarter
  • Elementary students not in attendance while staff have a plan day
• 🎶 LPS Marching Band Contest
  • Saturday at Seacrest beginning at 11:15am
  • $8 for adults, $5 for students
  • Class AA bands, which include LPS high schools is scheduled to start around 2:15
  • Wraps up with awards around 5:15pm

In Athletics

Wednesday (10/16)

• 🥎 State softball going on today in Hastings
  • North Star and Southwest both playing in the tournament as we record
  • Tournament will continue through Friday

Thursday (10/17)

• 🎾 State boys tennis happening at the Koch tennis center in Omaha Thursday and Friday
• 🏃‍♀️ Cross Country Districts at Pioneers at 3pm

Friday (10/18)

Saturday (10/19)

• 🏐 

Sunday (10/20)

Monday (10/21)

• 🏐 6pm Heartland Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament
  Location TBA
  • Continues 5pm on Tuesday

Tuesday (10/22)

 

 

 

Educational Service Units

Welcome to Stories from Lincoln Public Schools…our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make Lincoln Public Schools the wonderful place it is… In this episode we learn about a critical element of K-12 education in the State of Nebraska: our Educational Service Units or ESUs and specifically, Lincoln’s ESU 18.

On LPS.ORG

• Tackling two-step word problems at Prescott
• Potential Bond Issue Information
• 2019 LPS State Accountability Report

In the Arts

• 🎭 LNE: The Mother of Us All by Gertrude Stein
  • Wednesday at 7:30
  • Thursday at 7:30
  • Friday at 7:30
• 🎶 Links Marching Band Competition
  • Saturday, All Day at Beechner
• 🎤 Learning Lunch
  • Tuesday: “ABCs of Teaching English to Immigrant/Refugee Students”
• 🎓 Last day of 1st Quarter
  • Next Wednesday

In Athletics

Thursday (10/10)

• 🏐 6:30pm: LNS at LNE
• 🏐 6:30pm: LSW at LHS

Friday (10/11)

Saturday (10/12)

• 🏐 12pm: Lincoln Northeast and Southeast participating in a Double Dual tournament at Northeast

Sunday (10/13)

Monday (10/14)

• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: EHS at LSW

Tuesday (10/15)

• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LSE at LNS

 

 

 

Sustainability

This is Stories from Lincoln Public Schools, our podcast that gives you an inside look at the people, activities and programs that make Lincoln Public Schools the wonderful place it is. Today we hear more about our sustainability program at Lincoln Public Schools

On LPS.ORG

• LPS Student Enrollment Continues to Grow
• Hands-on science at Pound Middle School
• Science Focus Program celebrates new home

In the Arts

🎭 LHS: Dracula: A Comic Thriller starring Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson

• Thursday at 7
• Friday at 7
• Sunday at 2

🎭 LNS: Peter and the Starcatcher

• Thursday at 7
• Friday at 7
• Saturday at 7

🎭 LSW: And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank

• Thursday at 7
• Friday at 7
• Sunday at 2

🎭 LSE: Sense and Sensibility

• Thursday at 7:30
• Friday at 7:30
• Sunday at 2

🎶 EHS at UNL Men’s Choral Festival

• Monday at 6:30

🎭 LNE: The Mother of Us All by Gertrude Stein

• Tuesday at 7:30
• Wednesday at 7:30
• Thursday at 7:30
• Friday at 7:30

Coming up in Athletics

Thursday (10/4)

• 🏈 7pm: LNS vs EHS at Seacrest

Friday (10/5)

• 🏃 4pm: LPS Cross Country Championships at Pioneers Park
• 🏐 4pm: Lincoln Northeast VBall Invitational at Northeast

Saturday (10/6)

• 🏐 9am: Lincoln Northeast VBall Invitational at Northeast

Sunday (10/7)

Monday (10/8)

• 🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: LHS v EHS at Woods

Tuesday (10/9)

• 🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: LSW v LSE at Woods
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LHS at EHS
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LNE at LSW

Dungeons and Dragons

Today we have a feature by our Caitlin Lukin on an after school club at Northeast High School!

On LPS.ORG

• Family Literacy event combines fun and games, career and community
• Nebraska’s ESUs serve students, educators, school districts

Calendar

Thursday (9/26)

Friday (9/27)

🎾 9am: Boys Tennis: North Star Invitational at Woods

Saturday (9/28)

🥎 9am: Lincoln Southeast Invitational: Doris Bair

Sunday (9/29)

Monday (9/30)

🥎 7pm: EHS Jazz Band, Singers and Orchestra Concert

Tuesday (10/1)

🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: LNS v LNE at Woods

🥎 5pm: Softball: LNS v LSE at Doris Bair

🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LSW at LNS

Calendars

• Arts Calendar
• Heartland Athletics Conference
• LPS Academic Calendars

Mary Kay Roth

Today we have a special guest! Mary Kay Roth is the director of Communications. You’ve heard her on Stories from Lincoln Public Schools before doing the superintendent spotlight. She has also done other features in past years called Final Words were she talks with outgoing high school seniors and retiring staff to get their final thoughts. Mary Kay is retiring at the end of September and we want to get HER final words!

Calendar

Thursday (9/19)

• ⛳ morning: Girls varsity golf at Mahoney golf course
• XC: 3:30: Pioneers Park
• 🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: EHS v LNE at Woods

Friday (9/20)

• 🏐 3PM: LPS Championship Tournament at LSE and LSW
• 🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: EHS v LSE at Woods
• 🏈 7pm: LSE vs EHS at Seacrest

Saturday (9/21)

• 🏐 8:30am: LPS Championship Tournament Continues at LSE and LSW

Sunday (9/22)

Monday (9/23)

• 🥎 5pm: Softball: LSE v LNE at Doris Bair
• 🥎 5pm: Softball: LSW v LSE at Doris Bair

Tuesday (9/24)

• PLC Day — Early Dismissal
• ⛳ 9am: Girls varsity golf at highlands golf course
• 🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: LNE v LHS at Woods
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LSE at LSW

Patriotic Holidays

Today we feature last night’s Board Preview Live broadcast which focuses on some of the patriotic holidays, including Patriot Day, Constitution Day and Veterans Day we observe within Lincoln Public Schools. Board Member Don Mayhew interviews our social studies curriculum specialist, Jaci Kellison and Schoo Middle School 6th grade teacher (and former police officer) Ryan Treat.

On LPS.ORG

• LPS composting program feeds school gardens, teaches valuable lessons
• Big Ticket Week

Calendar

Thursday (9/12)

• ⛳ 9am: Girls varsity golf at Highlands golf course

Friday (9/13)

• 🏈 8pm: LSW vs EHS at Seacrest

Saturday (9/14)

Sunday (9/15)

Monday (9/16)

• 🎾 8:30am: Boys Tennis: LNS, LSE and EHS at Woods
• 🥎 5pm: Softball: EHS v LHS at Doris Bair
• 🥎 5pm: Softball: LSW v LSE at Doris Bair

Tuesday (9/17)

• 12pm: Learning Lunch: 17 Digital Protections: How LPS Cares for Our Online World
  • Join the Lincoln Public Schools Educational Technology Team for a walk-through of the invisible but critical ways we care for our kids in the online world. Presenters: Chris Pultz, Tim Hahn, Jarred Rowe, all from LPS Computing Services.
• 🥎 5pm: Softball: LNE v LSW at Doris Bair
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: EHS at LNE

Superintendent Spotlight

Today we feature this week’s Superintendent Spotlight with Steve Joel! He talks about the role of a superintendent and what his typical day looks like. He also previews the work that the Board of Education has before them over the next couple of months as they process the report from the Superintendent’s Facility Advisory Committee.

On LPS.ORG

‘Walk Together’ and celebrate 25th anniversary of MLK Youth Rally and March

Calendar

Thursday (9/5)

• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LNE v LSE at LSE

Friday (9/6)

• 🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: EHS vs LNS at Woods
• 🏈 4:30pm: EHS vs LNE at Seacrest
• 🏈 8pm: LSE vs LSW at Seacrest

Saturday (9/7)

Sunday (9/8)

Monday (9/9)

Tuesday (9/10)

• 🥎 5pm: Softball: LNS vs LSW at Doris Bair
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LNS v EHS at EHS
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LNE v LHS at LHS

Superintendent Facility Advisory Committee Recommendations

During last Tuesday’s Lincoln Board of Education meeting, the Superintendent’s Facility Advisory Committee delivered their report. In today’s podcast we are feature our LPS LIVE Board Preview with the chairs of that committee.

Highlighted Stories

• Erks named Nebraska school social worker of the year

Coming Up in the Arts and Intracity Athletics

Thursday (8/29)

• ⛳ Girls varsity golf at Highlands golf course
• 🎾 4pm: Boys Tennis: LHS v LNS ! Woods
• 🥎 5pm: Softball: EHS vs LNS @ Doris Bair
• 🥎 5pm: Softball: LNE vs LHS @ Doris Bair
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: LSE v LHS at LHS

Friday (8/30)

• 🏃4pm: Rocket XC Challenge at Pioneers Park
• 🏈 7pm: LSW v LNS at Seacrest

Saturday (8/31)

• 🎾 8am: Boys Tennis Invitational at Woods
• 🥎 All day: LPS Softball Invitational at Doris Bair

Monday (9/1)

• Labor Day — Schools not in session

Tuesday (9/2)

• ⛳ Girls varsity golf at Highlands golf course
• 🎾 8am: Boys Tennis: LNS v LSE at Woods
• 🏐 6:30pm: Volleyball: EHS v LSE at LSE

View more on our calendars!

• 📅 Academic: https://home.lps.org/calendars
• 📅 Arts:  https://home.lps.org/communitycalendar
• 📅 Athletics: https://heartlandathleticconference.org

Community Learning Centers

In this episode we learn about Lincoln’s Community Learning Centers from their director Nola Derby-Bennett. 

LPS preschool program kicks off the new year

• School for most of our students started early last week, but last Thursday was the first day of school for our over 1300 pre-schoolers!

Community Learning Centers open at Randolph, Northeast, Lincoln High

• Three new Community Learning Centers!
  • Randolph Elementary
  • Northeast High School
  • Lincoln High School
• You will hear more about these directly from their director, Nola Derby-Bennett very soon!

Learning Lunch: Bond elections of 1919,1924

• The first of our 2019-2020 Learning Lunches
• Featured Ed Zimmer, Historic preservation planner for City of Lincoln talking about bond issues from a century ago

LPS In the News

• We are often featured in local print, television and radio media and we like to show these on our site!
  • Zoo Schoolers get acquainted with new digs (journal star)
  • First day of kindergarten jitters for students and parents alike (10/11)
  • How to bring immigrant families into schools (newamerica.org)

Construction Club prime example of CLC community partnerships

Welcome Back Students!

We’re Back! Over 42,000 students returned to our buildings this week and it’s impossible to not notice the energy that they have brought back with them. Today we talk about the first week, an award winning teacher at the Career Academy, next week’s learning lunch and we get to hear from board members Don Mayhew, Lanny Boswell and our superintendent Steve Joel.

• First Day Photos!
• TCA Teacher Honored with Award for Courage in Education
• Steve Joel welcomes students back

New Teacher Breakfast

It’s Episode 30! This week, all staff are back in our buildings preparing for students… and MONDAY, all kindergarten through 9th grade students will be staring the 2019-2020 school year. Last week we had new teachers learning about Lincoln Public Schools which is the feature of our podcast this week.

On LPS.ORG

• Fuel for a new school year
• A message from LPS Superintendent Steve Joel
• Don’t forget that you can now verify your student’s information online!

Summer School and Superintendent Spotlight

Episode 29 is a double feature! Caitlin Lukin catches up with high school students as they finish summer school and Communications Director Mary Kay Roth sits down with Steve Joel for the year’s first Superintendent Spotlight.

Mindy and Brian also highlight stories from our website that include Courageous or Comfortable: Administrators asked to decide, and a special welcome back video from the executive team.

Don’t forget that you can now verify your student’s information online!

Northeast High School Graduation Speeches

Today in episode 28, Brian and Mindy listen to the graduation speakers from Northeast High School: Kate A. Schoening, Wendy F. Forlemu, and Bouthaina H. Ibrahim. Also hear about news stories from our website about First Job Lincoln and a national award winning student baker, Hanna Christainsen

On LPS.ORG:

• 1st Job-Lincoln prepares students for IT careers
• Career Academy student wins national baking competition

 

Southwest High School Graduation Speeches

Today in episode 27, Mindy and Caitlin listen to the graduation speakers from Southwest High School: Aila Ganic and Violet Hudson. Also hear about news stories on our website about a Southwest grad leaving her mark on Northeast Lincoln and summer school graduation. Also new this year, online student verification!

On LPS.ORG:

• Southwest grad leaves her mark in northeast Lincoln
• Families can now verify information online
• Students close the book on a busy summer of learning

 

Southeast High School Speeches

Today, in episode 26, we hear from 3 Lincoln Southeast High School graduation speakers: Hannah Johnson, Nevaeh Madlock, and Helen Howard. We also hear about a summer school class that uses art to bring awareness to alzheimers and builds bonds between students and those afflicted with the disease.

Lincoln High Graduation Speeches

Today, in episode 25, we hear from 4 Lincoln High School graduation speakers: Hasan Jabbar, Sophia Olson, Khloe Menagh and Angelina Tran. We also hear about the Summer Technology Program which has just celebrated its 21st year.

Lincoln East Graduation Speeches

Today we hear from 3 Lincoln East High School graduation speakers: first from friends Turner Linafelter and Cole Alfred and then Hailey Haar. We also hear about Students honored for art at star-studded national event and the proposed 2019–2020 budget about which Liz Standish just gave a presentation to the Lincoln Chamber.

LNS Graduation Speeches

We have several special things going on with today’s podcast! Fitzgerald is joining Mindy and Caitlin remotely from Scottsbluff, Nebraska where he is taking part in Tour de Nebraska bike ride, attendees from the Say What communications conference say “Hi!” and we hear from North Star commencement speakers, Kaylie Trumble and Rourke Jensen.

On LPS.ORG

• LPS drama students star at state theater awards show
  • Omaha Performing Arts presented its Nebraska High School Theater Academy Showcase on June 7. More than 70 schools from across the state competed at the event, held at the Orpheum Theater.
  • Schools won awards for their productions and students from Lincoln Public Schools playing a starring role, winning numerous awards:
  • Congrats!
• Summer school at Huntington Elementary
  • Photo gallery thanks to Jason Keese (Keys)
• 2018-19 Foundation for LPS Educator Awards
  • See all of the award winners from the 2018-19 school year
  • Congrats!

String Cleaning

Summer is a time both a time when we take a breath after the completion of another great school year and a time when we prepare for the new year that’s just weeks away. Today we are checking in on some of that preparation as school instruments get their summer adjustments.

On LPS.ORG

• Stanford study is latest LPS effort to teach digital citizenship
  • One of only two school districts in country to participate in a Stanford University research study which gathered classroom feedback about teaching effective online fact-checking skills
  • The Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) provided six lesson plans on “civic online reasoning” to six LPS high school social studies teachers during second semester of the recent school year.
• Communications Say What Annual Workshop
  • Friday, June 21 from 7:30 to noon at the District Office
  • Learn more at LPS Keyword “Say What”

Eagle Feather

In today’s episode we get to meet a recent graduate from Northeast High School who took part in the Eagle Feather program as part of graduation.

On LPS.ORG

• Special ceremony honors Bryan Community graduates
  • Approximately 55 seniors from the Bryan Community Focus Program crossed the stage at Lincoln East High
  • Penrod explained why the Bryan mascot of the Phoenix is an important reminder for students.
    • The Phoenix represents a symbol of renewal, of overcoming darkness and succeeding.
  • “Many of our graduates have experienced their own personal darkness. Some had given up countless times, some had many people give up on them. A few were told they would never graduate. And a few more experienced loss, failure and bad luck. However challenging these situations were, our graduates chose the option of renewal, of taking advantage of an opportunity to atone for past mistakes and missteps,” Penrod said.
• East history teacher wins prestigious fellowship
  • Alise Pape, a history teacher at Lincoln East High School, has been awarded a James Madison Fellowship, one of only 53 awarded nationwide.
  • She can use the $24,000 prize toward earning an advanced degree that includes a concentration of courses on the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution.
  • “Neither of my parents have college degrees, and obtaining my master’s degree has always been a goal of mine so this all still feels surreal,” said Pape, who will continue teaching at East while pursuing her master’s degree in American History. “I am so fortunate to be offered this fellowship and to be given the opportunity to become a more well-rounded educator for my students. This application started as a desire to be a better educator, and now I am humbled receive this opportunity so that I can better serve my community and my students.”

Calendar

• Board Meetings
  • June 11: Work Session at 4:30 and Regular Meeting at 6pm
• Communications Say What Annual Workshop
  • Friday, June 21 from 7:30 to noon at the District Office
  • Example Sessions
    • Another Crisis, Another Plan
      • Another school year, another list of calamities and predicaments, another year of essential emergency communication. Let’s have some fun remembering back over a year of successful crisis communications (and perhaps a couple that didn’t quite work).
    • Beatles, Bee Gees and Beyonce, Communicating and Managing Generational Differences
      • Understanding the intricacies and key differences among generations is important as we navigate an ever changing economic and political landscape.  Come hear what motivates and drives the three largest generations in today‘s workforce.
      • Presented from the unique and entertaining perspective of a boomer, a GenXer and a Millennial.
    • Branding: Be Your School’s Brand Manager
      • A brand is more than just your logo or motto.  It is also about the perception your school creates in the minds of your students, parents and neighborhood when they see your name and logo.  Every school has a story, and everyone who comes in contact with your school comes away with that story. So what story does your school tell? Learn ways to keep your image consistent so your brand can be immediately recognizable. We’ll give you some quick fix ideas as well as some long-term goals to solidify your school’s brand in-house and in our community.
    • Podcasting: Pocket-Sized Information Sharing for Those on the Go
      • Grocery stores, weight rooms, gyms, sports field and on the road … everywhere you look people are plugged in to their podcasts! How can you tap into this trend and share beneficial information with the masses? Our communications team will share their tips and tricks on equipment and content.
• Learn more at LPS Keyword “Say What”

Pomp and Circumstance

In today’s episode we do something a little bit different. We hear an amazing story from Caitlin Lukin as she meets with the Southwest Orchestra as they prepare their musical selections for graduation… and after that Mindy and Brian go head to head in a trivia game about Pomp and Circumstance.

On LPS.ORG

• LPS Multicultural Leadership Institute stresses equity, accessibility
  • 25th annual Multicultural Leadership Institute on Tuesday
  • Theme of “Equity in Action”
  • Joel: “One of our priorities this year will be equity and accessibility for all students. We have a duty to continue our journey to understand where kids are so we can understand where we are going to take them.”
  • Featured diversity author and speaker Susan O’Halloran
• Graduation Ceremony photos and videos coming soon to photos.lps.org

Episode 19: Students Who’ve Been There

This week, Caitlin Lukin spends time with 5th grade, 8th grade and 12th grade students asking their advice for incoming elementary, middle and high school students!

Highlighted Stories

• VOICE program celebrates graduates
• Yankee Hill grads: ‘It’s not how you started, it’s how you finished’
• Lots of reading leads to sticky situation at Rousseau
• Final Words Videos
• Last Day of School Activities

Coming Up This Week

Thursday (5/23)

• Last day of classes for students!

Sunday (5/26)

• High School Graduations!
  • Noon — North Star at Pinnacle
  • 1:30pm — Lincoln East at Bob Devaney
  • 3:00pm — Lincoln High at Pinnacle
  • 4:30pm — Southeast High at Bob Devaney
  • 6:00pm — Southwest High at Pinnacle
  • 7:30pm — Northeast High at Bob Devaney
  • Remember! all will be streamed on our website and on LNKTV
    • Links to the streams will be available on the graduation page
    • Links to the streams will be available through Lincoln Public Schools’ Facebook page and each high school’s Facebook page
    • For the first time, the ceremonies will be available on LNKTV. Pinnacle Bank Arena ceremonies will be shown on LNKTV-Education (Allo 23, Spectrum 1303, Kinetic 1080) while Bob Devaney Center ceremonies will be on LNKTV-City (Allo 2, Spectrum 1300, Kinetic 1005).

View more on our calendars!

• 📅 Academic: https://home.lps.org/calendars
• 📅 Arts:  https://home.lps.org/communitycalendar
• 📅 Athletics: https://heartlandathleticconference.org

Episode 18: Native American Youth Grant

Today we sit down with the new Native American Youth Grant Coordinator for Lincoln Public Schools.

Highlighted Stories

• Belmont Elementary earns national award for its work with students
• Arts & Humanities seniors present capstone projects
• Final Learning Lunch features student mariachi music
• 2019 Graduation Ceremony Information

Coming Up in the Arts and Intracity Athletics

Thursday (5/16)

• Class A State Tennis is going on at the Koch family tennis center at tranquility park in Omaha

Friday (5/17)

• Track and Field championships happening at Burke High School in Omaha — continues through saturday

Monday  (5/20)

• 7pm: LSW Theatre: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — also Tuesday

Tuesday (5/21)

• State Golf at Norfolk Country Club — through Wednesday

Thursday  (5/23)

• Last day of class for students!

View more on our calendars!

• 📅 Academic: https://home.lps.org/calendars
• 📅 Arts:  https://home.lps.org/communitycalendar
• 📅 Athletics: https://heartlandathleticconference.org