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Ten students in 5th and 6th grade were selected to participate for Sing Around Nebraska 2016. Sing Around Nebraska is sponsored by the Nebraska Choral Directors Association and there are over 10 host sites and choirs across the state so that students from all over Nebraska can take part. Students auditioned in November and those selected rehearsed and learned the music during practices outside of the school day every week leading up until the choir festival day. The Fort Calhoun students that were selected attended the Omaha site held at Grace University. The choir took place on Saturday February 27th. Students rehearsed with over 100 other students from across the area during the day and put on a final public concert at 4:00 pm. Students who participated from Fort Calhoun were Katie Barta, John Doyle, Grace Genoways, Jesse Hartline, Cameryn Lewis, Kylie Perfetti, Payton Pohlad, Alayna Prunty, Morgan Therkildsen, Sophie Thomas.

On Thursday, February 25, Fort Calhoun Elementary had a special guest.
Magician, Sean Watson, performed for the students as a reward for their fall fundraising.  As a part of his show, Sean talked about the struggles he had in school and how magic helped him gain confidence. He reminded the students that they could do anything they put their minds to if they tried hard enough. The students and staff enjoyed the show and we even had a few students get to help out.

The Art Students at Fort Calhoun High School created a 9′ x12′ mural made up of 108 canvas panels. The figure is of our school mascot, The Pioneer. This has been in the making since last Spring but it was just recently hung on the wall of the Commons. The original design was created by Junior Skylar Wear but the painting of each panel was done by many of our Art Students.

Miss Juranek’s 1st grade class was chose as a stop on Kat 103.7’s Book Tour. Gina came to the classroom on Monday, January 8th to read to our students, answer questions about her job as a country music DJ and record the students saying the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge was then played on-air on Friday, January 12th. The students had fun and did a great job saying the Pledge.

Fort Calhoun Robotics Team competed this weekend at Benson High School. Over 60 teams competed, and all Fort Calhoun teams finished inside the top 20. Two of the teams advanced to the elimination matches, but did not make it past the quarter finals. Regionals and Nationals  will be up next for one team, while the rest will participate in the Skills USA State competition.

The 6th graders’ Trout in the Classroom project sponsored by the Nebraska Games and Parks Commission is underway! About 160 rainbow trout eggs arrived on the 13th. The first eggs hatched three days sooner than our predicted date of Jan. 22nd. We’ll continue to research and investigate the trout life cycle and anatomy as they grow large enough to be released to a stock pond at the AkSarBen Aquarium in May. We shared a close up look at newly hatched alevins with our pre-school reading buddies.

Photos courtesy of Joe Burns, Enterprise Publishing.

Join us at the Elementary School for lots of fun with family and friends on Monday, January 18 from 6-8 pm. CR Toys will have games that teach important skills and promote quick thinking available for everyone to play. The games are available for order and every purchase contributes towards new games for our school. This evening of fun is absolutely free and there is no pressure to purchase any games!  If you are unable to attend, there is an option to purchase games on line through their website, www.shopcrtoys.com and use the code fc2016. The code provides free shipping for your order and credits our school.

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College Sociology class has had a busy semester. They have done several community service projects. One group has collected items for foster care kids, another has rang bells for Salvation army and will be serving food at a homeless shelter and another has done some recycling at the recycle center in Blair. Jordan Schaefer had this to say about her experience ringing bells. “Other than it being pretty cold one of the days, it was really fun. Getting to see everyone that supports the Salvation Army and gives money was really nice. Even getting to see people smiling as our group sang songs was great. A lot of people would come up and sing with us. It was also really great to see all of the little kids that would bring money and put it in the bucket. There were a lot more than I had expected.” Thank you students for your service to the community.

Nyaliet Teng, Jordan Schaefer, Montana Cottle and Rachel Schumaker rang bells for the Salvation Army.

Jordan Coulter, Tessa Dethlefs, Hanna Lazure, and Lauren Nelson Collected different items for foster kids.

Fort Calhoun High School robotics teams participated in a Vex Robotics tournament this weekend at Elkhorn high school. Three teams competed from Fort Calhoun, with team 5053A Pioneer 1 finishing as tournament champion. The team consisted of Bret Klabunde, Zane Fickbohm, Eric Wolf, and Colton Edie. They paired with another team from Thomas Jefferson, and had a record of 6-1 through the three elimination rounds that used a best out of three format. This tournament win has qualified them for the Iowa/Nebraska Regional held at Omaha North on February 26-27, and the U.S. Open held at the Mid America center in Council Bluffs on April 7-9.