FC Dance Team at NDTC
Community Mental Health Conference
Fort Calhoun Community Schools is excited to announce our upcoming event, 2024 Community Mental Health and Safety Conference. The goal of our event is to increase awareness, educate, and provide resources for Mental Health, Safety, and Wellness in our community and surrounding areas. Our conference will take place on March 4th from 5:30-9:00 PM at the Fort Calhoun High School.
The event will include a free dinner and community resource fair representing a variety of community organizations, agencies, and companies related to mental health, safety, and wellness. Following the agency fair, there will be six breakout sessions covering eleven topics related to mental health and safety.
Please click HERE to register for the event!
**First 30 registrants will receive a coupon for a free Scooter’s drink.**
Triennial Assessment Results
Fort Calhoun Community Schools Community members:
Our District takes pride in supporting the needs of the whole child, to ensure that all children are safe, supported, engaged, and challenged each day they come to our buildings.
Research indicates that initiatives focused on improving aspects of students’ well-being in schools—such as addressing childhood obesity, preventing bullying, supporting students’ mental health, and restricting schools’ use of exclusionary discipline—have been found to be successful in improving student success, and academic excellence. We have assessed our wellness policy as part of the USDA requirements. Below are the results of our assessment.
Local School Wellness Policy Assessment:
https://www.fortcalhounschools.org/wp-content/uploads/USDASchoolWellnessPolicy.pdf
Local School Wellness Policy Progress in reaching goals: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSArlLL34bFgef5MBpZ5GchkfcOs4W5CkmLmPMgRT72yDsGQJgj4ONVXkm4eCmq4A/pub
These findings are posted on the school’s website under the Food Service heading as well as having been presented at the school board meeting 6/12/2023.
If you have any questions, please contact Superintendent Mr. Green @ jjgreen@ftcpioneers.org
Architectural Field Trip
Drafting students took a trip to BVH Architectural recently. Students learned about many different aspects of the Industry, what type of schooling they would need to obtain a job, and the different jobs that utilize design, blueprints, and renderings. Students did a hands-on project with employees, and had to be in charge of a build, and interact with different processes within a typical design/build.
Preschool Registration 2024-2025
Follow this link to register. Registration will not open until February 1, 2024.
Fort Calhoun Staff Mental Health Day
On Monday, January 15th, Fort Calhoun Community Schools hosted a Staff Mental Health Day. The goal of the day was for staff to focus on building knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of mental health in order to better meet the needs of the students in Fort Calhoun Community Schools.
The day began with Anita Saalfeld, High School Spanish teacher sharing about her personal journey with mental illness. Following the keynote, staff members attended 6 breakout sessions. Each session allowed FCS staff the opportunity to choose from six presentations in the area of mental health. The session topics included information to use with students, as well as for their own personal mental health. 17 individuals from the field of mental health presented 18 different topics including challenging behaviors, grief, trauma, sleep, nutrition, self-care, anxiety, depression, digital wellness, and sports psychology.
Sue Miller Harsin therapist from Upper Room Counseling presented a session entitled, Your Body is Talking to You. Sue shared information regarding the importance of self-care including sleep, nutrition, and exercise. “There is so much in our lives and in our world that we have no control over. This can cause a sense of despair, exhaustion, depression, and anxiety. We have two amazing resources that are within our control; sleep and nutrition. Focusing on good rest and healthy nutrition can greatly improve our mental health and sense of well-being.” said Miller Harsin.
This event was made possible through NDE grant funding as a part of the School Mental Health Systems of Care Program in collaboration with ESU #3 and Region VI Behavioral Health. https://smhs.esu3.org/
Staff members provided feedback regarding the event.
“We need to remember as educators to refill our own cup. Self-care is not selfish, but a vital antidote to compassion fatigue. Nurturing our well-being ensures we can continue to inspire, guide, and support our students with the passion they deserve.” -Jacque Fischer, 7th-8th grade School Counselor
“Planning and attending the mental health day put on by our district was an enlightening experience that created shared moments between our staff as well as provided us all with information to better support ourselves and students in multiple areas of mental health.” -Delaney Appel, Elementary Special Education Teacher
Thang Tran from the University of Nebraska Omaha leads his presentation, Navigating A.I. and Mental Health in Schools.
Sue Miller Harsin from Upper Room Counseling presents her session, Your Body is Talking to You.
Kendall Lanning reads her book entitled The Fox and the Feather to staff during her presentation, Supporting Grief.
Tessa Rutledge, Elementary P.E. Teacher, blows bubbles as a part of a deep breathing exercise during FCS Staff Mental Health Day.
Early Childhood Screening
Thank You to All Who Donated to Our Blood Drive in 2023
Thank you to all who donated blood last year. We collected 29 units of blood and had 30 students signed up to give. Big shout out to Mrs. Lloyd and the MCC students for your hard work with this drive. If you weren’t able to donate that day but would still like to, go to redcrossblood.org to find a blood drive that is convenient for you. Give the Gift of Life!
Alumni Panel Speaks to Upperclassman
Fort Calhoun High School welcomed back 7 graduates on December 15, 2023, for an alumni panel to speak to current juniors and seniors about their post secondary paths. Topics included the alumni’ current career paths (ranging from college and ROTC, to entering the workforce) and what advice they would give the current juniors and seniors. The juniors and seniors received valuable information to help plan for life after high school. The event is just one example of how the school prepares its students for college, career, and life. This alumni panel is an event the school plans to have on an annual basis. So if any alumni are interested in being part of the panel in future years, please contact Mr. Wemhoff, Mrs. Hernandez, or Mrs. Krambeck.
Pictured in the top picture L-R Jacob Haggar, Danielle Howell, Rianna Wells, Taya Skelton, Kaitlin Smith, Courtney Smith, Abigail Russell
Thank You Dollar General
On Friday, December 1 representatives from Dollar General presented the Fort Calhoun Special Education department with a donation in the amount of $2000. The donation was specifically designated for classroom sensory supplies, aimed at enhancing the educational experience for students with disabilities in order to create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment.
Pictured Left to Right: Joseph Hunter (Dollar General), Deanna Royuk, Jessica Fleischman, Jackie Beckman, Ashley Dougherty, Tara Mueller, Delaney Bruening, Jill Weyer, Amy Wilson, Jerry Green (Superintendent) and Jesse Schulze (Dollar General). Not pictured Delaney Appel.
