Carol Erwin is elected as new Bd. President
COLERIDGE — Carol Erwin was elected as the new president at the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge school board meeting held Jan. 11 in Coleridge.
Dan Kuhlman was elected as vice president. Dustin Thompson elected secretary. Sheri Krei was selected as treasurer and Megan Greiner was chosen as recording secretary.
Three board members were sworn in, Dustin Thompson, Sam Recob and Erwin.
The Board also made its annual appointments as part of its annual reorganization meeting.
LCC School retained the services of Perry Law Firm in Lincoln as its legal counsel.
The Laurel Advocate was named the official newspaper for the school district.
The Board also appointed Jeremy Christiansen as the Title VI, Homeless Student Liaison, and Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities coordinator.
Ken Swanson was appointed for Title IX; and Alan Gottula was appointed for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disability Act.
The Coordinators are designated to handle inquiries regarding complaints, grievance procedures or the application of these policies and programs.
Also Monday, Supt. Jeremy Christiansen gave personnel updates:
A transitional period is taking place for the custodial position.
Robert Patefield is working approximately three days per week as a custodian at the High School/ Elementary campus. His current/ prior employment is phasing out and should be concluded in March/April at which time he will be employed full-time as a custodian, Christiansen said.
The Elementary Special Education Paraprofessional Position has been filled by Natasha Olsen. Olsen lives in Newcastle. She has prior experience working in school-based settings as a paraprofessional and also with the Head Start program.
The school is still looking for a substitute bus driver, Christiansen said.
“We continue to offer a hiring bonus for this position. The bonus ($250) would be payable upon the substitute driver’s successful completion of five (5) substitute route assignments,’’ Christiansen said. “We have one individual who is practicing bus driving and will soon be taking the driving test.”
Teacher and Staff Professional Development
Teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators participated in professional development activities Jan. 4. Focus topics included Appraisal System progress in small group sessions; academic intervention training, Lexia Reading program training, Safety Committee meeting, and ROAR lesson planning. Bus Evacuation Drills
Bus Evacuation Drills
Each school has conducted or will conduct a second round of bus safety evacuation drills for students this past week and this coming week.
FFA Leadership
Maddy Graham and Brianna Campbell finished Champion and runner up and qualified for state in Employment Skills and FFA quiz. The state convention will be via Zoom in virtual format. District four is working on a convention that they might have in Norfolk.
Graham, Samantha Pehrson and their FFA adviser, Tejlor Strope, spoke with board members.
“We have been working on selfassessing ourselves and how to be better leaders,’’ Graham said. “We have three geckos we are feeding and making sure they are growing.”
In February there will be two senior and two junior teams for livestock judging.
The junior high quiz bowl team finished Runner-up and qualified for state.
Rebeka Lipp (Creed Speaking), Samantha Pehrson (Extemporaneous Speaking) and Lilly Pehrson (Discovery Speaking) were all third and are the first alternates to state.
Fall NCPA Academic All-State
Each year the Nebraska School Activities Association and the Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Association recognize students who have been nominated by their schools, based on their individual academic excellence, leadership and significant contributions made to their NSAA activity.
LCC Students receiving Honors:
Girls Golf- Delaney Hall and Sarah Karnes
Cross Country- Matthew Nelson & Dillon Olsen
Volleyball- Erica Wolfgram
Football- Deagan Puppe High School Winter Concert
High School Winter Concert
The LCC High school Music Department participated in a district wide Digital Winter Music Concert this year due to COVID. Staff development was hosted at the Laurel campus on Jan. 4.
The first semester ended Jan. 8. Report cards were issued the week of Jan. 11.
Upcoming Events
Jan. 16 – First Speech Meet (Digital)
Jan. 19 - ESU1 Principal’s meeting
Jan. 21 - Basketball/Dance Parent’s Night during the game against Battle Creek
Jan. 21 - Lewis and Clark Conference Wrestling meet at Ponca at 1 p.m.
Jan. 23 - Lewis and Clark Conference Instrumental Music Clinic at Plainview
Jan. 26 – Teammates Recognition Night (Osmond basketball game)
Jan. 30 - Feb 8 – Conference Basketball Tournament.
Finals will be hosted at Wayne State College on Feb. 8.
Feb. 4 – FFA District Livestock Judging
Feb. 5-6 – Sub-District wrestling at Raymond Center
Feb. 6 – FFA State Degree Interviews
Feb. 9 – Parent/Teacher Conferences 2-8 p.m.
Feb. 12 – No school winter break Feb. 12 – District wrestling at Battle Creek
Brianna Campbell gave the School Board the Student Report.
Currently, the Senior Class is working on preparing senior quotes and pictures for the yearbook.
The Junior Class is working on planning for Prom this year by dividing into subcommittees and committees to plan details.
In other business, Doug Nelson, Wayne, addressed the board about education and how factors affect the price of land.
Nelson said in 2019 Wayne County had a program that paid $69 per acre on land and that helped with interest payments on land. Nelson said if farmers lose artificial programs like that it would have an adverse effect on farmers. Nelson said he is a pilot and when he interviews people to work for him he gives them an airplane ride. He said he also asks various questions and he feels there is a need for educators to stress the basics in education.
He said one of the people he interviewed asked where the electoral college was located when asked about it. He said he ends up having to teach new employees the most basic things.
He said he feels a civics and citizenship test needs to be applied to students. He said China holds the key on bonds. He said the $900 billion Corona relief effort will cost $3,000 per person to give out $600 per person. He said he feels if we invest a good basic education in LCC students they will come back to the community and pay it back to us.
