Chalkboard: School news wrap-up

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Areawide

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC: The 63rd annual All-City Music Festival will showcase the talents of OPS students in sixth grade through high school. Nearly 2,000 selected OPS students will perform in chorus, band and orchestra ensembles from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. today at the Civic Auditorium arena. The show, "Music Lasts a Lifetime," is open to the public. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 for adults and $3 for students. Event participants are admitted free.

BOOKMARKS A HIT: Cindy Wang, a fourth-grader at Reeder Elementary in the Millard district, designed the winning bookmark for the Omaha Storm Chasers this year. The team sponsors a Hit the Books contest each year. The winning bookmark design will be distributed to all schools participating in the contest. Students are encouraged to read books using their Hit the Books bookmark. Teachers sign off on the books read, and the students earn a free ticket to a Storm Chasers game. The other finalists, who won their grade level, were: kindergarten, Jewel Johnson, Two Springs; first grade, Skylar Ostronic, Reeder; second grade, Joel Nigro, Black Elk; third grade, Nick Brickman, Patriot; fifth grade, Marah Kocovsky, Reeder; and sixth grade, Tristan Brickman, Patriot.

IT WENT SWIMMINGLY: Omaha Benson's swim team last week had its first "Swim for a Cure," a fundraiser for breast cancer research, during a varsity dual meet with Bellevue East. A portion of admission proceeds and sales of "Swimming for a Cure" T-shirts was donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The event raised more than $500 for the organization.

TIME TO APPLY: Fraser Stryker again will award two college-level scholarships in 2012 through the Fraser Stryker Diversity Scholarship Program. The program provides college tuition assistance for students of African-American, Asian, Latino and Native American origins from low-income families in the Omaha metro area interested in a law career. In addition, scholarship recipients will have a paid internship. The deadline to apply is March 9. Applications are available in the counselor's office at all metro high schools and at fraserstryker.com. Each scholarship will provide $2,500 per academic year and can be used for tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment.

DISTRACTED DRIVING: Omaha Marian recently marked "Distracted Driving Week" to educate students, faculty and staff about the dangers of distracted driving. The week, sponsored and promoted by Marian's Future Business Leaders of America club, was filled with activities and speakers that brought awareness to driver safety. Events included an unannounced seat belt check as students pulled into Marian's parking lot, statistics related to distracted driving deaths read daily in morning announcements and the National Safety Council-provided car simulator for students to drive. The simulator is a car that has a computer add-on designed to simulate specific driving conditions such as inclement weather or driving under the influence.

CHESS TOURNEY: St. Patrick School in the Elkhorn area recently held a chess tournament that drew 183 students representing 41 Nebraska schools. Team trophies went to the top three scoring schools and 91 individual trophies also were awarded. St. Patrick won the first-place team trophy, squeaking by North American Martyrs of Lincoln by one point. Fairview Elementary of Bellevue won the third-place team trophy. Tying for fourth place were Omaha Brownell-Talbot and Wahoo.

NOMINATE SOMEONE: Kohl's is accepting nominations through March 15 for outstanding young volunteers for the 2012 Kohl's Cares Scholarship Program. Nominations for youths ages 6 to 18 can be made at kohlskids.com. Kohl's will award more than 2,200 young volunteers more than $440,000 in scholarships and prizes for having made a positive impact on their communities.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Middle Level OPS Scholar students spent a morning sharpening their etiquette skills with Tulani Grundy Meadows, program director at the Women's Center for Advancement, formerly YWCA. After the workshop, students were treated to a lunch created by the culinary arts students at Omaha Benson.

SHOW CHOIR CLINIC: Registration is due Friday for the Papillion-La Vista Show Choir's kids show choir clinic. It will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 17. Students will work on their singing and dancing skills and then perform what they learned at 4 p.m. The clinic is open to boys and girls grades three through eight for $35, which includes lunch, a snack and a T-shirt. For more information, contact Melinda Morrison at mospurs@yahoo.com or 402-212-3261, or Rhesa Young at youngs@cox.net or 402-505-6048.

ON THE STAGE: Productions on the high school stage include:

» The Papillion-La Vista Titan Theatre will present "Les Misérables" at 7 p.m. Friday and Feb. 11. Tickets — $8 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, and $3 for children — are available at Titan Town, 402-829-4605.

» Omaha Brownell-Talbot will stage "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" at 2 p.m. Saturday at the school's Swanson Auditorium. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and younger.

AN ELKHORN SWEEP: A team of Elkhorn Ridge Middle School students won the Nebraska Regional National Engineers Week Future City Competition held at Educational Service Unit No. 3. The winning students — Olivia Paetz, Philip Holubeck, Chandler Misselt and Daelyn Chochon — will travel to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 19th annual Future City National Finals Feb. 19 to 21. Nebraska runners-up were Elkhorn Valley View Middle School in second place and Elkhorn Middle School in third.

ROBOTICS: Many area schools will compete Saturday at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs in a U.S. National Championship Qualifying Event in Vex Robotics.

TIME TO APPLY: Wilson Focus School in OPS is taking applications for the third-grade lottery for the 2012-13 school year. The school is open to all members of the Learning Community. Applications are due by March 15. Visit wilsonfocus.ops.org and click on News for the Learning Community application. For a tour, call 402-733-1785.

RED CROSS CONTEST: The American Red Cross hosted the 12th Annual Heroes in the Heartland Essay Contest. This contest was offered to students in grades five through eight in northeast Nebraska, southwest Iowa and the Omaha metro area. Students wrote about people they considered heroes in their own lives. This year there were 700 entries. Megan Niederle, an eighth-grader at Morton Magnet Middle School in OPS, received first place.

STRIKE UP THE BAND: Band students from many area schools will participate Tuesday in the University of Nebraska at Omaha's first Brass Day.

Northwest metro

PASS THE POPCORN: Hillrise Elementary in Elkhorn will have PTO Movie Night Friday.

HEAR THE MUSIC: Second-graders at North and South Primaries in Blair will attend an Omaha Symphony concert Tuesday afternoon.

NOW SERVING: Arlington Elementary will have a fifth- and sixth-grade band soup supper Tuesday.

FUN TIME: Fourth- through sixth-graders at Picotte Elementary in OPS will have a Fun Night Feb. 11 at the Valley YMCA for games and swimming.

Central metro

FOOD FOR BODY, MIND: Masters Elementary in OPS will have supper from the Pancake Man and a book fair Thursday.

GOLDEN COOKBOOK: There's still time for Boyd Elementary school alums and current students to submit a recipe for the cookbook that will help celebrate the school's 50th anniversary. Recipes should be at the OPS school by Feb. 25. Emailed recipes can be sent to wsdanielson@cox.net or dscresto@msn.com.

West metro

EVENING EVENT: Cody Elementary in Millard has a partnership with the Millard Library, which means school families will meet there Monday evening. Students will make a seasonal craft.

STARTING THE DAY WITH FUN: Prairie Lane Elementary in Westside will have its Valentine's Day Breakfast for school families on Friday.

WAY TO GO! Kindergarten students at Rockbrook Elementary in Westside recently marked the 100th day of class this school year. Teacher Dustin Carlson wrote this on his classroom page: "We met our goal to read 100 books by the 100th day of school!!! In fact, we surpassed the goal and read 120 books! This is the first time in my career that we met the goal on the 100th day! Thanks for your support!"

South central metro

LOTS OF HELP: The website of Gomez Heritage Elementary in OPS reports that parents have volunteered 4,594 hours so far in the 2011-12 school year.

POPCORN, PLEASE: Students at Oakdale in Westside can attend a special showing of "Big Miracle" at Aksarben Cinema on Wednesday, an early dismissal day.

A BOWL FULL: Students in grades three through six at Sunset Hills Elementary in Westside can join children's author Adam Rex for breakfast Monday to celebrate the release of his new book, "Cold Cereal." Guess what's being served for breakfast? The author will visit Sunset Hills in the afternoon.

South metro

FILLING A PANTRY: The Plattsmouth Community Middle School Student Council sponsored a "Souper" Bowl competition to bring in items for the local food pantry. Collection ended Friday.

PASS THE POPCORN: Friday will bring PTO Movie Night for Plattsmouth Elementary families.

FEEL THE BEAT: Palisades Elementary in Gretna will have a PTO family dance party Friday night. The theme will be "Dancin' Thru the '80s."

DANCE TIME: Gretna Middle School will have an after-school dance Friday for seventh- and eighth-graders.

POSTER CONTEST WINNERS: The Knights of Columbus Council 10894 from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Springfield has announced winners of its Substance Abuse Awareness Poster contest. Winner in the Drug Abuse Awareness category is Ian Baker, a fifth-grader at Springfield Elementary in South Sarpy School District 46. Winner of the Alcohol Abuse Awareness category is Noah Baker, a fourth-grader at the same school. The brothers' posters will be entered in the district contest.

PENCIL SALE: Jon Trede's second-grade class at Gretna Elementary will have a pencil sale Monday through Friday to benefit the Little Giants Foundation.

Iowa

HELPING KIDS: The Glenwood FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) Chapter has been "Helping Miracles" for Children's Hospital & Medical Center through the Children's Miracle Network. FCCLA members made and donated a baker's dozen pillowcases to brighten a child's stay at Children's. A change drive, dance marathon, raffle and more raised funds. The FCCLA chapter will donate more than $1,300 to the Children's Miracle Network.

A MILESTONE: All elementary schools in the Council Bluffs district will have Kindergarten Experience, an informational night for incoming kindergarten parents, on Thursday.

MAY I HAVE THE DEFINITION, PLEASE? The Harrison County Middle School Spelling Bee will be Wednesday at Missouri Valley.

ALL THAT JAZZ: Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln will host the Bluffs Jazz Band Festival on Feb. 11.

Nebraska

LAST MEAL OF THE DAY: The evening meal served at Park Middle School is the first of its kind in the Lincoln Public Schools. Last month, 94 students lined up for supper at the school, ready to eat orange chicken on brown rice, oriental vegetables, diced apricots and low-fat milk. In a joint effort between Park, Boys and Girls Club and LPS nutrition services department, a supper meal is now offered from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on school days. Park is an "at risk" site because more than 50 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced-cost meal benefits. Funding is available to feed the students, at no cost to them, through the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program.

WAX MUSEUM: Lux Middle School eighth-graders will present "People of Prominence," for which students research a historical figure from American history, add costumes and props to their presentations and present them in a museum-like format. To "operate" the displays, attendees deposit a coin into each figure's collection bin. Proceeds will benefit the Lincoln Backpack Program. Presentations at the school will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday and March 1.

VALENTINE SERENADE: Lincoln Lutheran's choir again offers its singing valentines fundraiser. For $30, a portion of the school's choir will surprise your sweetheart. Students will sing cheesy love songs in Lincoln and Seward. This year's proceeds will help send the band and choir to Canada for a weeklong music tour. Reserve your singing surprise at the school office in Lincoln.

NAMESAKE: The PTO at Adams Elementary in Lincoln has arranged for its families a private showing of "Red Tails," a story about the role of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. The school is named for a Tuskegee Airman, retired Lt. Col. Paul Adams, who will attend.

HEY, BUDDY: Buddy Lists are back at Lincoln Lutheran. Each student takes a survey, and Lloyd Sommerer's middle school access class compiles the data. Results for each student are sorted into six categories showing who is like-minded with and different from each student. Students can purchase a single category for $1 or all six categories for $5. All proceeds from selling the Buddy Lists will go to Children's Hospital & Medical Center. The Buddy Lists will be sold starting next week.

ROBOTS: A VEX Robotics Tournament will be today at Cross County in Stromsburg. This event is a U.S. National Championship Qualifying Event.

SPEECH CONTEST: Grand Island Central Catholic's speech team captured first place overall at the recent Kevin Heineman Memorial High School Speech Tournament at Hastings College. Fillmore Central took second and Grand Island Northwest finished third. Thirteen teams participated.

Compiled by Sue Story Truax and World-Herald News Service

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