Kindness Rocks

The Pioneer Learning Center Transition Students and Staff recently completed their Kindness Project. Rocks were decorated with bright colors and positive words to brighten someone’s day. The rocks were then distributed around the community. Be on the lookout for some of these random beauties when you’re out and about. Keep the rocks for yourself or share them with a friend. Keep spreading the kindness!
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -Aesop

Earth Day Clean Up

Our Biology students celebrated Earth Day by helping Bruce and Kathy clean up the landscape around the building. Thank you to our students who put in the hard work and to Mrs. Nelson who organized this activity. 

Art Show

On Wednesday, April 14th, Fort Calhoun hosted the 2021 Nebraska Capitol Conference Art Show. This year’s show was held virtually, and all ten schools in the conference participated via zoom. Art entries were submitted several weeks ahead of time and were critiqued by a three-judge panel.

There were 176 students from across the conference who participated, and there were almost 400 total works of art entered in 11 different categories. This year’s visiting artist, Steve Tamayo, led the students through a cross-curricular activity which included designing, decorating, and assembling a “parfleche” pouch. 

Brooke Johnsen (9th grade), was voted Fort Calhoun’s top artist. Congratulations to the following students for earning ribbons at this year’s conference art show. 

Gabe Anduze

1st Place – “Old Man” (Colored Drawing)

2nd Place – “Gray Death” (Black and White)

Kathlyn Barta

1st Place – “Blue Jay’s Flight” (Colored Drawing)

Ethan Dye

2nd Place – “Self-Portrait” (Pencil Drawing)

2nd Place – “Chalk Pastel Still Life” (Colored Drawing)

Justin Fritz

1st Place – “Having Trouble Letting Go” (Mixed Media)

3rd Place – “SLATT” (Colored Drawing)

Jayce Ivester

1st Place – “Sunday Brunch” (Black and White)

2nd Place – “Majestic Hills” (Printmaking)

Brooke Johnsen

1st Place – “High Card” (Mixed Media)

1st Place – “Daffodil” (Pencil Drawing)

Emma Lucht

1st Place – “You Are My Sunshine” (Printmaking)

2nd Place – “Happy Flower” (Black and White)

Riley McKennan

2nd Place – “Self-Portrait” (Pencil Drawing)

James Miller

2nd Place – “Self-portrait at 14” (Pencil Drawing)

Regina Namuth

1st Place – “Self-Portrait at 15” (Pencil Drawing)

3rd Place – “Older Sister” (Mixed Media)

Cameron Reynolds

2nd Place – “Western Meadowlark” (Colored Drawing)

3rd Place – “Lil Uzi”

Sasha Robinson

1st Place – “Charcoal Still Life” (Black and White)

Kaitlin Smith

1st Place – “Antique View” (Black and White)

2nd Place – “Future Tracks” (Photography)

Lawson Tjardes

2nd Place – “Fruit Still Life” (Pencil Drawing) 

3rd Place – “Bottle Still Life” (Pencil Drawing)

Audubon Society of Omaha Art Award Winners

Congratulations to Cameron Reynolds, Gabriel Anduze, Trey McCoy, Kathlyn Barta, Glenn Hunter, and Tilden Nottlemann for earning awards from the 2021 Audubon Society of Omaha Art Contest. Tilden earned a Merit Award. Glenn, Gabriel, Kathlyn, Trey, and Cameron all earned Excellence Awards. Gabriel also earned Best of Show 9-12, which includes a gift card to Blick Art. Cameron earned the Meadowlark Award, which comes with a year-long membership to the National Audubon Society and the Audubon Society of Omaha. Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine. 

Honor’s/Athletic Banquet Night

Dear Parent/Guardian and Students,

Fort Calhoun High School will be hosting Honor’s/Athletic Banquet Night for grades 9-12 on Thursday, April 29th.  The ceremony will begin at 6:30 pm.  This is a great event in which we will recognize both academics as well as activities and athletics.  Students should dress appropriately for receiving an award in business casual attire.

There are two main reasons why the two events have been combined this year.  1) Food is a large part of the Athletic Banquet and the meal is self-serve.  Given COVID, we are not offering food at either Honor’s Night or the Athletic Banquet.  This was a factor in the decision to combine the two events.  2) Each athletic program has already had an end-of-the-season celebration.  Since that has already taken place, the administration felt this was a good opportunity to recognize academics, activities, and athletics on the same night.

All students in grades 9-12 are invited to attend along with their parents.  Masks are required.  Families are asked to sit together, both the student and the parent/guardian.  This event is not open to the public.  We ask that you both respect and follow our expectations for attendance.  

During the ceremony, we will recognize academic success, program participants, scholarship winners, academic pins, National Honor Society, class officers, and many other celebrations.  There will be an athletic portion of the program recognizing outstanding accomplishments in athletics.  

We hope that you will decide to join us for this celebration of our student’s successes.  There are many students and athletes who are doing amazing things every day and this night is designed to recognize their accomplishments.    

Thank you for your continued support of our students at the FORT!

Mr. Wemhoff                      Mr. Christensen

Secondary Principal          Assistant Principal / Athletic Director

Mental Health First Aid Training

Pre-COVID, schools were seeing 4% to 6% of their student body with anxiety and depression, with the onset of COVID that number has increased to 24%.  How can parents and other individuals help?  Consider participating in a free, virtual training that is valuable for anyone that engages with children/youth (parents, family members, community members, mental health providers, etc).  This is FREE of charge!    Click this link to register. For more information see this flyer. Participation is limited. Register soon!  

Elementary Library Mural

The Elementary Library has a fun project underway. The once blank wall will soon be covered with a colorful mural of storybook characters. The mural was designed by the High School’s Art Club students and includes characters such as Curious George, Madeline, Horton, and Junie B. Jones. The Elementary Students each got a chance to contribute by painting parts of the wall during their library time and the art students will finish the little details. I talked with a few 5th graders about the project. Sophie Eastman and Sammi Hirchert thought it was very fun to help out and said it will be nice to see it for years to come. Brooklyn Meador and Sidney Mattison said it was cool and interesting and they enjoyed it a lot.

2021 FC Pioneers Gridiron Golf Classic

Hello Pioneer Nation,

We will be hosting the annual Gridiron Golf Classic again this summer on Friday, June 4th at Rivers Wilds in Blair.  We are having both a morning shotgun and an afternoon shotgun.  See the flyer below with all the info- if you have any questions please reach out to Coach Shepardson.  Looking forward to another great day of golf and camaraderie!