Students Helping Students

In cooperation with Julia Cook, a Nebraska author and Fremont native, the High School FBLA and the Elementary Student Council helped to organize a fun event where students and staff could buy hat passes to raise funds for students from Arlington and DC West who were affected by the recent flooding. Together they raised almost $1,600. Students Helping Students, that’s what The Fort is all about. 

Freshman Participate in Career Fair

On Tuesday, April 2nd, the Freshman class participated in the Career Fair at the Fort Calhoun Community Building. The event was sponsored by the Fort Calhoun City Administrator’s office (Deb Sutherland and Katie Knight) in cooperation with the FCHS School Counselor Mrs. Micki Hernandez. The morning started off with a keynote presentation by Bob Grinnell, the owner of Surplus Sales here in Fort Calhoun.  Then students attended two of the seven panels featuring local business professionals in various careers.  There were almost forty different professionals who participated ranging from engineers to interpreters, and from a firemen to a radiologist.  Mrs. Hernandez said, “it was amazing how many local professionals showed up when they were asked… it truly says a lot about how much our community cares about all of our Pioneer Students’ futures.”  
After the career fair, the class was treated to pizza and drinks sponsored by some of the local businesses.  The Fort Bar generously allowed us to eat there so we would be off-site. Finally, the freshmen traveled to the Armory in Omaha and participated in team-building and leadership activities with representatives of the Nebraska National Guard.  Special thanks to FCHS recruiter, Staff sergeant Liz Nielsen for coordinating that part of the day.  The students really participated well and seemed to enjoy themselves. They were very attentive at the Career Fair and seemed to enjoy networking with the presenters.

Mrs. Hernandez

Students Honored

Kaden Therkildsen and Kennedy Bradburn were recognized for their leadership by Pinnacle Bank and Midland University.  They attended a Leaders Luncheon on Midland University campus along with fifty other juniors from eighteen different schools.  

Elementary Talent Show

Wow! We have some talented students at Fort Calhoun Elementary. Last Thursday, March 28th, students displayed a variety of talents ranging from singing to magic to archery. It was a fun show for all. Thank you to all who helped put it together especially Mrs. Benoit and the Elementary Student Council. Also, helping out were Miss Bryan with music and Mr. Dave and the 6th graders for set up and clean up. And of course we also need to thank all the supportive parents who helped their children prepare for the event. Great job everyone!

First Grade Science Fun

In 1st grade science, the students are learning about tools to measure weather. The students worked together to create a model of a wind vane. They worked in groups to make a plan, build, and test their model. We had perfect windy days to test our models and many were successful!

Congratulations Science Fair Winners 2019

The Fort Calhoun Science Fair was on Monday, March 18th. The winners at the Junior High level were –

1st –  Adriana Hernandez with “Which pet eats more food?”  

2nd  –  Megan Braymen  with “Will creamer or milk with coffee stain teeth worse?”

3rd   –  Raegen  Wells with “Removing stains”  

The Freshman winners were –

1st – Aaron Swanson and Ethan Shaner with “Donutology”

2nd –  Amya Coon and Lucia Perez Valencia with “How does blood spatter effect a crime scene?”

3rd –  Eriauna Wolf and Katherine Jabens with “In which liquid do skittles lose their color fastest?”

And the overall winners were –

Morgan Therkildsen and Tessa Skelton with “Battery Grass”  

                                                                           

    

Quiz Bowl Conference Champions

Congratulations to the High School Quiz Bowl team on their first Capitol Conference championship since 2008! Zoe Fickbohm, Ben Haggar, Grant Hansen, Avery McKennan, John McKennan, and Aaron Johnson went undefeated, notching wins against Syracuse, DC West, and two wins against the defending champions, Platteview, to capture the title. The team will represent Fort Calhoun at the ESU 3 tournament on Monday, March 11, with a chance to go to the state Quiz Bowl competition in April. Great job, guys!

L-R Coach, Mr. Justin Shields, John McKennan, Zoe Fickbohm, Avery McKennan, Grant Hansen, Ben Haggar and Aaron Johnson. Photo by Mr. Shields

Scholastic State Art Competition

Congratulations to the art students who earned awards from this year’s Scholastic State Art competition. On Saturday March 2nd the students attended a ceremony, held annually, at the Omaha Public Schools Teacher Administrative Center building. There were over 3,800 works of art submitted from students across the state of Nebraska, and just over 34% earned awards. Fort Calhoun students earned a total of 29 awards, with multiple students earning multiple awards. All the entries that received awards from across the state will be on display at the Omaha Public Schools Teacher Administrative Center, located at 3215 Cuming St., from February 26 until March 29, 2019.

The 2019 award recipients are: (left to right) front row: Cory Underwood, Stephanie Mlynarik, Katie Barta, Cameron Reynolds, Nathan Blizzard, and Avery McKennan; back row: Mr. High Horse, Emilia Finke, Alyssa Mitchell, Bailey Donovan, Evelyn Holmstedt, and Kennedy Bradburn. Not pictured: Nathan Premer, and Espen Hervik.

Award recipients are as follows

Katie Barta, 9 – Two Gold Key for Drawing and Illustration

Cory Underwood, 9 – Honorable Mention, Still life Drawing and Illustration

Cameron Reynolds, 10 – Honorable Mention, Bluejay Painting

Kennedy Bradburn, 11 – Gold Key, October 1, 1994, Printmaking

Bailey Donovan – 11 Silver Key, Who We Are, Mixed Media

Bailey Donovan, 11 – Gold Key, Pick a Spott, Printmaking

Evelyn Holmstedt, 11 – Silver Key Peacock, Printmaking

Alyssa Mitchell, 11 – Silver Key, Kernel Printmaking

Nathan Blizzard, 12 – Honorable Mention Life Short Film

Nathan Blizzard, 12 – Silver Key Earth, Short Film

Nathan Blizzard, 12 – Silver Key, Importance Portfolio

Nathan Blizzard, 12 – Silver Key, Bullying Short Film

Nathan Blizzard, 12 – Gold Key, Fisherman Short Film

Emelia Finke, 12 – Two Honorable Mentions for Painting and Drawing and Illustration

Espen Hervik, 12 – Honorable Mention Mjolnir (Hammer of Thor) Mixed Media

Avery McKennan, 12 – Honorable Mention, Heirlooms, Mixed Media

Avery McKennan, 12 – Silver Key, Oh Brother, Drawing and Illustration

Avery McKennan, 12 – Silver Key, Yes, I Made That, Portfolio

Avery McKennan, 12 – Silver Key, Eagle Sculpture

Avery McKennan, 12 – Gold Key, Chicken Pox, Mixed Media

Avery McKennan, 12 – Gold Key, Grandpa, Drawing/Illustration

Avery McKennan, 12 – Gold Key, What Are You Staring At? Drawing and Illustration

Stephanie Mlynarik, 12 – Two Honorable Mentions for Portfolio and Sculpture

Stephanie Mlynarik, 12 Two Silver Key for Drawing and Illustration and Painting

Nate Premer, 12 – Silver Key, Blue Macaw Printmaking

Nathan Blizzard’s video “Fisherman” won a Gold Kay Award in Short Film

Searching For Humanity

Mrs. Wellman-HighHorse’s English 12 class is reading the memoir “Night”, written by Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. They attended the “Searching for Humanity” Holocaust exhibit at the SAC Museum. Students had a guided tour of the Holocaust exhibit, participated in an anti-bias and the dangers of being a bystander activity, and listened to a speaker whose mother was a Holocaust survivor. Two students who attended reported that it was very touching and they went through a “roller coaster of emotions.” They said, of course, it was very sad but then hearing stories about how some children were rescued and how second-generation survivors are keeping the memories of their ancestors alive is touching too.

Pictures by Sara Wellman-HighHorse

Elkhorn Band Olympics Honors

Congratulations to Landon Miller, Tristan Fuhrman, Jayden Hunter and Brandon Evans who performed very well at the Elkhorn Band Olympics on February 16th. Landon placed 5th with his Bari-Sax, Tristan and Brandon also placed 5th in percussion, and Jayden received gold for with his Alto-Sax. Great Job Boys!