School Board Has Americanism, Students of the Month on Agenda

Mike Motz, Sidney Sun-Telegraph

The meeting of the Cheyenne County School District #1 took place Monday night at the Administration building in Sidney, and started off with meeting about Americanism and honored students of the month.

As part of Nebraska state law, at least two meetings each year must be held on "Americanism" and the efforts of the schools to educate schools on American History, Civics, and Government.

Sheri Ehler addressed the board about their efforts to comply with the requirement, which has been in effect since 1920. The group that works on this requirement is comprised of one elementary, one middle school and one high school educator.

Most of the state requirements are satisfied in the school's social studies, history and government classes, however other programs and events are also used to satisfy the requirements, like the third grade Veteran's Day Celebration and Concert.

After the meeting on Americanism, the Board approved minutes from their previous meeting. They then recognized and honored Students of the Month for February. Honored were: Haven Hanley, 7th Grade, Lauren Dadgostar, 8th Grade, Alek Doty, 9th Grade, Saphira Whitley, 10th Grade, Katie Ramsey, 11th Grade, and Hunter Wolff, 12th Grade. The students received certificates of achievement and were congratulated by the board members.

The meeting continued with reconciliation of monthly bills and expenses, with explanations of exact amounts in circumstances where few details were provided. Overall, even with a tax collection shortfall, the Sidney Public School system is in sound financial shape with adequate reserves.

The board also accepted the resignations of teachers Annie Stahlecker and Krista Pittam. The principals each then gave a report on their individual schools, noting upcoming events, and also noting the outstanding testing scores all of the students have achieved in various subjects and core competencies. At the end of the meeting, the new Sidney Superintendent was introduced, Mr. Andrew Farber, currently the Louisville Public Schools Superintendent. Farber and his wife were in attendance at the meeting, and Farber noted how well the interview process went and how excited he and his wife are to be coming out to Sidney for the 2023 school year.