Holton High School's Eva Cortes was surprised today when she was awarded the Rudd Scholarship. "The Rudd Foundation strives to help those with grit, determination, work ethic, and a relentless drive to help themselves in achieving their goals." This scholarship will allow Eva to attend Fort Hays State University on a full-ride scholarship including room and board. We are so proud of you, Eva!

The Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce has announced that Kent Schnakenberg of Team Schnak is the recipient of this year's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. This honor recognizes Kent's extraordinary dedication and tireless efforts to raise awareness about Type One diabetes and support those impacted by the condition. This year's Team Schnak Northeast Kansas Type 1 Diabetes Awareness Walk will be held on Saturday, April 5th at the Nemaha Central High School Track in Seneca. Registration is at 10:30AM and the walk begins at 11:30. Lunch will be provided from 12:00 to 1:00PM. There will be food, fun, games, and a walk for a free will donation. For more info contact Kent at 620-340-5932 or kschnakenberg@navrats.com

Congratulating our HES Character Kids for the month of February. February's character word of the month is kindness. Grade level teachers chose one boy and one girl who showed the characteristics of Kindness. Students received a certificate, $5 gift card to Sonic, and a Red Hawk character kids t-shirt! Pictured from back left to right: Brantley Romine, Ben Haedt, Brayden Thraen-Davis, Jude Hedrick and Anngelina Reynolds. Pictured from front left to right: Kedric Lockman, Aurora Meggison, Rylee James, Averie Paradis, and Grace Johnson. This award is made possible through a grant from The Foundation

Congratulations to Gary Deters of Baileyville who just retired from playing at the Baileyville Basketball Tournaments. Gary has played at the tournaments every year since the fundraiser began in 1982. This year was his last year playing in the tournament. Thank you Gary for giving back and supporting your community.

Hiawatha FFA members who placed at the Northeast District FFA Speech CDE in Jan. Clayton Handke Morgan Handke Henley Shoemaker And in the Employability Skills / Job Interview CDE Quinn Boye placed 1st and brought home the Gold Medal.

Congratulations to HMS Scholar's Bowl teams. 7A finished 2nd and 8A finished 4th yesterday at Holton.

Congratulations to the Hiawatha Headliners for placing 3rd in the 3A division at Cameron Showfest! The kids had a great day of competing as well as watching other show choirs do their thing!

Congratulations to Rylee Howard and Braxton Hill and the students who completed Finn's Mission in the Jump Rope for Heart Fundraiser

Sabetha High School students Aubrey Schmelzle, Landon Meyer, Halley Mitchell, Carlee Hicks, McKenna Gatz & Erin Boltz spoke with the USD 113 Board of Education about their work-based learning experience as part of the Professional Learning Experience (PLE) program. During their presentations, students identified their mentor, placement, and the value of the experience. The success of the program is a result of a collaborative effort among the school, community, students & families.

Perry Lecompton Scholars Bowl is headed to STATE! Congratulations on placing 2nd at regionals!

There are 17.3 million high school students in America and only 15,000 get picked to be a National Merit Scholar - the top 1% of the top 1%. We're proud to announce that Carter Colberg, senior at Holton High School, has received this honor. We look forward to hearing of his future successes.

The Troy High School Queen of Courts theme this year was "Trojans on Holiday". Students participated in a variety of activities throughout the week including dress up days, gym wall decorating, and ending with class dodgeball tournament on Friday. Queen of Courts week concluded with the crowning ceremony. Gannon Bowe, son of Stephen and Michelle Bowe and Emerson Weber, daughter of Jeff and Nikia Weber, were crowned this year's Queen of Courts king and queen. The Kindergarten attendants this year were Reese Lednicky, Kimberlynn McCoy, Kole Miller and Bob Smith. Pictured from left to right: Back Row: Allie Franken, Alex Dishon, Queen Emerson Weber, King Gannon Bowe, Gracie Grable, Wyatt Wissler, Macy Grable, and Jack Hartman Front row Kindergarten escorts from left to right: Bob Smith, Kole Miller, Reese Lednicky, Kimberlynn McCoy

The KSHSAA Student Advisory Team has selected Mary Pennington, a music teacher at the Onaga School District, for the Heart of the Arts. Onaga had not been able to secure a full-time teacher for its music program. Enter, Mary Pennington. Pennington took it upon herself to find time in her schedule to come in two afternoons a week to allow the band program to continue at our school. "Without her, our students would be getting very few, if any, music opportunities at the school," said Onaga High School Principal Brian Sixbury. Even though she is working full-time at Lifecare Center of Seneca, Mary has gone above and beyond to not only work with the students on concert band materials but also pep band and is working towards putting on a production in the spring to give students opportunities to show off their artistic/music skills. At the semester Onaga was able to find their full-time music teacher but Pennington still felt the commitment to come in to help with the transition twice a week. Pennington has been critical to arts continuing at Onaga High School and Middle School. Without her contribution to the arts students would be missing out on opportunities, and that is why Mary Pennington has been selected for the 2024 KSHSAA Heart of the Arts Award.

The KSHSAA Student Advisory Team has selected Jack Punswick, a senior at Blue Valley West, for the 2024 KSHSAA Spirit of Sport Award. Jack Punswick, Blue Valley West - Spirit of Sport Jack Punswick is a member of the varsity boys swim team at Blue Valley West, where in February of 2024 he took home the 6A State Breaststroke Championship. Punswick was the only swimmer to break a minute in the event, winning by more than two seconds in 58.60. The first team all state selection knew his future in swimming was gaining momentum towards competing collegiately. 15329 After returning home from his first official Division I college visit for swimming in early September 2024, Jack was excited about the academic and athletic experiences ahead of him as he planned to enter college as a civil engineering major and swimmer. The following day, however, he was hospitalized on the oncology floor at children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City after imaging, prompted by inflamed lymph nodes, revealed an unknown mass on his thymus. They would eventually determine that Punswick would not only be battling to defend his championship but also, Stage II Hodgkin Lymphoma. In a team meeting this year Jack proclaimed to his teammates, "365 times 0 is zero, but 365 times 1 is 365, so doing one good thing a day is infinitely better than doing nothing." Punswik was determined to be part of10571 the Jaguars' swim team despite the now major obstacle in his life. Through his chemo treatments and unwavering desire to still be an all state swimmer, Punswick has been an inspiration to the swimming community. In his first high school meet since being diagnosed he won the 100 breastroke and qualified for the state meet. For his relentless pursuit of making a difference for his team and others, while battling cancer, Jack Punswick has been selected as the 2024 KSHSAA Spirit of Sport.

Horton Elementary all star students.

Dan Heiman, STEP Foundation Board President, Tory Jost, STEP Executive Director, and Anna Baker (along with her two children) presented a grant check to Krista Stallbaumer of the Nemaha Central Elementary and Middle School. This $11,000 grant funded the green Omni Spinner on the new playground. All students are enjoying it. This wouldn't be possible without the $3,000 grant from the General Endowment Fund and the $8,000 from the Chad Baker Memorial Fund. Thank you to everyone who has donated to the STEP Foundation whether it be through an event such as Match Day or the annual Chad Baker Memorial golf tournament. The Annual Chad Baker Memorial golf tournament will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Together, we are making Nemaha County a great place to live, work, and give!

Axtell School celebrates 100th Day of School on Thursday, January 30th!!

HES announced the January Character Kids, where the word of the month was "Respect." Grade school teachers chose one boy and one girl who showed the characteristics of Respect.