Opinions

In a few short days, the 2023-2024 school year at Central City Public Schools will draw to a close, and students and staff will begin their summer vacations. This school year marks another year of great success, growth, and continued development. Nine years ago, the District established several long-term goals to help define success. Those goals were met during this school year.

What a week! If I had a dollar for every time I swapped hats—from coach to event coordinator to journalist—I’d probably be lounging on a beach instead of prepping for another whirlwind of sports and school events. This past week was nothing short of a marathon, sprinting through a packed schedule that left little room for a breather.

Lone Tree Days 2024 and has now extended from 7/3 through 7/7. The Pinnacle Bank and Merrick Medical Center’s Family Fun night and picnic will kick things off on July 3 and the State Theater Foundation annual car show will conclude the activities on July 7. In between will be a parade and fireworks, a fireman’s dance at the Indy, “pack the pavement” sidewalk sales, city wide garage sales, a Teddy Bear picnic, petting zoo, activities at the library and for sure some other fun events. Speaking of the Teddy Bear picnic, I learned the Merrick County Historical Museum is celebrating 30 years of hosting this event over Lone Tree Days. Be watching for their plans to celebrate this milestone! Even though it may not be your big year to celebrate we hope you are creative and are inspired to do something new and exciting. If you don’t have the man power to do something on your own, there are other ways to participate. Team up with another business and plan something together, donate a prize for one of the activities, ride your horse or bicycle in the parade and most of all participate and support other individuals and businesses who are sponsoring events.

You’ve graduated. What now? It’s graduation season and high school seniors everywhere are looking to their futures and making plans for higher education and whatever career path they will choose.

As many of you know, I am a big fan of our local teams and that includes the Central City/Fullerton, Central City/Fullerton/Centura and Central City/Centura Kernels. I’ve been there from day one, watching as the Kernels etched their names into the heart of our community. As they make their fourth consecutive appearance at the NSAA State Baseball Tournament, it’s impossible not to reflect on the journey that has brought us here. This year is especially significant; it marks the first chapter without Fullerton, an integral part of our storied co-op history since the Kernels beginning. We’re navigating these familiar yet new waters without our Warriors, driven by the spirit that has been part of our DNA since the beginning.

Central City Public School is part of the Teammates Mentoring program. The mission of Teammates is to positively impact the world by inspiring students to reach their full potential through mentoring. Adult mentors are matched with students to build a connection through compassion and respect. Mentors can come into the school once a week, the visit can last for approximately 20 minutes. During that time, Mentors and Mentees can play board games, read a book, do crafts, walk on campus or just visit. If you are interested in participating in the Teammates program as a Mentor, you can email Hillary Ferris, hferris@centralcityps. org, for more information. It is a simple thing to do that can make a huge difference in the life of a student. Wrapping Up the School Year It is nearing the end of the year and we have some celebrating to do at Central City Public Schools. The biggest achievement is graduation for our senior class. They are finishing out their school career at Central City and getting ready to take on their next stage of life. Graduation will be held at the Central City High School Gymnasium at 2:00 on the 12th of May. This is the biggest accomplishment that this group has achieved and we welcome family and friends to share this moment with our students.

Last Thursday May 2 was the National Day of Prayer and I was privileged to be asked to participate in a prayer breakfast that day in our district. It is laudable that we, as a nation, designate a day to focus on prayers to the God of Heaven. However, the rest of the year it seems we don’t give much thought or time to that spiritual discipline. Pollster George Barna recently polled Americans and found the average American Christian prays just five minutes a day! Meanwhile, the typical American pastor is not much better, spending only seven minutes a day in prayer.

Last week, Whitney and I packed our bags (and our notepads) and headed off to the annual Nebraska Press Association convention in Lincoln—a weekend that promised to be filled with nothing short of tornadoes, tales, and a tad bit of journalistic camaraderie. Yes, you read that right: tornadoes! It seems Mother Nature has quite the sense of timing.

Over the past few years, Central City Public Schools, along with other organizations, has seen significant progress in cheer and dance programs. Cheerleading has had a large transformation, offering more opportunities for students to perform at numerous events and competitions.