February2020

Cody-Kilgore High School PO Box 216

Cody, NE 69211

Cody Office - 402.823.4117 Kilgore Office - 402.966.2291

cknews@cody-kilgore.com

Building and Grounds UpdateBy: Superintendent Adam Lambert

We have had two town hall meetings and just over 6 months of research to figure out the best direction for us to address the infrastructure needs of the district. Any time a school district needs to address a building project over $100,000, there are legislative mandates in place that have to be followed. Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as a personal building project where you can call a contractor and start building.

To date, we have been following a construction model called Design, Bid, Build. In this model, the school district hires an architect, asks them to design a conceptual plan, holds a bond election, then bids out the project, and, finally, builds the project. We have currently been stuck in the design portion of the model as we have been trying to put together a plan that will address all of the needs of the district at a cost that could be supported by our patrons.

At our second town hall meeting we presented a plan that would address all of the needs, but it came at a price tag of $9.8M. Since then, the infrastructure team, along with the architecture team, have been trying to get the project down into the $6M range. The issue that has been raised is that we are not able to address all of the needs of the district in that price range utilizing this current model.

The Board of Education may decide to switch models in the hope to save money and address all of the needs. The next model that could be explored is called Design, Build. In this model, the school would put out letters of interest to contracting companies explaining the scope of the project and the potential cost. Companies would submit back to the board if they think they could do the project within the proposed budget. The board would narrow down the list to their top three and then interview them. Once they select a company, that company would be in charge of designing and constructing the project. The company would essentially be doing everything in house (architecture, engineering, building, etc.). Through our research, this method may be an option to save money, but there is no way of knowing until we get into the process.

State classifications have been adjusted and Cody-Kilgore is now considered a Class III school. It really doesn’t change anything other than the timing of board elections. Board elections will now be during the primary, which is earlier than normal. Incumbents need to be submitted by February 18th while nonincumbents are due by March 2. If you have questions, please contact the county clerks office.

Either way, Design, Build is a long process. It would take 30-60 days to put a letter of interest out and another two months or more to go to a vote for a bond. The state requires a Performance Criteria developer to help in this process to make sure each company is able to perform the task.

The Cody-Kilgore Board of Education has done a great job involving the community in this process. Most districts simply form a committee, decide on a bond price, and then go to a vote. Once passed, the district would then get into the specific details of the project. What Cody-Kilgore patrons have been experiencing, which most district patrons do not, is a fully transparent process because the district wants to make sure everyone understands the cost, scale, and scope of the project.

We appreciate your patience with all of this as we continue to navigate the best option for the district and the taxpayers. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Mr. Lambert or anyone on the infrastructure team. If we don’t have an answer to your specific question, we will find it. At this point, it is evident that the majority of the patrons understand the need to do something. Now it is working to find out what that something is.

Board Election Change!

G.O.B WINNER

Jacob Knox is the winner of the 2020 G.O.B!

Circle C Round Up

If you have been in the Circle C Market lately, most likely you have heard the employee ask, “Do you want to round up to the nearest dollar?” The new update of software on the point-of-sale system provides the opportunity to round up your purchases to the next even dollar amount, donating the change to the scholarship fund for student employees of the store.

So the next time you purchase your groceries, know that the Circle C Market Round Up is working for your kids and their futures and say, “Yes, I do!”

Digital Journalism Class

Sterling HendrixEmmalea Olson Ms. Richards

Cody-Kilgore uses strv.tv to broadcast home games, concerts and graduation. You will find our broadcasts on strv.tv Live. Go to strv.tv and search for Cody-Kilgore Schools.

500 Book Winner

The Yearbook Staff would like you to submit your best photos.Photos can be submitted to the following categories:

Fall Sports/HoCo/Student Life during HoCo

Winter Sports/ Student Life

Spring Sports/ Rodeo

Staff Life

General Student LifeSubmit to: https://uploads.picaboo.com/8604289

The PreK and Kindergarten students have been working hard to meet their reading goals. Some students have reached the 500 book mark. Skylar Ford is pictured here with her 5 medals indicating she has read over 500 books for the year. Great work kids!

Pro Racer and Olympic Coach, Tony Hoffman, Comes to Cody!

Tony Hoffman (sitting in the middle of the front row wearing a grey sweatshirt, Nike shoes and a stocking cap) is an Elite Pro BMX racer. He placed 2nd at the 2016 World Championships in Medellin, Colombia, in the Masters’ Pro class. Tony also coached Women’s Elite Professional, Brooke Crain, to a 4th place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. His story, From Prison to Rio Olympics, is full of redemption as he has seen some of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Tony has presented on the prestigious TEDx stage and is the Founder and Director of The Freewheel Project, a non-profit organization that mentors thousands of youth through action sports. Today, Tony is one of the most requested substance abuse speakers in the country, traveling 200 days a year to share his inspiring story with various audiences. Tony presented to Cody-Kilgore’s 6th-12th grade students on January 13th. His powerful message lasted about an hour and ten minutes with another forty minutes where the students were given an opportunity to ask him questions. Tony’s story is an inspirational one that taught our students how to cope with life’s lows and highs. Thanks, Tony, for visiting us at Cody-Kilgore!

Winter Ranch Games

C-K in the ‘40s

The first week after Christmas Break, Ms. Richie broke out the old yearbooks for the digital journalism students. Starting with the 1940s, one of the oldest yearbooks still in the library(1936 being the first), we scanned the old, faded pages and saved them to a computer. This ensures that no one will rip any of the delicate pages while reading. The plan is to put it on the school website and save it to flash drives. While we scanned the yearbooks, we learned that freshmen and sophomores spent their nights at school for shooting spit wads at each other, Long Pine’s mascot was the Polar Bear, and our boys’ basketball team did not have near the height we do today. We also started looking through the newsletters from 1947-1949. It turns out these were full of romance and gossip. One of the quotes we were able to find was “Flattery is the art of pretending that you like the girl more than the kiss.” Fun Fact: On January 25, 1949, Lloyd Schneider was a new pupil in the Seventh Grade. He was from the Boiling Springs District where they had been unable to find a teacher.

February 2020

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday W

ednesday Thursday

Friday Saturday

1

A

rt Contest and

MN

AC

@ Broken

Bow

2 3

4 5

6 7

8

HS JV

BB vs Valentine

@ 5pm

Parent Teacher Conf

@ C

ody, 4:30-7pm

HS BB @ C

rawford

5pm

JH BB @ Tryon

HS BB vs Santee @

3pm

9 10

11 12

13 14

15

Instrumental C

linic @

Thedford School Board @

C

ody 7pm

Val. Parties @ Kilgore

JH Boys vs Gordon-

Rushville @ 5pm

HS G

irls BB @ Bennett

@ 5:30pm

Co.

Teacher Inservice HS BB Sandhills-Thedford 5pm

ParentÕs N

ight

16 17

18 19

20 21

22

Girls Subdistricts

Girls Subdistricts

Subdistricts Subdistricts

HS Boys vs Ainsw

orth @

4pm

JH Boys @ Rushville

23 24

25 26

27 28

29

Boys Subdistricts Boys Subdistricts

Boys Subdistricts Boys Subdistricts

Girls D

istrict Finals Boys D

istrict Finals