LAUREL — The wait is over — Coleridge will have a Middle School next fall.
After months of speculation, meetings, planning, research and differences of opinions, the Laurel-Concord School Board members voted 4-1 to approve moving students in grades 5-8 to a Middle School in Coleridge for the 2010-11 school year. John Wolfgram was the only Board member to vote against the plan.
Coleridge High School students will attend classes at Laurel-Concord and the two schools will be involved in a football co-op.
Coleridge is currently bussing pre-school through fourth grade students to Laurel.
Before the vote was taken, Supt. Rich Patton was asked to give his recommendation on the middle school.

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COLERIDGE — The Coleridge School hallways were full Monday.
Over 160 people showed up to gather information, ask questions and voice opinions on whether a Middle School for Laurel and Coleridge students should be located in Coleridge.
The Middle School Information Meeting included a tour of the school building, along with information on having students from Coleridge and Laurel-Concord Schools merge if a middle school is created.
Supt. Rich Patton said a middle school at Coleridge would give the students their own space and activities.
This idea is not new as Coleridge, Laurel-Concord, Newcastle and Wynot schools have a history of sharing.

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WAKEFIELD — Board members from four schools in northeast Nebraska held a strategic planning workshop at the Education Service Unit in Wakefield on Sept 30.
Close to 40 school board members, administrators and patrons from the Coleridge, Laurel-Concord, Newcastle and Wynot School districts discussed the future of the inter-local agreement for sharing that the schools have been involved in.
Burma Kroger, Director of Board Development for the Nebraska Association of School Boards chaired the workshop.
The hot topic of the evening was football and the possibility of developing a middle school for the Coleridge and Laurel-Concord Schools.

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OMAHA — The 2009 Class D State Track Meet was one of both highs and lows for the Coleridge teams. The Lady Bulldogs had one qualifier, Senior Sophie Wemhoff, in the Shot Put, while the Bulldogs sent two qualifiers, Seniors Seth Schroeder in the 400 and Tyler Hefner in the 200.
Schroeder and Hefner both participated in their events in the late afternoon and early evening hours Friday. Wemhoff threw for her event Saturday.

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COLERIDGE — Coleridge Community Schools will hold their 111th annual graduation exercises for 17 seniors on Saturday, May 16, at 2 p.m., in the high school gymnasium.
Seth Schroeder is the 2009 Valedictorian. Seth is the son of Dr. John and Sally Schroeder.
Jamie Huss is the 2009 Salutatorian. Jamie is the son of Larry and Donna Huss. They will each give a senior address.
Class members are:
Tanner Nicholas Anderson;  Nicholas Francis Burbach; Tsai Lin Cheng;
Michael James Dendinger; Dana Kay Hansen; Tyler William Hefner;
Jamie Allen Huss; April Lynne Lewis; Josh Lewis; Nai Wen Liang;  Aaron Jordan Olsen; Taylor Ann Olsen; Kelsey Lynn Papenhausen;
Seth Thomas Schroeder; Isaiah T. Sommer;  Sophia Elizabeth Wemhoff; Kellen John Colter York.
Dr. Daniel Hoesing, Superintendent, will have the presentation of the class and Board of Education President, Robert Colwell, will present the diplomas to the graduating seniors.
Les Owen, Building Principal, will present the honor awards. Mike Nelson, President of the Coleridge Community Educational Foundation, Inc. will present the foundation scholarships.
The Coleridge High School concert band, under the direction of Patti Beyeler, will perform “Pomp and Circumstance” during the processional. The senior choir members, directed by Claudia Dvorak, will sing “Like An Eagle”.

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The Junior and Senior Classes performed their annual play for the public on Friday evening. Mannequins Tyler Hefner (left) and Seth Schroeder prepare to throw would-be robber Ben Hoffart through the front window of their store.

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COLERIDGE —  A two-way video conference linked the Coleridge School with a school in rural Alaska that is below the Arctic Circle.
Members of the Coleridge School Board visited with Rich Patton who is serving as the assistant superintendent for the Lower Yukon School District during the school board meeting on Monday evening.
Patton has been hired by the Laurel-Concord School and will replace Supt. Dan Hoesing for the 2009-10 school year.

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COLERIDGE — Coleridge School Board members will not learn the amounts of state aid or stimulus funds the school will receive for close to a month.
The stimulus funds for schools could end up supplementing the money for the state aid package.
Any stimulus money that is received by schools, whether it is part of the state aid or not, will have a lot of strings attached.
“There will need to be a lot of documentation on how it is spent,” said Supt. Dan Hoesing.
The state aid will not be certified until June 1 according to Hoesing.

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 Editor’s Note: Northeast Neb. News Company reporter Greta Smith conducted a 60-minute phone interview with new Laurel-Concord Schools Supt. Richard Patton last week. Here is a brief synopsis of the question and answer session.

Q. Rich, please describe your background in education.
A. This year is my 32nd year in education as a teacher, principal, special education director and now as assistant superintendent. I was a high school principal for 21 years. That position was the most fun, but also the most challenging. The last four years my time has been spent as the assistant superintendent for 11 schools in the Lower Yukon School District.

Q. What is your favorite thing about working with students?
A. I really enjoy kids, and I really like learning. I get to do what I love to do everyday.

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COLERIDGE — Coleridge is providing kids with a school away from school.
Students from other schools in the area have been attending the Credit Recovery Center at the Coleridge School in an effort get caught up and earn a high school diploma.
Seventeen students are finishing out the 2008-09 school year at the Credit Recovery Center.
Some of the students will return to the Credit Recovery Center next year, others will go back to their home school to attend classes and seven of the students will be graduating in May.
Six of the students will graduate from Laurel-Concord and one of the students will be graduating from Newcastle, according to Chuck Potosnyak, who is the proctor for the program at Coleridge.
“A student has already enrolled in college and some of the others are still exploring the option of college,” said Potosnyak.

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