Category Archives: Elementary

FFA Chicken Presentation

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FFA chapters across the country celebrate National FFA week, which is February 18-24 this year. This is an opportunity to bring awareness to the FFA program as well as agriculture in general. Hay Springs FFA Chapter vice president, Ava McKillip, was able to share some poultry education with the first grade class, who received a grant from the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation to study where our food comes from and where it is produced.

Ava brought 3 chickens, a Dark Brahma, Midnight Majesty, and an Ameraucana, from her 45 head flock for the children to learn about as well as view and pet. The children were able to see and learn the differences between the three breeds and the variations in the eggs they lay. There were samples of light brown, dark brown, cream, and blue/green eggs to view. It was discussed what the chickens eat during the warmer months as free range birds and Ava had samples of the feed and treats they eat during the winter months. One of the first graders was selected to offer the Dark Brahma some dried mealworms, aka “chicken candy”, but the chicken was feeling a bit shy and wouldn’t eat from his hand. To finish up the demonstration, Ava cracked open an egg to point out the yolk, white or albumen, and the air cell.

The children also learned some fun facts about chickens:
* Did you know that chickens have earlobes? By looking at the color of their earlobes, you can generally tell whether the chicken will lay white, brown, or blue/green eggs.
* It’s believed that chickens can see more colors and have better vision than humans. This helps them identify seeds and food on the ground.
* Have you heard of a T-rex dinosaur? Believe it or not, chickens are genetically more similar than alligators to the T-rex.

Ava will be part of a 4 member poultry team representing the Hay Springs FFA Chapter at the state level competition in Lincoln at the end of March.

Sweden

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This week’s cultural presentation for the elementary was about Sweden. Some of the things the students learned about included:

  • Children dressing up for Easter similar to Trick or Treating on Halloween.
  • Lordagsgodis is the tradition of eating candy, ice cream, and cake ONLY on Saturdays.
  • Different types of Swedish crafts including felting, dala horse, cookie stamps.
  • Allmansratten which means everyone has access to nature and can camp nearly anywhere.
  • Fika is a relaxing coffee break with Swedish pastries.
  • Swedish money is called the Krona.
  • Some inventions/businesses from Sweden are Minecraft, Skype, Spotify, Ikea, GPS, seat belt, and the zipper.
  • According to Swedish Law, every worker has the right to 4 consecutive weeks of holiday between June and August.
  • Christmas is celebrated on December 24th in Sweden with smorgasbords, St. Lucia Day, and a Yule Goat.

Mrs. Wellnitz read “The Tomten”, a book about a little gnome that is dedicated to helping out on the farm. After the book, the students watched a short video about the history of Sweden, a crayfish party, the Royal Palace, and the Speed Lottery. In Sweden, it is a tradition to watch a Donald Duck cartoon on Christmas Eve so the presentation ended with a short Donald Duck cartoon.  The students received Swedish Apple Cookies for a snack when they returned to their classrooms.

After the presentation, the preschoolers enjoyed dancing to music by the Swedish group, Caramell.

Thank you to the Snow-Redfern Foundation for their generosity. It is through their project grant that makes this cultural program possible.

Ireland

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Kathy Willnerd was the guest speaker yesterday for the Ireland cultural presentation at Hay Springs Elementary. Some key points that Kathy discussed were: Ireland’s flag, the national symbol (harp), the potato famine, stone fences, tin whistle, the Blarney Stone, and the Shamrock. Kathy’s husband Steve Willnerd’s great grandparents immigrated from Ireland to America after the potato famine. Kathy made soda bread for the students to try. She also read the book “How to Catch a Leprechaun” and encouraged the kids to go home and build a trap. After the presentation, Jeanie Snyder and Bev Wellnitz went to the 3rd grade classroom and helped the students write limericks. When they were finished writing, they read their limericks to their classmates. The students received the book “Maisie McGillicuddy’s Sheep Got Muddy” and banana bread muffins for a snack. Thank you to the Snow-Redfern Foundation for your generosity that makes these cultural programs possible. Thank you also to Kathy for taking the time to share with the kids about Ireland!

First Lego League Robotics

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The Hay Springs robotics team competed on Saturday, January 28th in Gering at the First Lego League qualifier. The team had a great day of sharing what they learned with judges and running their robot program. The “Bionic Hawks” put in a good showing, but not quite good enough to advance on to the state competition.

Their project build idea was a robot to clear ice from power lines. They interviewed with Craig Housh from Northwest Rural Public Power District to learn more about the problems power lines face during winter weather and Craig Z. from University Nebraska Lincoln to learn about what approaches are being taken currently to keep power lines in working order. The last few moths have been spent studying how electricity is made and delivered to houses. When not busy with that they’ve been building and programing their robot to accomplish the tasks they were assigned.

The “Bionic Hawk” team members are Preston Kelly, Elly Reimann, Grant Wellnitz, Riggen Binger, Jacob Dorshorst, Jax Cuny, and Jayna Cuny.

First Explorers Robotics Teams

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Snowy weather and conflicting sports schedules prevented most of the Hay Springs First Explorers robotics teams from attending the First Lego League qualifier on Saturday, January 28th in Gering. The one member of the robotics team who was able to make it did a wonderful job of presenting his teams project to the judges.

Gus Reimann proudly showed what the “Farm Town” team has been working hard on for the last few months. With a motorized and programed windmill, along with houses, cars, and tractors they had completed quite the project. Other members of the “Farm Town” team were Harper Langford, Laila Stock, Brenna Diers, Jailyn Jancik, Cali Janssen, and Wyatt Palmer.

Unfortunately none of the “Super Power” team were able to make it to Gering. They had made a very impressive build with a windmill and a carousel built together and powered by one motor. This was above and beyond the instructions and intent of the original design. Members of the “Super Power” team were Brecken Starke, Addison Heiting, Bentley Palmer, and Josephine Kendig.

The children learned how to work together, follow complicated directions, and how to program(code) in order to make the windmill spin, stop, and change directions. They also delved into belt and gear driven designs as they expanded their builds or made their cars drivable. Robotics is a 4H sponsored group of second and third graders who build Lego models and then program them to perform.

Mexico Presentation

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Sam Orr, a Hay Springs Public School alumni, was our guest speaker today as we explored the culture of Mexico. Sam shared a presentation which covered the following topics: flag, location, size, travel requirements, weather, food, language, Mariachi music, money, homemade fireworks, and the crafters market on wheels. Mexican dishes start with these main ingredients: tomato, onion, peppers, and garlic. One of Sam’s favorite traditional foods is “Elote” (street corn). The students received the book, P is for Pinata, and Churros for their snack. After the presentation, the 2nd graders enjoyed making Mexican Mirrors. Thank you Sam for taking the time to share with the students. Thank you also to Snow-Redfern Foundation for your generosity that makes these cultural programs possible.

Girls On The Run

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3rd-5th Grade Girls – Please let us know if you are interested in restarting the Girls on the Run program here at Hay Springs!

It runs from mid-March-May with a celebration 5K for all panhandle teams in Chadron in May. This program promotes healthy habits through exercise, social emotional well being, and building friendships. The team meets twice a week after school (we would work around youth volleyball schedules during April). There is some running but it is so much more than that and it is worked into games and activities!

3rd-5th grade parents, please contact Mrs. Heiting ASAP if your daughter is interested so we can get things set up!

China Presentation

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On Monday, January 23rd, Bev Wellnitz was at Hay Springs Elementary to give our students a presentation about China. Accompanying Mrs. Wellnitz as an observer was Mrs. Jeanie Snyder, who taught for 28 years before retiring. Bev read the kids a book about China, passed around some chopsticks for the kids to look at, and spoke about the Chinese zodiac. Each year of the 12 year Chinese Zodiac cycle is represented by a certain animal and many Chinese believe that a person’s personality traits are determined by that animal. The students also learned about the Chinese New Year which is on January 22nd and how this year is the year of the rabbit. Several short videos were shown to the kids as well, the first about “pinyin”, the art of paper cutting. The second video was about how about silk material is produced from silkworm cocoons. The last video was about Chinese shadow art or shadow puppetry. And what presentation about China would be complete without forturne cookies for the audience?  Thank you Mrs. Wellnitz and Mrs. Snyder!

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