Esten Johnsen-SHS Senior and Kinlee Goracke-SMS Both Named Champions at American Legion District 12 Oratorical Contest. Esten won First Place in the High School Division and Kinlee was the Middle School Champion. Esten is the son of Steven and Angela Johnsen of Seward. Esten presented a nine minute, memorized speech on the US Constitution. His speech was “We the People!” and he was then asked to speak extemporaneously on the Amendment I for three to five minutes on the topic.
Kinlee Goracke is the Eight Grade daughter of Laura and Darrin Goracke of Seward and presented a five-minute speech on the US Constitution as well. She was selected to represent Seward Middle School from a pool of six finalists at the SMS. Because she was in the Junior Division, she did not have a time limit, was allowed to use a notecard, and did not have to present an extemporaneous speech on an amendment.
The American Legion District 12 Oratorical Contest was held on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 at 1:00 pm at the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward. Martin Neal of Hickman, NE the District 12 Commander, welcomed the group to the American Legion Oratorical District 12 Contest and Joe Ruzicka - the Seward American Legion Post #33 Commander, the hosts for the contest, welcomed the visitors to the contest and to the Nebraska National Guard Museum and Seward. The gathering opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the US Flag. Ken Meyer of the Seward American Legion Post 33, served as the District 12 Oratorical Chairman and as Sargeant of Arms for the speakers. Clark Kolterman of Seward served as the Emcee for the event and assisted with the arrangements for the contest with Ken Meyer.
Each high school contestant was asked to prepare and write an eight-to-ten-minute oration on some aspect of the US Constitution, then draw one of four US Constitution Amendments and then was asked to speak extemporaneously for three to five minutes on the selected Amendment. The Amendments selected for the contest were Amendments I, VII, XVIII, XXVI. He drew Amendment I to speak on for the contest this time.
Esten was awarded a special “Thomas Bosmeniel” Memorial trophy, a gold medal and will receive a $100 cash scholarship from their District Contest, after he attends and participates in the American Legion Area C contest, which is a requirement of the scholarship award. The Area C Contest will be held in Seward, at the Seward Civic Center on Sunday, December 1st at 1:00 pm, again hosted by American Legion Post 33 of Seward. Goracke also received a Gold Medal for being the Junior Champion.
The “Thomas Bosmeniel” Memorial trophy is presented annually by his family and friends in memory of the late Thomas Bosmeniel, who died in 2018, during his freshman year at the University of Nebraska. Thomas had been the winner of the District 12 American Legion Speech Contest twice-sponsored by Post 33, won the American Legion Area C Oratorical Contest twice and was a State American Legion Finalist twice. He had loved the American Legion Oratorical Contest and the values of its program and was also a proud alum of the American Legion Boys State program. It was presented by Thomas’ mother, Anna Downing of Ulysses, Nebraska at the Oratorical Contest.
Judges for both Oratorical contests were Anna Downing of Ulyssess, NE, Zane Francescato of Seward and Marv Taylor of Seward. Following the presentation they did meet with the two winners and shared ideas and observations of the student presentations.
Refreshments were served, compliments of the Nebraska National Guard Historical Society, hosted by Gerald Meyer-Nebraska National Guard Museum Historian.
The next meeting will be the Area C Oratorical Contest, also in Seward at the Nebraska National Guard Museum at 1:00 pm on December 1st, 2024, where Esten will represent District 12 and compete for the opportunity to represent the Area C at the State Contest in January of 2025 and become one of the four State Finalists.
Group Photo-L-R Joe Ruzicka-Seward Commander American Legion Post 33, Zane Francescato-Judge, Marv Taylor-Judge, Laura Goracke-(Kinllee’s Mother), Kinlee Goracke-Junior Champion, Darrin Goracke (Kinlee’s Father), Esten Johnsen-District 12 American Legion-Ne Champion, Angela Johnsen (Esten’s Mother), Anna Downing-Judge, Marin Neal-District 12 Commander of Hickman, Ken Meyer-District 12 Oratorical Contest Chair and Sergeant of Arms for the Contest-representing NE Post 33 of Seward.
There were about 30 local high school students that volunteered and assisted in the annual “Bluejay Way” Community Service Day on Sunday, October 20, 2024. The day promoted community service at Seward High School and coordinated opportunities for the students to add to their community service hours. The school and community introduced a wide variety of venues to serve as opportunities for the students to add to their list of community service hours or begin their community service program. Each graduate at Seward High is required to complete 30 hours of community service as a qualification for graduation.
There were two teachers from SHS assisting with this event, Ross Briggs and Ashlee Ricket. Other community members volunteered and assisted guiding the students throughout the event in supervisory positions during the day.
This event has been coined, "The Bluejay Way" and it was labeled a success for our students and community. All in all, there were 25 students, two teachers, and an extra adult + at each location, which amounts to around 40+ people helping out at five locations!
SHS Students participating included the workers at the Civic Center and the Ne National Guard Museum, who were Nora Swanson, Cooper Hill, Kai Davia, Brianna Potrazt, Kris Anderson, and Zach Shiner, assisted by adults, Mark Kolterman, Clark Kolterman and Dr. Van Vahle.
Students assisting at the Seward County Genealogical Society House included Adam Rickert, Addilyn Sugden, Sage Prochaska, Nathan Kulhanek, and Emily Eis.
The Parade Float helpers included Ella Gabriel, Avery Rodocker, Izzy Marker and Carissa Mines.
Students working at the Foster Friends House were Klay Johnston, Emerson Rucker, Olive Buell, Hailey Thoreson, Christie Brecka, Sophia Erwin and Delaney Manley.
The SHS students preparing for the CASA Scare at the Fair included Carson Delcamp, Sofie Allen, Colie Kimber, Hailey Ball, Amelia Juranek, Lily Jackson, Jayln Hagen, Adelyn Luebbe, and Catriona Mill.
Each of the locations continues to offer community service opportunities for volunteers. Please contact them to assist with their programs. The event was coordinated by SHS Key Club and local educators Ross Briggs and Ashlee Ricket – sponsors of the Seward High Key Club in Seward. For more information on the program contact either teacher at SHS 402-643-2988 or email Ross Briggs at ross.briggs@sewardschools.org.
The committee hopes to sponsor a “Make-up” event for the Seward County Historical Society Museum in Goehner yet this fall and have scheduled another event for the Blue Jay Way in the spring of 2025! For more information on the Blue Jay Way Day contact either Briggs or Rickert at Seward High.
The two Seward High teams participated in the recent History Quiz Bowl in Seward did very well considering they were with many Class A Schools in the Large School Division of the contest. The Large School Division was won by Elkhorn High North. Seward had two teams in the contest… Team A: Amelia Juranek, Kennedy Duncan and Alex Pliefke and Team B: Izayah Lavicky, Landen Ford and Liam Krahulik. They were coached by SHS Educator Melissa Pohl-SHS Quiz Bowl Sponsor.
GFWC Nebraska Federation of Women’s Club’s hosted the State History Quiz Bowl in Seward at Living Water Lutheran Church on Wednesday, October 16th in an all-day Quiz Bowl event featuring questions based only on History and Geography. The Quiz Bowl hosted 50 teams of high school students from across Nebraska.
The event featured a “Round Robin” feature in the morning, where each team played three rounds in a warm-up for the afternoon’s single elimination tourney. The event was divided into three levels-Large, Medium and Small Schools. The teams competed in 15-minute rounds, generating points and wins to achieve the top seed bracket for the afternoon tournament.
Winners of the History Quiz Bowl included...
Small School-First: Exeter Milligan HS-Coach Jordan Marr, Second: Clarkson HS-Coach Sid Ready, Third: Heartland Lutheran/Grand Island HS-Coach Jackie Zehendner, Fourth: Wilber Clatonia HS-Coach Ellie Binder.
Medium School-First: Central City HS-Coach Brandon Wright, Second-Kearney Catholic HS-Coach Polla Renken, Third-Cross County HS at Stromsburg-Coach Johanna Nielsen, Fourth: Raymond Central HS-Coach Courtney Polak.
Large School: First: Elkhorn North HS-Coach Melissa Petersen, Second: Elkhorn HS-Coach Molly Erickson, Third: Elkhorn South HS-Coach Abby Cleary, Fourth: Gretna East HS-Coach Jami Adelman.
The winning school received a Championship Trophy, and each team member also was presented with a ribbon and medal by their coaches. The First Runner-up team also received a winner’s trophy-with the trophies and medals sponsored and donated by the GFWC NFWC. They were presented by GFWC NFWC representatives Diane Uher of Clarkson and Bernie Baumert of Howells.
Schools involved included Elkhorn, Elkhorn North, Elkhorn South, Gretna, Creighton Prep, Norris, Seward, Gretna East, York, Ralston, Central City, Fillmore Central, Cross County, Raymond Central, Milford, West Point, Oakland-Craig, Kearney Catholic, Heartland Lutheran of GI, Heartland-Henderson, Hampton, Shelby-Rising City, Exeter Milligan, Dorchester, Howells-Dodge, Clarkson, Fullerton, and Wilber Clatonia.
The volunteer readers/judges for the History Quiz Bowl were Sue Imig, Andy Jensen, Nancy Schulz, and Clark Kolterman -all from Seward, Kathy Wilcox from Crete, Nancy Meyer from Geneva, Ellie Janda from Beaver Crossing, Jenni Erhart from Osceola and Laura Sabata from Fullerton. There were nine rooms of competition going at one time all day long!
The GFWC Seward Woman’s Club hosted the pizza luncheon for the coaches and judges during the event-chaired by Ellen Chaffin. Riley Nuttleman of Seward was the Quiz Master for the event, with Clark Kolterman of Seward serving as the coordinator. Diane Uher of GFWC Clarkson Woman’s Club is the GFWC NFWC Quiz Bowl State Chair for 2024-2026 and she hosted the front-line registration table along with Bernie Baumert of the GFWC Howells Woman’s Club. Pastor Scott Krohn of Living Word Lutheran Church served as the local contact for the host church at the event.
It should be noted that many of the teams in this tourney were sponsored by their local GFWC Woman’s Club-who paid the entry fee for their school’s Quiz Bowl team for this GFWC NFWC tourney as a community service and youth program/project. Any extra profits generated from this History Quiz Bowl will be used for the GFWC NFWC “USA 250” projects and programs in 2026, when the US celebrates their 250th Birthday!
For more information on the various Quiz Bowl events, contact Diane Uher in Clarkson-the GFWC NFWC Quiz Bowl Chair at dluher72@gmail.com or call 401-469-5505.
Photo: Left to Right: … Team A: Amelia Juranek, Kennedy Duncan and Alex Pliefke and Team B: Izayah Lavicky, Landen Ford and Liam Krahulik. They were coached by SHS Educator Melissa Pohl-SHS Quiz Bowl Sponsor.
SHS Senior, Lawson Luebbe of rural Seward-near Goehner, was selected to be the October Seward Youth Rotarian and invited to the October 9th, 2024 Rotary Luncheon meeting at the Jones Bank in Seward. He is the oldest son of Melissa and Jeff Luebbe.
Lawson has been a member of the SHS Honor Roll for ten terms to date and participated in a host of dual credit/Career Academy classes through Southeast Nebraska Community College in Lincoln. He serves as an SHS Student “Bluejay Ambassador” and is the voice of SHS every morning for the welcome Public Address announcements from the Bulletin and Pledge of Allegiance to the US Flag.
He is a very busy, active young man outside of class as well, as his activities in school include being part of the SHS Baseball program 2021-2022, and a very loyal member of the SHS Basketball program from 2021 to present. He was selected to receive the Central Conference Academic All-Conference Award -May of 2024.
Lawson is a member of both of the Seward High choirs and a senior leader with the SHS Show Choir. He has been part of the vocal SHS music scene since 2021. He was awarded the Chorus Award –“Most Valuable Junior Singer” in May of 2024.
Lawson is considered on of the local leaders in the SHS Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program-serving as the Board member -Historian and FBLA Treasurer. He has participated in a host of contests on the State Level for the SHS FBLA Chapter and was one of the “agents” to help his classmate Jena Eberspacher elected State FBLA President this year.
Lawson has been a member of the SHS FFA since 2021, as well as an active member of the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes Chapter. He has been a member of the SHS HOPE Squad since 2021 as well.
Lawson is a member of the Seward United Methodist Church in Seward. He attends a St. John Lutheran Church Godparent program and is active in the Seward United Methodist Youth Group and has volunteered at both churches for years. He is proud of serving as a representative to the Guatemala Summer Mission Trips the last two summers in 2023 and 2024.
He was one of three in his class selected to receive the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA). Also, related to the Seward Rotary, it should be noted that Lawson was the 2017 Rotary Club’s July 4 Royalty -named “Mr. Firecracker,” as he wrote the winning essay for the City and State Sesquicentennial Fourth of July Celebration! He has also been presented a host of P.R.I.D.E. awards by the SHS faculty based on Preparation, Respect, Integrity, Dedication, and Effort-(15 times).
In the summer his work experience includes being part of the Blue River Umpires Association of Seward and umpired for four summers-working over 80 games just last summer and the “13 and Under” State Championship Games in Council Bluffs. He has also refereed numerous Seward Youth Basketball games for Seward Schools and Concordia Youth Camps.
His” Service Above Self” community service hours revolve around the SHS FBLA and SHS FFA community service projects as well as his youth coaching at the SHS summer camps, and for announcing over 100+ Youth, Middle School, and High School athlete events at no charge! He is fast becoming “The Voice of SHS” and, recently started announcing the SHS Hudl Athletic online programs -calling the play by play for the live video presentation.
Lawson is still visiting colleges and has not decided on his university of choice as of yet, however it is “his hope to be part of a sports organization or work as a sports broadcaster or some part of the sports industry-with a Major in Sports Communication.”
He was introduced and welcomed to Rotary and presented with a bag of Rotary mementos and a $50 gift card to assist with college expenses. Lawson is a finalist for the Youth Rotarian of the Year, and he will be honored again in May at the SHS Honors Night, when they will announce the scholarship winner from the ten finalists.
One Youth Rotarian is selected each month of the school year and applications can be obtained at the SHS Counselor’s office.
The statewide, annual “Girl’s Only” Quiz Bowl was held in Seward at the Seward Living Word Lutheran Church at 1300 West Hillcrest on Wednesday, October 2nd in an all-day quiz bowl competition from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm. The event is annually sponsored by the GFWC Nebraska Federation of Women’s Club’s to showcase high school girls in a competitive academic “general knowledge” competition. High schools were invited statewide to share in this event and 49 teams entered this year’s contest.
The day began with a “Round Robin” tourney, where each team was guaranteed three rounds of quiz bowl contest competition to “warm the teams up” with practice rounds and determine the seeding placement for the afternoon’s single elimination tourney. The teams were divided into three divisions, based on school size by the NSAA numbers with small, medium and large schools in competition. The afternoon contest featured a bracketed contest, with teams seeded to play in a single elimination contest for first, second, third and fourth place. There were 49 teams and contests were held in nine rooms throughout the church. The first-place teams won a trophy and individual team medals and the runner-up team won a trophy-donated by the GFWC NFWC.
The winners of the contests included…
Large School Division: First Place-Seward High Team A-Coach Melissa Pohl, Second Place- Seward High Team B-Coach Melissa Pohl, Third Place-Elkhorn South-Coach Abigail Cleary, Fourth Place-York High Team A-Coach Sam Due.
Medium School Division: First Place-Fillmore Central-Geneva-Coach Ryan Komenda, Logan Magnolia-Iowa-Coach Kathy Foreman, Third Place-Kearney Catholic-Coach Polla Renken, Fourth Place-Raymond Central-Coach Courtney Polak.
Small School Division: First Place-Shelton High-Coach Shanna Held, Second Place-Nebraska Christian Team A-Coach Dee Flynn, Third Place-Howells/Dodge-Traci Sindelar, Fourth Place- Nebraska Christian-Team B-Dee Flynn.
Volunteers for the tourney included the reader/judges for each room-Sue Imig, Nancy Schulz, Ellie Janda, Bonnie Kruse, Andy Jensen, and Clark Kolterman-all from Seward, Melissa Pohl from Utica and Kathy Wilcox from Crete, Kathy Huggins from Papillion, and Laura Sabatka from Fullerton. Kathy Huggins, the State NFWC President from Papillion served as a host for the day, with Diane Uher from Clarkson the GFWC NFWC Chair and local GFWC coordinator of the tourney. Riley Nuttleman served as the Quiz Bowl Master and Clark Kolterman was the tourney manager. Pastor Scott Krohn coordinated the church’s facilities. GFWC NFWC members Brooke Chandler and Rene’ Chandler with the GFWC Seward Woman’s Club, coordinated the lunch for the coaches and judges over the noon hour.
The schools attending included Columbus Scotus, Cross County, Shelby/Rising City, McCool Junction, Falls City, Raymond Central, Crete, Exeter/Milligan, Central City, York, Seward, Howells/Dodge, Oakland/Craig, Sandy Creek, Tri-County, Heartland-Henderson, Logan Magnolia (Iowa), Norris, Fullerton, Fillmore Central, Gretna, Dorchester, Ralston, Elkhorn High, Elkhorn South, Elkhorn North, East Butler, Nebraska Christian, Humphrey, Cross County, Thayer Central, Bennington, West Point/Beemer, Fillmore Central, Dorchester, Humphrey, Shelton and Kearney Catholic.
