Exeter-Milligan Kindergarten

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Mrs. Kassik checks the clockwork of Deacon Erdkamp.

The Exeter-Milligan Kindergarten keeps a busy schedule all day long in Exeter.

They begin each morning reviewing the calendar and events for the day before moving into their reading groups.  Time is spent reading, working on language and independent work.  

To keep their bodies in sync with their brains they enjoy PE before starting another round of Mastery reading in groups.  After lunch they have recess and start their afternoon which includes math, handwriting, social studies or science and writing.  Once a week they enjoy art class and library, and twice a week, music.

They have an afternoon recess and a milk and story break.

Kindergarteners always look forward to their show and tell day each week.  

In social studies the kindergarteners were learning about communities.

This year the class has thirteen students and their teacher Mrs. Judy Kassik notes, “There is never a dull moment in the classroom.”

Deacon Erdkamp demonstrated how his forklift works during show and tell in the Exeter-Milligan kindergarten.

Exeter-Milligan Kindergarten front row from the left:  Addison Foutch, Scout Grummons, Natalie Meyer, Deacon Erdkamp,  Ensley Stahl, and Clayton Pribyl.  Back row from the left:  Richard Hickman, Preston Carr, Titus Petersen, Will Kallhoff, Levi Jurgesen, Kayden Hale, and Braxton Saatmann.

Exeter-Milligan Kindergarten class with their teacher Mrs. Judy Kassik includes in the front row: Addison Foutch, Scout Grummons, Natalie Meyer, Levi Jurgensen, Ensley Stahl, and Clayton Pribyl.  Back row from the left Richard Hickman, Preston Carr, Titus Petersen, Will Kallhoff, Deacon Erdkamp, Kayden Hale and Braxton Saatmann.

The class is busy cutting on turkeys just before Thanksgiving.

Above - Addison Foutch is looking forward to cutting out her colored turkey.

Below – Scout Grummons needs some tape to help put her turkey back together.

Santa Claus to visit Generations Bank

Santa will be stopping by Generations Bank from 9am-11am Saturday December 19th! Come tell him what you want for Christmas!

Death Notice: Roger D. Johnson, Jr.

Funeral Mass for Roger will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, December 21, 2015, at the St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Exeter, Nebraska. Graveside services will follow the Mass at the Exeter Cemetery.

Rosary will be recited at 7:00 p.m. Sunday December 20, at St. Stephen's Catholic Church.

Public visitation will begin Sunday from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm at the Farmer Funeral Home in Exeter, Nebraska and then at the church from 6:00 pm until rosary. Then again before the Funeral Mass on Monday.

Memorials are directed to the St. Stephen's Catholic Church or the Cordova Volunteer Fire Department in lieu of flowers.

Exeter-Milligan Music Update

Jozie Kanode, daughter of Darth and Lisa Kanode, participated in the All-State Children's Choir under the direction of Sally Albrecht at the Lied Center on November 19.

The Exeter-Milligan music department, under the direction of Angie Murphy, has had a busy fall. Students in grades 7-12 have kept busy with pep band, honor group auditions and performances.  The 7-12 pep band played at eleven football and volleyball events this fall and have already played for two basketball games.  Several students have been selected for honor groups including Concordia Musical Arts Day Honor Band, Doane Fall Festival of Winds, UNK Honor Band, 8th Grade All-State Band and Doane Vocal Festival.  Students have also been completing auditions for additional honor bands and choirs.The band and choirs each performed at the Exeter-Milligan Veteran's Day program and the senior high choir additionally performed at the Milligan Legion Veteran's Day program and at Fairview Manor and Heritage Crossings.  The 7-12 students are currently working on music for their December 17 concert to be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Exeter site gymnasium.  This concert will feature the junior high choir, 7-12 jazz band, senior high choir, Friends of Vocal, and the 7-12 band.  The concert will end with the traditional "Christmas Sing Along."  

The K-6 students have also had a busy fall. Many sang the National Anthem before a volleyball game in September.  Jozie Kanode (pictured) participated in the All-State Children's Choir in November. The elementary students put on a program called "North Pole Star" on December 1.   The students worked very hard and put on a great show attended by many family and community members.  They are currently learning new Christmas songs and doing various activities with the "Nutcracker Suite" including moving with scarves and illustrating a book.  Ten students have begun work on their music for Sing Around Nebraska which will be held in Central City on February 13.  Elementary band members have started to work on solos and small groups for the Bruning-Davenport Band Contests held on February 20 in Davenport.  

The music department received a "Noteworthy" award for having 55% of the high school involved in the music department at the Nebraska Music Educator's Conference in November.  The plaque is hung in the Exeter classroom.  Everyone is looking forward to a great second semester with many students participating in honor groups, concerts, and contests.

Exeter-Milligan Hosts Karoline Knudsen

It’s very unusual that a foreign exchange student will come from a smaller town than Exeter, Milligan or Cordova but that is just the case for Karoline Knudsen.

Knudsen is from a very small town in Denmark about thirty minutes away from Germany.  She lives with her parents about seven miles from her school out in the country where her father has a small herd of cattle.

She enrolled in the program to improve her English.  “I wanted to experience something new and I just wanted not to be in Danish school anymore.”

Knudsen is living with the family of Travis and Sherri Due and their children Macy and Tyler in Cordova.

She is enjoying the school year and the experience so far.  She and Macy were members of the golf team during the fall, which helped them bond.  She had a great time with golf even though “there was a lot of homework to make up.”

The food has been a highlight of the experience for Knudsen, “I like the food.  I like cheese and pizza.  At home we don’t go out and eat as much as we do here, maybe once a month.”

School has been a good change for her as well, “I was getting bored in Denmark.  This is a new way of going to school, a new system.  In Denmark the students stay in one classroom and the teachers rotate.”

When she returns back home she plans to skip a year of high school since she is taking a heavy course load of classes at Exeter-Milligan.

She has found Nebraska to be very different from her homeland but she is embracing the different experiences and culture.  She had a ball at her first Husker game and thinks maybe she was a part of the good luck charm that helped Nebraska beat Michigan State.

There are some things that Knudsen misses in Denmark, primarily her family which includes her parents and three siblings. Knudsen especially misses her little sister who is three but they are getting the opportunity to talk on the phone.

Her future plans include a military career.  Knudsen wants to be a fighter pilot and all of the communications are in English so the language is very important to her future, “In Denmark you are sent to the United States for 2 years of training to become a fighter pilot.”

Knudsen’s grandfather had a plane and took she and her siblings for a ride.  She loved flying but noted that a commercial pilot’s job was “boring.”  So far she has done an internship in the army for a week and also with a pilot for a week getting a real view of her future.

When she returns to Denmark she will finish high school and then attend college which is free, well according to Knudsen, “free to everyone who makes the qualifications.”

In the meantime, at Exeter-Milligan, Knudsen is playing basketball and will join the track team which is very different from her homeland where sports are outside of school and primarily soccer or handball.