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Ten lifters from the Niobrara-Verdigre powerlifting team traveled to Peru State College this past Saturday, February 15^th for the Peru State Powerlifting Meet.  After all the dust had settled, N-V came away with the runner-up team trophy!  The only team scoring higher was Lexington.  This marked the first time for either Verdigre OR Niobrara-Verdigre earning a team trophy from the Peru St. powerlifting meet.  The Cougar lifters were smaller in numbers (no boys BB players or wrestlers) but ready for the challenge and were AWESOME.  We can be very proud of our kids.  They did an amazing job of representing our schools and communities.

Aside from ALL lifters bringing home a medal, some other individual highlights included:  Isaac Pavlik breaking his own N-V school records in squat (445 lbs), deadlift (500 lbs), and total (1190 lbs); and Raquel Morales-Montalvo breaking the Peru St. meet record deadlift (380 lbs) along with tying the N-V school record squat (325 lbs).  This school squat record is also held by Gabrielle Pavlik and was set in March 2023.

The Niobrara-Verdigre Co-Ed team finished in 2^nd place!  Top 3 team standings…  1^st place Lexington; 2^nd place Niobrara-Verdigre; 3^rd place Crete; 4^th place Nebraska City; 5^th place McCook; 6^th place Columbus.  Other teams competing were Columbus Lakeview, Omaha Gross Catholic, Lincoln High, Conestoga, Johnson-Brock, Grand Island CC, and Boyd County.

We had two individual gold medal winners… Isaac Pavlik in the 220 lb class (boys) and Christine Mechaley in the 97 lb class (girls).  Our only other boy competitor was Mykel Murray, and he earned the bronze medal in the 132 lb class, beating all but two high school boys in that weight class! 

Then on the girls side… silver medalists were Melody Bonham in 123 lb class and Raquel Morales-Montalvo in the 198+ lb class.   Bronze medalist was Taylor Pavlik in the 181 lb class.  Other medalists included Gwen Bonham 4^th place 105 lb class, RaeLynne Nelson 4^th place 181 lb class, Aliyah Yunker 5^th place 165 lb class, and Emmarie Pavlik 6^th place 148 lb class.

The Verdigre High School gymnasium will be rocking March 1^st with the 4^th annual Verdigre Powerlifting Meet.  The Cougar lifters are looking forward to the opportunity to lift in their home gym and put on a show for the local fans.  We have 200 lifters from across the state registered to compete at our meet.  It is extremely tough competition and should be a fun day!  Lifting begins 9:00 am.

Looking ahead… the Class D State Meet is on Saturday, March 22^nd at Harvard High School.  And then the Orchard AAU Powerlifting Meet is a National AAU meet again this year and is a two-day event set for April 4^th & 5^th.  GO COUGARS!

2025 Verdigre Powerlifting Meet a huge success…

The fourth annual Verdigre Powerlifting Meet was held this past Saturday, March 1^st with 227 lifters representing fifteen different schools from around the state.  It was an outstanding day of lifting for the Cougar competitors in front of their home crowd.  And what an awesome crowd it was, packed in the Verdigre gym with standing room only!  Nearly every Niobrara-Verdigre lifter set personal bests, and five Cougar powerlifting records were broken Saturday.  Isaac Pavlik broke his own squat record with a lift of 455 lbs and his own total record with 1215 lbs.  Isaac also broke Gunnar Shabram’s school bench press record with 265 lbs.  Alex Motacek broke his own school record in strength index (total weight lifted divided by body weight) with a new index of 6.76.  Raquel Morales-Montalvo broke Gabrielle Pavlik’s school squat record with 330 lbs.  This year we again honored the Hrbek family by naming the outstanding individual lifter awards after Tom & Dale Hrbek.  Our own Taylor Pavlik earned the Dale Hrbek Memorial outstanding female lifter of the meet based on strength index.  The Tom Hrbek Memorial outstanding male lifter award was earned by Niobrara’s Alex Motacek.

After a busy day of lifting (10 ½ hours!), the Cougars were crowned team champions in Co-ed and Girls categories!  The high school boys earned 3^rd place behind only two other powerhouse schools, Lexington & North Platte.  The jr. high team tied Boyd County for 1^st place.

The top 6 co-ed teams… 1^st place Niobrara-Verdigre (79 pts); 2^nd place North Platte (78); 3^rd place Lexington (53); 4^th place McCook (43); 5^th place Grand Island (22); 6^th place Boyd County (20).

The top 6 girls teams… 1^st place Niobrara-Verdigre (74 pts); 2^nd place North Platte (66); 3^rd place Lexington (42); 4^th place Boyd County (20); 5^th place McCook (18); 6^th place Seward (12).

The top 6 boys teams… 1^st place North Platte (64 pts); 2^nd place Lexington (43); 3^rd place Niobrara-Verdigre (37); 4^th place Centura (33); 5^th place McCook (25); 6^th place Johson-Brock (22).

The top 4 jr. high teams… 1^st place (tie) Boyd County (88 pts) & Niobrara-Verdigre (88); 3^rd place Summerland (27); 4^th place Centura (10).

With 227 total registered lifters, that ensured EVERY WEIGHT CLASS WAS LOADED WITH A DEEP FIELD OF EXTREMELY STONG ATHLETES!  Niobrara-Verdigre had an amazing 12 individual gold medalists:   Alex Motacek  123 lb class, Braden Collingsworth 123 lb class (jr high), Mykel Murray 132 lb class (jr. high), Lennix Chavez 148 lb class (jr. high), Austin Sharp 165 lb class (jr. high), Sydney Kumm 105 lb class, Holly Pavlik 148 lb class (jr. high), Aliyah Yunker 165 lb class, Taylor Pavlik 181 lb class, Raquel Morales-Montalvo 198+ lb class, Emilee Babcock 198+ lb class (jr. high), and Riley Fuchtman 114 lb class (jr. high) push-pull.  Eight lifters won the silver medal in their weight class... Rader Frame 114 lb class (jr. high), Carter Sharp 132 lb class (jr. high), Zackary Bolling 165 lb class (jr. high), Isaac Pavlik 220 lb class, Christine Mechaley 97 lb class, Violet Pavlik 123 lb class (jr. high), Dayna Sharp 132 lb class, and Emmarie Pavlik 148 lb class.  Seven lifters won the bronze medal in their weight class… Danny Pease 132 lb class, Sam Sucha 132 lb class (jr. high), Carson Janak 148 lb class (jr. high), Arlan Lammers 181 lb class, Maddox Tramp 181 lb class (jr. high), Gwen Bonham 114 lb class, and Melody Bonham 123 lb class.  Other medalists were…  Levi Hoferer 4^th place 114 lb class, Connor Thomson 4^th place 148 lb class, Jacob Motacek 4^th place 165 lb class, Miranda Stohlmann 4^th place 148 lb class, RaeLynne Nelson 4^th place 181 lb class, Praeson Klug 5^th place 275 lb class, Charles Frame 6^th place 114 lb class, and Wyatt Shabram 7^th place 181 lb class.  We had three other lifters competing in even more difficult weight classes… Nyla Wright 9^th place 165 lb class, Beckett Wessendorf 11^th place 198 lb class, and Gage Vesely 17^th place 165 lb class..  It was an impressive display of power Saturday as many of the Cougar lifters bumped up to stronger lifting clubs.  We now have seven boys lifting 800 lbs or more… Isaac Pavlik, Jacob Motacek, Arlan Lammers, Beckett Wessendorf, Alex Motacek, Connor Thomson, and Wyatt Shabram with Mykel Murray, Austin Sharp, and Praeson Klug moving into the 700+ lb club.  On the girls side we have Raquel Morales-Montalvo lifting over 800 lbs, Taylor Pavlik totaling 700 lbs, and three girls in the 600+ lb club… Holly Pavlik, Aliyah Yunker, and RaeLynne Nelson.  The kids are working hard!

This event would not have happened had it not been for our very generous sponsors and the help of many volunteers from our communities.  There were over 70 volunteers from Verdigre and the surrounding communities helping run this meet as judges, spotters & loaders, score table workers, ticket takers, hosts & hostesses, photographers & filmers, concession stand workers, and post-prom fundraiser workers.  This broke last year’s record for participants by 21 lifters!  Thank you to everyone who came and volunteered their time Saturday to help support these kids.  It takes effort from multiple communities to pull off this big of an event, and it was wonderful to see everyone come together to help!  Thank you to Verdigre Public School (including administration, staff, and boosters), to all the parents & lifters who helped with set-up and clean-up, and to the Village of Verdigre for hosting this powerlifting meet.  And thank you to everyone who came out to cheer on these hard-working lifters!

Our next powerlifting meet is the Class D State Meet March 22^nd at Harvard High School.  Then the Orchard AAU Powerlifting Meet is a two-day event this year as a National AAU Meet which will be held on Friday, April 4^th and Saturday, April 5^th at the Orchard gym.  This is a sanctioned meet with lifters eligible to set AAU State, American, and World records.  That meet will be another large meet and a fun two days of lifting!

Go Cougars!

Here are our local sponsors…

2025 Niobrara-Verdigre Powerlifting Sponsors

Tom’s Family Foods

Verdigre PrintWorks

Bohemian One Stop

Avery Welding

Simons Trucking & Pumping

Moody Motor Company

Verdigre Farm Service

Pinnacle Bank

The Verdigre Eagle

Pease General Store

Sportsmen’s – Niobrara

ReNew Salon

Herbert Feed & Grain

Verdigre Collision Repair

Sucha Repair

Reiman Coffee Company

Schreier’s Lumber

Jedlicka’s Hardware Hank

Brunswick State Bank

Mossy Oak Properties/Ryan Vesely

Big Red Car Wash & Storage

Sonder Well

N & B Gas

Verdigre Bakery

Niobrara Trading Post

Country Creations

Hoferer Construction

Superior Turf

4/11 Bar & Grill

Verdigre Booster Club

Around the Horn Sportscards

Jack & Karen Allemang

Monte Shabram

Board Meeting Agenda

March 10, 2025

Niobrara Public Schools - Board of Education

March 10, 2025 6:00 pm Office Board Room

     247 N. Highway 12, Niobrara, Nebraska 68760

Opening the Meeting

Nebraska Open Meetings Law-posted in room

Publication of Meeting-notice was provided according to policy. (Policy 204.01)

Board Member Roll Call: (excused/unexcused)

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda

Public Comment-agenda item specific

 Reports

Superintendent 

Principals

Board Committee

Correspondence

Consent Agenda (Unless removed from the consent agenda, items identified will be considered under one motion.)

Minutes of February 10, 2025 and February 11, 2025 meeting of the board

Bills-(See check report)

Special Building Fund Bills  

Financial Report

Discussion/Action Items

Certificated Hire(s)/Reassignment(s)/Resignation(s)

Outdoor Complex Update

Board Policy Review and Legal Representation

Approve Classified Compensation 25-26

Adjourn 

This agenda contains a list of subjects known at the time of its distribution on March 5, 2025. A copy of the agenda reflecting any changes will be kept in the Superintendent’s office and will be readily available for public inspection during normal office hours. Except for items of emergency nature, the agenda will not be enlarged later than twenty-four hours before the scheduled commencement of the meeting. The Board reserves the right to change the order of business discussed.

Cougars tangle with Bulldogs at North Platte Powerlifting Duals…

Twenty-five lifters from the Niobrara-Verdigre powerlifting team made the long trip to North Platte High School Saturday, February 8^th to compete in the 2^nd annual powerlifting dual vs. the North Platte Bulldogs.  The meet was run similar to a wrestling dual meet.   N-V competitors lifted vs. their corresponding weight class competitor from North Platte in a 1-on-1 format.  Scores were calculated by wins in each contest (squat, bench press, deadlift) for each lifter with five points awarded for each contest victory (three points awarded to each lifter in case of a tie), so a maximum of fifteen points could be earned per lifter. The girls have ten weight classes ranging from 97 lbs to 198+ lbs.  Boys have eleven weight classes ranging from 114 lbs to 275+ lbs.  The Cougar lifters competed very well with numerous personal bests while bumping up to new weight pound clubs.  There was also four new boys school records set Saturday.  Isaac Pavlik broke his own previous records in the squat with 435 lbs and deadlift with 495 lbs.  Isaac also broke Gunnar Shabram’s school record total weight lifted with 1175 lbs.  Alex Motacek broke his own previous school record for strength index (total weight lifted divided by body weight) with an index of 6.31.  Very well done kids!

In the girls contest Niobrara-Verdigre defeated North Platte outright by a score of 85-80.  In the boys contest North Platte outscored N-V by a score of 125-45.  However on the boys side, N-V actually outscored North Platte in the weight classes where we had a lifter present!  But, due to N-V open in three weight classes with no lifter present, the North Platte boys team was able to outscore the Cougars.

Lifters scoring wins… Alex Motacek (10 pts) in 123 lb class.  Lennix Chavez & Landyn Frank (15 pts) in 132 lb class.  Connor Thomson & Wyatt Shabram (15 pts) in 148 lb class.  Arlan Lammers (5 pts) in 181 lb class.  Isaac Pavlik (15 pts) in 242 lb class.  Sydney Kumm (15 pts) in 105 lb class.  Melody Bonham (10 pts) in 123 lb class.  Holly Pavlik (15 pts) in 132 lb class.  Kami Simons, Emmarie Pavlik, & Miranda Stohlmann (15 pts) in 148 lb class.  Nyla Wright (5 pts) in 165 lb class.  RaeLynne Nelson (5 pts) in 181 lb class.  Raquel Morales-Montalvo (15 pts) in 198+ lb class.

Other lifters competing against a tough Class A lifter in their weight class were Levi Hoferer & Charles Frame (114 lb class), Logan Collingsworth & Danny Pease (148 lb class), Jacob Motacek & Gage Vesely (165 lb class), Beckett Wessendorf (198 lb class), Christine Mechaley (97 lb class), and Gwen Bonham (114 lb class).

This North Platte Dual, along with the Peru St. Powerlifting meet this Sat., Feb. 15, is perfect timing to get the high school lifters ready for the 4^th annual Verdigre Powerlifting Meet on Saturday, March 1^st.  High school and jr. high lifters will be competing in front of the home crowd.  We have our work cut out for us this year as the meet has grown exponentially over the past few years.  The meet will have close to 200 lifters representing over 15 schools!  Lifting begins at 9:00 am that morning.  GO COUGARS!

Niobrara Public School
Board Retreat
February 11, 2025
Work Session 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This agenda contains a list of subjects known at the time of its distribution on February 5, 2025. A copy of the agenda reflecting any
changes will be kept in the Superintendent’s office and will be readily available for public inspection during normal office hours.
Except for items of emergency nature, the agenda will not be enlarged later than twenty-four hours before the scheduled
commencement of the meeting.

Niobrara Public Schools
School Board Meeting

February 10, 2025, at 6:00 PM Main Office Board Room

I. Opening the Meeting
I.A. Call to Order
I.B. Nebraska Open Meetings Law is posted
I.C. Meeting date, place and time was published.
I.D. Roll Call
I.E. Pledge of Allegiance
II. Approval of Agenda
III. Public Comment
IV. Reports
IV.A. Superintendent
IV.B. Principal
IV.C. Board Committee
IV.D. Correspondence
V. Consent Agenda
V.A. Minutes of January 13, 2025
V.B. Bills
V.C. Financial Report
VI. Discussion/Action Items
VI.A Approve NASB Annual Membership
VI.B Certificated Hire(s)/Reassignment(s)/Resignation(s)
VI.C Approve Certified Staff Negotiated Agreement
VI.C Approve Administrative (Principal) Compensation/Contracts
VI.D Approve Classified Compensation 25-26
VII. Adjourn
If, during the meeting, discussion of any item on the agenda should be held in a closed meeting, the
board will conduct a closed meeting in accordance with the Nebraska Open Meeting Law.

This agenda contains a list of subjects known at the time of its distribution on February 5, 2025. A copy of
the agenda reflecting any changes will be kept in the Superintendent’s office and will be readily available
for public inspection during normal office hours. Except for items of emergency nature, the agenda will not
be enlarged later than twenty-four hours before the scheduled commencement of the meeting. The Board
reserves the right to change the order of business discussed.

Dear Niobrara Public School Family –

We are writing to make you aware of a recent cybersecurity incident involving PowerSchool, a software vendor which provides our Student Information System (SIS).

On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, PowerSchool informed our leadership team that they experienced a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool SIS customer data. Unfortunately, they have confirmed that the information belongs to some of Niobrara Public Schools’ families and educators.

PowerSchool informed us that the taken data primarily includes parent and student contact information with data elements such as name and address information. Across their customer base, they have determined that for a portion of individuals, some personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers (SSN) and medical information, was impacted. They are working with urgency to complete their investigation and determine whether PII belonging to our students was included.

Protecting our students is something we take seriously. With PowerSchool’s help, more information and resources (including credit monitoring or identity protection services if applicable) will be provided to you as it becomes available.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

Niobrara Public Schools