New members of the Northwest Chapter of National Honor Society were induced recently during a candlelight ceremony

Haley McMahan, an alumnus of Northwest and former National Honor Society member was the guest speaker. McMahon shared her thoughts regarding each of the four requirements for Honor Society as well as ideas about what's important in life.

Each of the officers also gave brief remarks about one of the pillars of National Honor Society. Brittany Asche spoke on "Scholarship", Kelli Ralie shared thoughts on "Leadership, Jessica Berry discussed "Character" and Mikaela Klein shared her ideas about "Service."

New members inducted include seniors Aaron Blender, Katelin Hall and Max Luber; juniors Alex Brown, Alex Mohr, Chris Morriss, Lydia Myers, Jamie Promes and Kevin Roehrich; and sophomore: Christina Anderson, Miranda Baxter, Katie Earll, Carter Eberhardt, Kayla Faaborg, Rosanne Goerl, Jacob Griess, Whitney Hedges, Andrea Hesterman, Allison Hipke, Taylor Johnson, Daniel Kistler, Kristin Klanecky, Hannah Luber, Quinn Mendyk, Kevin Palu, Amber Riedy, Kelsey Scherer, Sarah Stoltenberg, Amanda Swenson, Andrew Tupper, Mathew Tupper and Alison Willis.

Heartland Lutheran senior named a 'Believer & Achiever

Jesse Bartles of Heartland Lutheran High School was recently honored as a Believer & Achiever for April. Believers & Achievers is a state-wide program designed by U.S. Bank and the Nebraska School Activities Association to give recognition to Nebraska's future leaders.

Starting in October and continuing through May, 48 Nebraska high school seniors have been or will be named Believers & Achievers. From those 48 finalists, eight will receive $500 scholarships from U.S. Bank to the college or university of their choice. Bartles carries a 4.0 grade point average.

Bartles is a member of the football and basketball teams and participates in track and field. Honors include 2007 NSAA Academic All-State Basketball and 2007 NSAA Academic All-State Track & Field.

He is a member of the National Honor Society and Quiz Bowl Team; and has taken part in many community activities including community blood drives and Adopt-A-Highway programs, and is a member of his church youth group.

Knickrehm students win poster contest awards

Three Knickrehm students recently won awards in statewide poster contests.

Jacob Rojas, a fifth-grade student, won the 2008 Nebraska Arbor Day Foundation Poster Contest and advances to national competi- tion. Rojas and his teacher have been invited to attend Gov. Dave Heineman's Arbor Day Ceremony on April 25 at the state capitol.

Rojas will receive a $100 U.S. Savings Bond, and Knickrehm Elementary School will receive $250 from the Nebraska Power Association.

Participants in this year's contest were asked to create a poster that represents the theme, "Trees are Terrific inside and out!"

During the course of their participation, students learned about the importance of trees and the benefits they provide.

Winning posters can be viewed on the Nebraska Forest Service Web site at www.nfs.unl.edu/CommunityForestry/postercontest.asp

The National Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota sponsor the national contest.

Cornelio Jaimes, also a fifth-grader, won first place in the ages 9-13 division of the Nebraska Poison Prevention Poster Contest.

His classmate Jessica Anguiano finished second in that division. The purpose of the contest is to identify posters that can be used to educate the public about ways to prevent accidental poisonings.

Jaimes' poster and several of his classmates' posters have been entered in the American Association of Poison Control Centers poster contest. Jaimes' poster says, "Don't play with your life. Lock up poisons."

Jaimes' poster can be viewed online at www.nebraskamed.com/poison_center/

Diane Meyer is the students' teacher.

Westridge student wins Walnut poster contest

Nathan Adams, a sixth-grader at Westridge Middle School, won first place in Walnut Middle School's "Nebraska, the Wildlife" poster contest.

Jacob Rojas, a fifth-grader at Knickrehm Elementary School, received second place. Bailey Shubert and Leigh Uhing, Westridge sixth-graders; and Robbie Van Heufein, a Knickrehm fifth-grader, received honorable mention recognition in the contest.

The first- and second-place winners will receive prizes at Walnut's Outdoor Expo set fpr 7 p.m. April 28. Adams will receive an iPod Nano and Rojas will receive an iPod Shuffle.

The Westridge youth are students of science teacher Kay Davis. Rojas and Van Heufein are in Knickrehm teacher Diane Meyer's fifth-grade class.

Walnut students place second in regional Quizbowl competition

Walnut Middle School students placed second in the ESU 10 Regional Academic Quizbowl Competition on April 2 in Kearney.

Thirty-six teams that competed in the event, said Walnut Coach Janet Schutz.

Walnut's team members included Christina Zarek (captain), Laura Gregory, Preston Fegley, Tom Nguyen, Javier Lopez, Daniel Hauchild, Kallie Rother, Abby Cline and Abby Crouch.

Walnut's team won Grand Island Public Schools competition to advance to the regional meet.

Stolley Park students in international Destination ImagiNation

Fourth- and fifth-graders from Stolley Park Elementary School have qualified for international Destination ImagiNation competition May 23 through May 26 in Knoxville, Tenn.

Members of the Stolley Park team are Blake Coen, Rily Rathje, Nathan Boon, Sydney Armstrong, Bayley Gardner and Brady Brokaw, said Lori Coen, a manager for the group.

The Stolley Park students advanced to Destination ImagiNation's Global Finals after participating in two levels of competition.

The 10,000 participants who qualify for the Global Finals have emerged from a field of 350,000 participants.

This is the third year that a team from Stolley Park Elementary School has qualified for the international competition in Knoxville, Tenn.

Students from throughout the United States and more than 11 countries, including Turkey, Brazil, Poland, China, Mexico, and Guatelama, will participate in the Global Finals at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The Destination ImagiNation program runs annually and presents students working in teams of up to seven with the opportunity to choose from five Team Challenges.

While each Team Challenge integrates creative problem solving, Challenges usually feature one prominent task, such as building a load-bearing structure, creating a vehicle, writing a performance piece, or exploring history.

This year's Destination ImagiNation challenges include: Obstacles of Course, Hit or Myth, DI've Got a Secret, Chorific, and Switch. The Stolley Park students will compete in the DI've Got a Secret division.

The program also provides Instant Challenges in which teams work together to solve shorter Challenges within minutes. Besides encouraging and teaching critical thinking and teamwork, these Instant Challenges promote the development of improvisational and quick-thinking skills.

More information about Destination ImagiNation is available at: www.destinationimagination.org.

Briefly ...

Ming Chen and Adam Tracy, both of Hastings High School, were awarded DECA awards during the 51 annual DECA conference in Lincoln. Chen took second place in accounting applicatons and Tracy took third place in quick serve restaurant management.