Superintendent J.D. Furrow

February is the shortest month for almost every profession in the world, but in education February can seem to drag on forever. I actually heard someone say the other day that it was January 45th. Schools have sickness circulating, activities keep kids scrambling to stay caught up, and the lovely Nebraska weather can lead to seasonal depression. During this time of the year, more than any other, it is imperative to look for the good in the world around you.

So I would call the month’s message “Why Callaway?” With current legislation giving parents more and more control over their child’s education and school choice, I think “Why Callaway?” may be the most important question.

I love small schools for many reasons, but the most important reason is our ability to serve individual student needs and cater the educational experience. We serve a wide spectrum of students with varying abilities and strengths. An example of what happens at Callaway that you won’t find at most schools…around Thanksgiving I had a couple of our strongest students come to me and ask if they could take an advanced science course. They are both going into science related fields when they go to college and wanted to strengthen their foundation. We discussed which options they would be interested in. It came down to astronomy and robotics and the kids chose robotics. We got the necessary supplies for them to put together a VEX V5 robot and they are now working with some engineering and simple programming. The kids are excited every day to try a new sensor or to program a new task. In many schools challenging your top end kids is hard. They are so successful at your regular tract that you don’t realize the need. But, at Callaway, we want to give our best and brightest kids a unique experience that challenges them. It is our goal that when they leave here they feel like graduating from Callaway is special and different than anywhere else.

Another example of what makes Callaway school so amazing…I have heard the expression “slip through the cracks” when talking about a student’s school experience. At Callaway we don’t have kids slip through the cracks because our teachers make sure there are no cracks to slip through. I realize this is a bold statement and many of the people who read this may disagree, but I think this example proves my point. Teachers connecting with their students, building relationships with their students, and truly knowing who their students are is the key. Recently, we had a young man who is obsessed with hockey. He tracks his favorite teams and players and his teacher encourages him to share his passion. Our teacher took it upon herself to line up the ultimate hockey experience for her student. She got tickets to a game in Kearney which is great, but only the tip of the iceberg. She also reached out to the team coach and they planned a special evening. Our student got to meet the players, he got a jersey with his name on it. He got gloves, a stick, and a couple pucks. Upon returning to school he said, “It was the best day of my life.” To see a teacher literally breath life into her students is awesome, and I don’t mean the oh wow I just poured out three of my favorite flavor of skittles kind of awesome, I mean the clouds break free and the angels sing kind of awesome.

So, “Why Callaway,” it’s just different, it’s just better. It should be no shock that a community with caring generous people would have a teaching staff of caring generous people. I couldn’t be prouder of the work I see our teachers putting in or the young men and women we are producing here in Callaway.

That’s “Why Callaway!” .