Students from nine ESU 8 district schools attended the Nebraska Digital Citizenship Symposium on October 6 at the ESU 8 Main Office in Neligh. The more than 50 attendees were 6th through 12th graders. Attending schools included St. Mary's O'Neill, Norfolk Catholic, Stuart, Battle Creek, Plainview, Wheeler Central, Neligh-Oakdale, Summerland, and Elgin. The Symposium was led statewide by Dr. Kristen Mattson the co-creator of the Edvolve Framework. Locally, ESU 8 Teaching and Learning Specialist Jaci Palmer was the district's facilitator.
ESU 8 welcomed area principals to a Principal Leadership Assembly in September. Several speakers included, Boyd County Principals who shared an idea from the field with their colleagues, as well as Principal Jim York shared a school wide executive functioning support initiative, and Patty Novicki of Elkhorn Valley spoke about her secondary teachers collaborative litearacy work and the shift toward students carrying the majority of the cognitive load. Another principal, Jeff Heimes, of Battle Creek, provided insights about their MTSS problem solving system, accompanying innovative class schedule, and their expectations for WIN time.
In September, three groups of dedicated teachers "graduated" from LETRS Volume 2, which teaches the Science of Reading. This group of teachers is from several public and parochial schools around the region. Excellent work, everyone!
Today, we are celebrating and recognizing the incredible work of our ESU 8 IT Department! Behind every smooth digital connection, secure network, and functioning device is a team working tirelessly to keep our educational community moving forward.
A massive thank you to our tech powerhouses:
Michael Roth – Technology Director
Madi DeSive – Technology Technician
From troubleshooting daily technical glitches to managing complex infrastructure, Michael and Madi ensure our schools, staff, and students have the tools they need to succeed every single day.
We appreciate your expertise, patience, and dedication! 🚀👏
A massive thank you to our tech powerhouses:
Michael Roth – Technology Director
Madi DeSive – Technology Technician
From troubleshooting daily technical glitches to managing complex infrastructure, Michael and Madi ensure our schools, staff, and students have the tools they need to succeed every single day.
We appreciate your expertise, patience, and dedication! 🚀👏
Special Education educators and staff from throughout the ESU 8 district met for updates and training at the ESU 8 main office in Neligh on August 26. ESU 8 Special Education Director Ruth Miller was on of the presenters who shared important information with the group.
Superintendents from the districts in ESU 8 attended a Superintendent Administrative Assembly meeting at the main office in Neligh on August 19. The superintendents were provided information from ESU 8 staff members, NDE, legal updates, and legislature updates.
New and new to ESU 8 Special Education teachers and a school psychologist participated in a Special Education Survival Skills workshop presented by ESU 8 SPED Director Ruth Miller and ESU 8 SPED Assistant Director Toni Arehart on August 18.
ESU 8 has opportunities available for paraeducators at our Eastern Learning Center, substitute paraeducators and educators, speech language pathologists, and licensed mental health therapists. Visit our job opportunities tab on the ESU 8 homepage for more information or to apply today!
The 48th Annual ESU 8 Golf Tournament was held on Friday, June 5 at the Antelope Country Club. 18 teams from throughout the ESU 8 district participated in the fun event. The Championship Flight was won by the Battle Creek team (Cody Wintz, Curtis Childers, Jake Luhr, and Andrew Childers), second place was Elgin (Randy Eisenhauer, Greg Wemhoff, Trent Ostransky, and Nick Heithoff, and third place in the championship flight was The Drawshank Redemption (Brett Arehart, Dexter Hanzel, Adam Yilk and Tom Sauser. Winners of the first flight were team Northeast Community College (Del Ames, Gregg Reikofski, Tony Miller, and Shawn Koehler), second place Thompson 3 and Frasch (Ron Thompson, Rick Thompson, Christie Thompson, and Rod Frasch) and third place went to Ping Perfect (Matthew Arens, Aaron Lorenz, Haeven Pedersen, and Chuck Hughes).
ESU 8 is looking to fill the position of school nurse for one day per week at Chambers Public Schools starting this 2026-2027 school year. Contact beth.ramold@esu8ne.org for more information.
The ESU 8 Wellness Committee completed its Triennial Wellness Review. The updated policy and results can be found here.
Please join us in honoring our 2026 ESU 8 Retirees! Everyone is welcome to a retirement celebration reception on Wednesday, May 20, 2 to 4 p.m. at the ESU 8 Main office in Neligh. Kim and Beth, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4-8! Wishing all teachers a wonderful week! "If you can read this, thank a teacher"--American Proverb
Happy School Principals' Day 2026 to all of the awesome principals throughout ESU 8! Special shout out to ESU 8 Learning Centers Principal DeAnna Clifton! You are appreciated!
Please join us for the 48th Annual ESU 8 Golf Tournament on Friday, June 5, 8 a.m. check in and 8:30 a.m. start. The tournament will be held at the Antelope Country Club located off Highway 275 east of Neligh. Registration for a 4-person team is $200 and includes coffee, green fees (18 holes), lunch, and prizes! Please reach out to DeManda at demanda.mcgowen@esu8ne.org for donating and sponsorship opportunities, or visit this link to register your team.
It's Winter Wonderland at the ESU 8 Learning Center PROM!!
A big thank you to Summerland Public Schools for inviting ESU #8 to be part of your job and college fair!
Toni Arehart, ESU #8 Assistant Special Education Director, and Steph Drueke, ESU #8 School Nurse, enjoyed connecting with students and sharing information about the many career opportunities available within ESU #8. From paraprofessionals and speech-language pathologists to nurses, licensed mental health practitioners, school psychologists, administrative roles, special education teachers, business office positions, and more—there are so many meaningful ways to make an impact.
We were especially impressed by how polite and engaged the Summerland students were—it made for a great experience! And thank you for the thoughtful treat—we truly appreciated it.
It was our pleasure to help students explore a variety of career paths as they think about their futures. If other schools are hosting similar events, we’d love to be involved—please feel free to reach out to ESU #8!
Toni Arehart, ESU #8 Assistant Special Education Director, and Steph Drueke, ESU #8 School Nurse, enjoyed connecting with students and sharing information about the many career opportunities available within ESU #8. From paraprofessionals and speech-language pathologists to nurses, licensed mental health practitioners, school psychologists, administrative roles, special education teachers, business office positions, and more—there are so many meaningful ways to make an impact.
We were especially impressed by how polite and engaged the Summerland students were—it made for a great experience! And thank you for the thoughtful treat—we truly appreciated it.
It was our pleasure to help students explore a variety of career paths as they think about their futures. If other schools are hosting similar events, we’d love to be involved—please feel free to reach out to ESU #8!
Happy Administrative Professionals Day to all of the wonderful professionals throughout the ESU 8 district!
Good Luck to the O'Neill and Summerland Quiz Bowl teams as they represent ESU 8 today in the ESU State Quiz Bowl Competition! Follow their progress in the bracket as competition starts at 10 a.m.
Live Bracket
Join The ESU 8 team as a School Nurse! We are currently hiring for the 2026-2027 school year. Find our more information about this position and all of our current openings by clicking on the job opportunities tab on www.esu8.org
