Panhandle People
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Pride
In the stacks Passion for books keeps librarian going page 18
A STAR-HERALD PUBLICATION
WWW.STARHERALD.COM
The big picture
Stuck in the past
Paying it forward
Reflections
Kimball visitor’s center welcomes 5,600th visitor after one year in operation
WNCC professor teaching a lesson that spans millions of years
Teammate, mentor dedicates time to youth
Retired farmer looks back on successful career with Extension center
page 7
page 3
page 9
Jay Em founder’s family honor his memory
page 11 page 16
SHS garden adds flavor to student education By JOE DUTTON Staff Reporter
Teaching the basics of everyday life can be beneficial for high school students, but when those skills include a touch of agriculture, it can lead them to adopting a whole new lifestyle. For the past 35 years, Gering resident Suzanne Myers has taught more than 6,000 students in a career that spans 19 years at Gering Junior High School, 11 years at Gering High School and is now in her fifth year at Scottsbluff High School. Stepping into Myers’ family and consumer science classroom at SHS, the smell of a freshly cooked meal or baked goods often greets visitors. Other times, the sounds of sewing machines hastily adding stitching to cloth fill the room. In the spring, Myers changes things up by taking her students outside to help them learn about the importance of gardening and fresh food. For some teenagers, gardening may seem like an old fashioned way of doing things, but in the 21st centur y, gardening is a growing trend among high school students and young adults. To help lead students in the direction of local gardening and even teaching a few growing and cooking tricks, Myers instills those important living habits for a lifetime. Myers said a few students come back into her life from time to time. These students often bring success stories, including using the lessons she taught them years ago as well as owning their own food and sewing businesses. Myers said one of her highlights has been teaching generations of families in the community. “It’s really fun to see a lot of those students,” she said. Some of her lessons have included teaching students about healthier options when it comes to cooking. For example, substituting applesauce for oil when making bread, which is a trick she has used for many years. Myers said students don’t often know she is trying to help them eat healthier, but she adds healthy ingredients when she can. These healthy ingredients not only come from the local grocery store, but most of them come straight from a garden that is on location in a courtyard at SHS. Myers said the courtyard hosts a nice, warm environment for the plants to grow in the spring. Last school year, Myers estimated the garden had about 47 different varieties of plants. The SHS garden started as a place for flowers by science instructor Heather Haberman, but after Myers was invited to plant a few peppers and tomatoes, it quickly became a food garden in 2010. Myers said she was later able to take over the entire court yard and since then it has been a highlight for the high school. “Together we plowed it under and figured out how to irrigate it and plant it,” she said. “We had kids from the science department, kids from detention and the kids from the foods department. We were all working together.” The garden has not only become a
Holding on to 100 years
Education, partnerships power community forester’s mission By BRANDON NELSON Staff Reporter
that provides a strong stalk for the beans to climb up and the squash or pumpkin at the bottom that holds the moisture in and the beans add nitrogen back in the ground,” she said. “It is a self-supporting small garden and it’s a fun experience to teach students that aspect in gardening.” Myers said she has seen a lot of farmto-table and seed-to-table restaurants perk up in larger cities. This has been because of the growing trend of people wanting to eat healthier w ith f resh fruits and vegetables coming from local gardens. The demand for more locally-grown food has influenced Myers to continue the garden at SHS. “We are planning to continue with the garden here. I would like to make it really sustainable; hopefully, getting some community volunteers,” she said. Myers’ favorite part about adding the garden into her curriculum includes seeing the excitement that the students have shown when they are out in the garden. Myers said it’s a good experience for the students to be involved with the SHS garden.
By educating the public and partnering with local advocates, Amy Seiler is growing closer to achieving her goal. For the past two years, the Gering native, who serves as a community forestry specialist for the Nebraska Forest Service, has worked tirelessly alongside the people of Nebraska to effectively restore, protect and utilize the state’s tree resources. Seiler has teamed up with diverse partners, ranging from volunteers and horticulture students at local schools to city planners and master gardeners at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center, to plant hundreds of trees and spur other green projects in her coverage area, which spans from Kearney to the Nebraska-Wyoming border. “I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most amazing and knowledgeable people in the state,” she said. “We’ve had so many projects recently and it’s just been a whirlwind.” Five Rocks Amphitheater, the Northfield Arboretum in Gering, Community Christian School and the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library are among the local venues that have benefited from Seiler’s efforts. Nebraska is short on trees, so the work is much-needed. In the past 40 years, droughts, blizzards and diseases have claimed nearly 40 percent of the state’s tree canopy. To combat the decline of community forests and boost awareness, Seiler frequently leads tree care workshops and training sessions to give instructions on different landscaping techniques as well as address issues associated with growing trees and other landscape plants specific to western Nebraska. She and her project partners work to implement intensive tree planting, waterwise landscaping and targeted education through grants and technical assistance provided by state programs, such as the Nebraska Environmental Trust. For example, funding from the NE T’s Greener Nebraska Towns, an initiative to improve the green infrastructure of Nebraska communities, helped Seiler and Scottsbluff City Planner Annie Folck to design and install several rain gardens and bioswales throughout the City of Scottsbluff. These depressions, which are filled out with native grasses and plants, capture and filter rainwater and surface runoff, while simultaneously providing a visually attractive haven for pollinators and birds, Seiler said. “Those are a treat to work on. They are functional landscapes that work for our communities. They take some input, but provide a lot of output,” she added. “It shows you can still have an attractive garden while using less water.” Seiler said the tree planting at Northfield Elementary School in Gering during Re-Tree Nebraska Week last September stands out as one of her favorite moments on the job so far. Nebraska First Lady Sally Ganem visited the school that day to read “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss to Northfield first-graders and eat lunch with kindergarteners. Teachers and NFS staff also led outdoor activities that touched on a variety of educational topics, including math, physical education, writing and music.
MYERS, page 2
SEILER, page 8
Photo by Joe Dutton
Scottsbluff High School family and consumer science teacher Suzanne Myers helps students mix ingredients to make pumpkin bread during a class project.
student project, but SHS staff members have also lent a hand. Myers said industrial arts instructor Gary Steinbrecher had his students make raised beds and compost bins, horticulture instructor Shane Talkington’s students started some of the vegetables and Jim Bogus helped with tilling and compost. T he communit y has also become involved in the upkeep, including the natural resource district and a few local gardeners and farmers, too. Myers said that she may add hoop gardens to extend the growing season through local resources. Myers even adds t he benef it s of recycling through using compost to nourish the plants. Myers said when the students have food labs, they often save vegetable peels, egg shells and other items that are put into the compost. “Students are surprised when I tell them that it will turn to dirt,” she said. W hen teaching about the garden, Myers said she enjoys educating her students about the social studies angle of gardening. This includes the traditional teaching of the three sisters’ garden that was created by Native Americans. “The three sisters’ garden has corn
Keep the motor running n Graves shifts gears to preserve racing history By BART SCHANEMAN Assistant Editor
Rod Graves has loved cars since the minute he was born. “My first words were automobile brands,” he said. He ow ns more t ha n a handful of cars now, and spends much of his time out at the Hiway 92 Raceway Park east of Gering. The racetrack is one of only two asphalt tracks in Nebraska. Gr aves , 5 4 , was bor n and raised in the valley. He works at the sales counter for Floyd’s Truck Center. He ’s b e e n a r a c e f a n since he was 7, and began
Pride 3-29-14 1
Courtesy photo
Graves’ stock car
racing in 1980. He won his first race in Grand Island, then raced at the Oregon Trail Speedway until he had his first child in 1992. Eventually he built another car and has been racing ever since. “My love for racing has spanned a long time,” he said. He was the track champ at the A llia nce t rack in
1994, and the champ at the OT Speedway in 1996 and 2000. He has more than 300 wins in his career. Graves began the Wester n Nebraska V int age Stock Car Association in 2 012. His goal w ith the W N VSCA is to preser ve the decades of racing history we have in the Panhandle. “ You can’t believe the
history,” he said. Cars involved with WNVSCA are from 1972 and p r i o r. T h e a s s o c i a t i o n makes it possible for cars that have been w recked and no longer able to be restored to be rebuilt and made into a race car. Graves wa nts to keep the tradition alive for the younger generation. “I take special joy in see-
Photo by Bart Schaneman
Rod Graves, founder of the Western Nebraska Vintage Stock Car Association
ing people win their first ones. It ’s a family env icar race,” he said. ronment of good citizens, He said the area has a b o t h w o m e n a n d m e n . good community of drivers GRAVES, page 8 who mentor the younger
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