Hello Viking Family, 

We are through the first quarter of school and before you know it, we will be through the first semester.  It seems like once we hit November time really flies.  The first quarter of school was a fantastic one, and I want to recap all of the great things our students and staff have accomplished during this time. I also want to introduce a new addition to the newsletter called “The Counselor’s Corner”.  Each month our counselors will have information they want to share with you and I’ll do that in my newsletter.  Please click on the link to see what information our counselors have for you this month!  Counselor’s Corner

Now onto the fall recap:  

Our fine arts programs continue to excel.  To begin, Mr Studley took some of our art students to the JDAC Mural Competition and they came home with 2nd place honors out of 38 teams!  The prompt was “hometown postcard”.  

Our marching band, led by Mr Pfanstiel, showcased to the state why they are called “the best band in the land”.  They earned a superior rating at every marching contest this year, capping it off with a final superior rating at the NSBA marching contest in Kearney!  It’s also no surprise that our school spirit and overall environment is so much better when the pep band is at our events.  Many opposing schools tell us that we are an intimidating place to compete at when the band is there.  

On the vocal side, Mr Vyhlidal and company put on an excellent musical to begin the school year.  What many of you may not know is that they also compete with other schools and honors are given out at the “Tony Awards”, which will be held Jun 4, 2023 of this year.  We have had many individuals receive awards and our musical has also received top recognition in the past.  

Finally, we had many students receive all state recognition in either band or vocal music. The following received all state honors: Anna Zentz (flute-all state band), Bethany Hulinsky (vocal), Caden Keller (vocal), Carter Nabity (vocal), Connor Hohlen (vocal), Daina Rosenlund (vocal), Leah Carlson (vocal), Leilani Flannigan (vocal), Maci Langford (vocal), Reese Schultz (vocal), Shalee Noorlander (vocal).  Last but not least is Ben Folkers, who is Northwest’s first – four time all state member in band or choir!  

Athletically our teams have had a phenomenal fall sports season!  We have been on fire and it’s been fun to witness such great success.  

Our girls golf team had a terrific year capping it off by another appearance at the state tournament.  The team finished 6th overall at state and we had two medalists as well, Taylor Mazour (10th) and Olivia Ottman (13th).  

In tennis, Austin Staab had a terrific year and finished the year at state coming home with a 3rd place medal around his neck in number #1 singles!  Austin was also awarded first team all state honors through the NSAA.  Congratulations to Austin on a great year!  

Our softball team made history this year!  All they did was win, and win some more.  They finished the year conference champs, district champs, and you got it, state champs!  What a remarkable and memorable season it was for the girls.  This is the first softball championship for Northwest.  Congrats to Coach Sadd, Coach Starostka, Coach Olsen, Coach Bryant, and our girls! A lot of our girls earned all state honors this past week in the Journal Star and Omaha World Herald, headlined by Ava Laurent being named to the Super State Team.   

This past week, our volleyball team qualified for state for the 22nd year in a row, which continues to be a state record.  The girls swept York in the district finals and will play Elkhorn North on November 2 at 9AM at the Pinnacle Bank Arena.  Good luck to our girls.  

As I type this, our football team, led by Coach Stein, is in the 2nd round of the playoffs.  They defeated the 4th seed Elkhorn in the first round and will now play at Waverly on November 4 at 7 PM.  Coach Stein and our assistant coaches do a great job with our football program.  They have qualified for the playoffs every year since I have been here.  

Finally, how about a shoutout to Mr Hinkel, Mr Studley, and our Striv crew!  They do such an amazing job of bringing us a great live stream for all of our events.  Not only do they bring great video, but they provide play by play through student commentary or by teaming up with our local radio station, KRGI.  I firmly believe that we have the very best broadcast team in the state.  Thank you so much for all that you do to bring a great product to people that can’t be at events in person. 

As you can see, we have a lot to celebrate so far this year.  Our staff and students continue to amaze me.  I am so thankful to be a part of such a great school with such great people.  Next up are winter sports, show choir, one act, mock trial, winter concerts, state cheer and dance, and so much more.  In my next newsletter I plan on discussing some of those activities as well as FBLA, FCCLA, and FFA.  Until then, continue to push your student to be the very best he or she can be in all that they do.  I always tell them the most important thing you can do is to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect.  When you do that, great things tend to happen!  

 It’s a great day to be a Viking! 

Sincerely, 

PJ Smith

Principal