LM January 2017

NH-M holiday spirit: Welcome to Middletown! Seeking to turn a negative event into a positive one, the faculty, staff and students of New Holland-Middletown Elementary School District 88 offered a service to their community that truly welcomes you to Middletown!

After the village’s “Welcome to Middletown” sign was vandalized and stolen earlier ithis fall, select students in grades 5th through 8th decided to replace the sign on the village’s north entrance. Over a series of two afternoons of staying after school and painting, a new sign

Todd Dugan Superintendent New Holland- Middletown District 88

spacing, but more importantly, how critical it is for communities to be comprised of those willing to selflessly serve, as the students of NH-M did on two autumn afternoons. True to community fashion, as soon as the sign was erected, Middletown village officials contacted the school in order to arrange for some way to express their gratitude to the students for their dedication and service to the community The new sign, now in school colors, can be viewed when entering the village from the New Holland-Middletown Blacktop, and serves as an example of how school spirit coupled with civic pride can make their community a better place to live. Second graders at New Holland-Middletown Elementary School work on painting a new welcome sign to replace the sign that was vandalized in Middletown

was crafted, this time in school colors. As is typical in this western Logan County community, the rest of the community was quickly mobilized to assist the students with their goal. Logan County Sheriff Steve Nichols’ office offered to provide the paint, while Alexander Lumber Company in Lincoln donated the lumber to the students’ service project. As the sign was planned, students sought the help of NH-M Music/Art teacher Sarah Rheaume, who also stayed with the students after school and helped guide the project to completion. Over the course of the community service, students not only learned about measuring and cutting dimensions of lumber, painting, and measuring letter

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