Sidney School District honors students

The Sidney Public School District Board of Education honored the academic and athletic accomplishments of students at Monday night’s regular meeting.

Brett Avila, a Spanish and human development teacher at Sidney High School, attended the meeting with two students to make a brief presentation on Raiders Reaching Out.

The program was a human development class project. Along with support from 20 local businesses, students in the course collected donations for a teen homeless shelter in Scottsbluff.

Fifty-four boxes of donations were ultimately collected, and the students took a field trip to the shelter to hand deliver the supplies.

Additionally, students toured the facilities and spoke with its organizers during the visit last month.

Avila said the program was developed to expand classroom learning while applying theory to real-world experiences. He thanked everyone in the community who made donations or supported the project.

Two Sidney High boys’ varsity basketball players – Tyler Wintholz and Lane Harvey – were also recognized for their personal accomplishments during the past season as well as on behalf of the team’s overall success. The Raiders finished the season as the Nebraska Class B state runner-ups.

Superintendent Jay Ehler praised the team’s accomplishments and the student and community support for the high school.

“We made a great run,” he said. “It was a lot of fun for the entire community. There was a bunch of great things that came of it.”

Besides the team’s success, the school won a sportsmanship award.

Head basketball coach Erik Kohl was also at the meeting.

He said it was an incredible journey and the support was unbelievable.

“It was so fun, and I think it’s something we’ll never forget,” he said.

Board of Education members also offered a round of applause for the Sidney middle and high school students who received performance awards for the month of March.

Alex Suhr, seventh grade; Makenna Douglas, eighth grade, Rachel Reiser, ninth grade; Karla Palomares, 10th grade; Dalton Schilz, 11th grade; and Jordan Jenkins, 12th grade, were selected to receive the awards for their performances last month.

Recipients are selected on various criteria including academic performance, effort, class contributions, leadership, citizenship and service to the school.