19 / 29
19
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
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
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.
Todd Dugan
Superintendent
New Holland-
Middletown
District 88
Second graders at New Holland-Middletown
Elementary School work on painting a new welcome
sign to replace the sign that was vandalized in
Middletown