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Southwest is honored as 'Blue Ribbon' school
INDIANOLA, Nebraska -- The U.S. Department of Education recently recognized 304 schools as 2010 National Blue Ribbon Schools, including Southwest Elementary in Indianola, Nebraska.
The award honors public and private schools across the nation whose students achieve at very high levels or have made significant progress and helped close gaps in achievement, especially among disadvantaged and minority students..
Southwest Elementary was one of four Nebraska schools named as a 2010 Blue Ribbon School. Other schools in Nebraska receiving the honor were Eustis-Farnam Elementary in Eustis, Buffalo Elementary in North Platte and Bryant Elementary in Kearney.
Southwest Elementary Principal Carrie Rasmussen said she and the staff were thrilled just being eligible for the award.
"It was awesome to know our scores were high enough to apply," she said and she gave credit to a "phenomenal roster of teachers, veteran teachers all the way around."
"First and foremost, they care about kids as people, then as students.
"Unless you build a relationship with kids, kids won't have much success," she acknowledged.
Rasmussen also pointed to a dedicated school staff of cooks, secretaries and custodians, as well as parents who "nag kids about their homework and check backpacks."
"Everyone played a part in getting the award, by working with the kids in some way," she said.
Another factor she believes contributed to achieving consistently higher test scores is that Southwest Elementary is a smaller-sized school.
Kids are lucky in this area to have smaller schools with more personal attention, she said.
The 180-student school, with preschool through sixth grade, offers an after-school program until 6 p.m., weekly art, music and media classes and smaller classroom sizes.
Before becoming principal at Southwest Elementary five years ago, Rasmussen taught fifth grade at Windy Hills Elementary School in Kearney. One of the concerns Rasmussen said she had when making the switch from classroom to administration was whether she would lose touch with the kids.
So, she's made it a priority to do playground duty twice a week and lunchroom duty every day. "This way, I can keep my eyes on the kids all day and they can come up to me and show me their owies," she laughed."You can't discipline a kid without having a relationship."
She and Deanne Ruggles, a second grade teacher at Southwest Elementary, will attend an awards ceremony Nov. 15-16 in Washington, D.C.
Afterward, they will have a flag-raising ceremony at a community-wide celebration in Indianola.
"We set the bar high here, it doesn't matter what the family income is," she said. "We have high expectations of all the kids, because kids are capable of anything they put their mind to."