Curse of the Snow Queen Curse of the Snow Queen
Students, teacher face serious transportation issues on the morning of a late start
Elsa took a trip down to Fairbury on the night of January 5, 2025. She blessed or cursed Fairbury Public Schools with a 2-Hour Late Start on January 6th. The snow wasn’t the only problem she left behind and it had the students and staff dealing with transportation issues.
“Early in the storm we had freezing rain and it was probably about a tenth of an inch or so thick. It was very, very, slick outside,” Math Teacher Lyle Thompson said. “A lot of people couldn’t get their vehicles up into their driveways if there was a slope and stuff like that. Then, we had significant snow land on top of that.”
Mr. Thompson had decided to call in and stay at home that day but he wasn’t alone. English teacher, Melissa Barry, had also been unable to make it into the school that day. Both of these teachers are out of town and have a longer drive to school than others.
“[The roads were] completely snow-packed, ice-covered,” Mrs. Barry said. “I tried to take off
“We should have (Just) had the day off” -Liam Young
[from my house], I went about part way and then I turned around and came back home.”
One significant part of the day wasn’t until after school was over. Liam Young ‘27 had discovered a patch of black ice on the end of L St. towards Highway 136. After his car failed to stop, he crashed.
“After the crash, both my right headlight and license plate fell off the car. This affected my ability to drive for about a week since we needed an estimate on
The crash had put a big hold on Young’s plans for the week. His car was unable to be used causing the weight of driving his sister and him between school, practices, etc. to fall onto his
“I couldn’t drive for about a week,” Young said. “Later, we got an estimate for about $8000 for repair. With the expensive amount, we just decided to let the insurance sell it for parts and I am currently driving my dad’s blue pickup
The problems of not being able to get into town and crashing were just bumps in the road because they all had school the next day.
Reporter
Iaunna Lucking
high up on the
of
Was your form of transportation affected by the snow storm Jan 6?
Shorter days, darker moods: Impact of S.A.D
Lianna wallin
Reporter
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a struggle for many, though it’s much more commonly known as seasonal depression. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD for short, is thought to be caused by the shorter days and lack of daylight that occurs during the colder months.
“It’s probably more prevalent than we realize,” Mental Health Clinician Sean Roberts said. “Being a student is stressful already; then when you add in weather changes that can have a drastic effect on your mood.”
With the daily stressors of assignments, tests, and extracurriculars, it’s extremely difficult to deal with SAD on top of that. Everyone is at risk, but anyone can pitch in and help make it less stressful.
“I think it’s helpful to know that the change of seasons can affect anyone and some people are just more sensitive to it,” Roberts said.
SAD can be hard to recognize, and even harder to cope with. But while it can be difficult, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Roberts outlined steps to take to getting better.
“ Being able to identify [that] the seasons are affecting your mood would be step one,” Roberts said. “Light would be one. Whether it’s buying a light box or making an effort to be outside, being in natural light. Then there’s a lot of talk about appetite and sleep and how those are correlated. A lot of times people struggle with seasonal affective disorder,
they might not eat the best and turn to sweet and savory treats, which tend to be high in carbs.”
Usually, SAD is just small symptoms here and there. But when it starts to interfere with daily life, that’s when it’s time to start taking action. “When it gets to the point it’s severe, not wanting to be eating, showering, going to school, that’s when you should reach out. Whether it’s to a therapist, school counselor, or a doctor.” Roberts said.
Sometimes though, it isn’t bad enough to seek help from a doctor. So what do you do then? Roberts provided some tips for helping people in your life who struggle with SAD.
“Helping them recognize what’s going on would be key because if they don't know, they don't know, and then it's the encouragement on how to combat this,” Roberts said. “Going outside more, being around people, eating well, [getting] more sleep and trying to reduce stress.”
If that isn’t enough to help, mental health experts encourage seeking professional help. This could be finding a therapist, or even something simpler like your school counselor.
“My role would be to help them identify what seems to be different from now compared to say a typical day in the fall or spring,” Roberts said.
Snow drifts piled
side
road prohibits easy traveling. Rural students faced these conditions on that morning Photo by I. Lucking
Icy conditions causing vehicles to drive into ditches. Photo by A. Bedlan
FEATURED Students FEATURED Students
Records Broken, Records Shattered
Reporter Madison HaddAn
Setting several school records in multiple sports and being selected C1 Second Team All-State Volleyball is no easy feat but for Evelyn Timmons ‘27, it is nothing new.
Even as an underclassman, she holds multiple school records including, the record for kills in a game with 40 during a match against Superior. She also has the record of 579 kills in a season, and has the basketball record for blocks with 11 blocks in a game against WilberClatonia.
Timmons knows she could not have achieved this success
“My parents motivate me to play my best because they are always there for me and help me become an overall better player and person.”
This season she also reached the milestone of 1,000 kills in her volleyball career. Other honors she received this year include Lincoln Journal Star's 2nd team All-State and 1st team All-Conference for volleyball. She was also awarded the All-Holiday tournament basketball team. She credits both teammates and parents for her success.
“I felt very accomplished but I couldn't have done it without my teammates and my supporters.” Timmons said.
Senior Dalton VanLaningham achieved his 100th career win at the Bennington wrestling dual. He became the 18th wrestler in Jeffs’ history to achieve this record.
It's no surprise that
two school records: singleseason and career takedowns.
When talking to VanLaningham’s wrestling coach Derek Garfield, he describes coaching VanLaningham.
VanLaningham accomplished this goal when looking at his history with the sport.
“I have been wrestling for 15 years,” VanLaningham said. “My family has always been involved with the program and I have had lots of success and fun doing it.”
Not only has VanLaningham achieved this outstanding accomplishment, but he also other successes in his career. He qualified for state in his sophomore and junior years and was named ‘23-‘24 athlete of the year. Also, just two weeks after getting his 100th win, he broke
“Amazing,” Garfield said. “working with a kid that is selfmotivated, wants to be great, and doesn’t need me to tell him to try, makes the job very easy and enjoyable”
VanLaningham’s motivation and work ethic has brought him to an extraordinary place in his career, but his road still continues.
“I would love to accomplish making it to the state tournament for my third time,” VanLaningham said. “Getting a state medal would be awesome.”
VanLaningham qualified for state by fighting for 2nd place at Districts. This will be his third trip to the state tournament in Omaha during his 4 years at FHS.
Wolff bros make move from Alaska to Nebraska
Iaunna Lucking
Reporter
Fairbury High School isn’t known for being a large school. Most students in the FHS school system have been attending school together since Pre-K. But to their surprise, at the start of the second semester of the ‘24-‘25 school year Finn Wolff ‘28 and Tripp Wolff ‘26 made the significant move from small town Sitka, Alaska to Fairbury, Nebraska.
“We didn’t know much about Fairbury before moving,” The brothers said. “We only knew (about) Nebraska.”
Even though the Wolffs didn’t know much about Nebraska before moving, they are slowly noticing the differences between the states of Nebraska and Alaska.
“Weather is a huge difference,” Finn said. “(There was) barely any sun and it constantly rained in Alaska,”
Weather wasn’t the only noticeable difference between the two states. Most of Nebraska is corn fields, and a few rolling hills scattered
across the state. Unlike Alaska where there could be a surprise very close to your home.
“The scenery was my favorite thing, a dormant volcano (could be) right outside your doorstep,” Tripp said.
“Fairbury and Sitka are just so different in people and attitude. And I like them for completely different reasons but I’d have to say Fairbury, it reminds me of home almost.” alone.
Even though the scenery was the brother’s favorite thing about Alaska, it doesn’t mean they aren’t in love with Fairbury in their short time here.
“Everything in Alaska was imported so it was like 500% the cost of what it is here in Fairbury,” Tripp said. His brother Finn said, “Fairbury opens up new opportunities, I like that I am to do sports here.”
Because of their excitement for the new sports opportunities, they have already made their plans for the remainder of this year and next year. They both plan on going out for various activities from basketball to Esports. But the new sports opportunities aren’t the greatest thing about Fairbury.
Reporter
Alecia Bedlan