It is the last day of school for the Class of 2025. Hayden Taylor is the last man standing in our Salute to the Seniors series. Please join us in congratulating Hayden and wishing him the best as he graduates from Southern Valley. Way to go Hayden!!
Having been encouraged to study music by her band teacher, Ms. Hofaker had pursued her love of music in college. She went to UNK with a major in Music Education: Pre K-12 Vocal, Instrumental and Vocal as she continued to work towards her passion. As a band teacher, Ms. Hofaker believes that high school students can use band as an outlet for self-expression and that it is important to our culture as band music has brought the community together for years. In addition, band can develop skills such as multitasking, fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, reading, hearing, and team skills. Ms. Hofaker’s plan for the future of the band program at Southern Valley is to add a jazz band, to take students to districts, marching band competitions, and to band-related trips.
Mrs. Gina Ellis has been teaching at Southern Valley for 34 years. She was originally going to get into the SPED department, but started off as a 1st grade teacher. In her more recent years, she has taught upper elementary. Mrs. Ellis wants all of her students to learn how they learn best whether that means sitting somewhere specific or working in groups. She says that the hardest part of her job is that every day is a new day and it is challenging to make split second decisions. Mrs. Ellis retired at the end of 2023, but came out of retirement for one year to come back for the 24-25 school year. She looks forward to heading back into retirement after the end of this school year. Her husband, Ben, is the principal in Arapahoe and all three of her children are SV graduates.
Dani Schultz has been teaching at Southern Valley for 8 years, but she previously worked as a substitute before that. She has a strong background in early childhood education, working previously as a paraeducator, center director, and teacher at different schools. Her love for teaching started in college where she first studied family education, but she decided her real calling was in teaching young children. She loves building close relationships with her students and helping them learn and grow through play and exploration. Her teaching focuses on building social and emotional skills and helping children learn to share, take turns, and solve conflicts. She handles challenging behavior with positive reinforcement, teaching children to manage emotions and work through problems. She carefully plans lessons around letters and themes each week but is flexible, adjusting activities to meet her students’ needs. She also has two children that go to Southern Valley, Mikah and Maddex Schultz. Mikah is a Sophomore and Maddex is in 6th grade. Dani Schultz has helped so many kids grow into the beautiful people they are today!
Meet information for the track meet to be held at Alma tomorrow, Thursday, May 8.
Happy Wednesday SV Nation. Today we celebrate Abby Byrd in our Class of 2025 series. Please join us in wishing Abby the best of luck as she finishes her High School career. Way to go Abby!!
This is Ms. Allison Railsback's first year teaching at Southern Valley. She had previously taught in Kansas for four years. Ms. Railsback graduated from Fort Hays State University with her bachelor's and master's degree. "I became a teacher because it was in my blood." Ms. Railsback's mother is a teacher and her brother is an ag teacher as well. "Being an ag teacher and FFA advisor means guiding students to learn about agriculture, build leadership skills, and engage in their community." Ms. Railsback loves to see her students succeed in both agriculture and FFA.
Tonight was the SV FFA Banquet. Thank you seniors for your dedication to the program! Great job all!
JH track had a good afternoon @ Cambridge. They finish their season next Monday, May 12 at the SV Invite starting at 1:00 pm. Come on out and watch our squad compete at their final meet.
Mrs. Roskop has been teaching for 22 years. This year she is teaching 1st grade at SV, but has taught various grade levels and content areas. She is also the Head JH track coach, oversees Teammates, and is on the school improvement committee.
Mr. Huerta is the high school Spanish, weights, and shop teacher at Southern Valley and has been teaching for 11 years. Before he started teaching at Southern Valley, he was a deputy sheriff in Furnas County. He was inspired to start teaching because of coaching and working at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center with juveniles who had been put through the system. He had a lot to do with their education, schooling, coaching, helping them problem-solve and get assignments done. He makes learning Spanish fun and interesting for the students by incorporating a lot of hands-on learning like projects. He chooses projects that peak students’ interest focusing on what they want to learn and balances that with what they need to learn. His favorite part about teaching is being able to work with students and being able to teach them about life skills for outside of the classroom. Mr. Huerta has three children attending SV.
Thank you to the SV cooks! They are serving up smiles Southern Valley style every single day!
Toddlers helping Seniors finish their last food lab in Senior Life Skills. It's a great day to be a SV Eagle!
Good Morning SV Nation. Join us today in celebrating Marko Jordan in our Senior series. Please join us in wishing Marko the best of luck after graduation. Way to go Marko!!!
Mrs. Steph Holste is the special educationv teacher at Southern Valley HS. Along with being the special education teacher, she also helps with student council. She has been teaching here for 19 years. She enjoys it when she can work in a smaller group setting rather than a larger one. Both of her own kids have graduated from Southern Valley HS.
The Southern Valley chapter of the National Honor Society inducted 8 new members at a ceremony on Monday night. Congrats to all eight students for their excellent work not only in the classroom, but in their outstanding character, leadership & service.
Last night Southern Valley High School held their annual 7-12 Academic Awards night where students were recognized for not only their scholastic achievements, but also were recognized for their outstanding performances in many different extracurricular activities.
Mr. Jeremy Epp teaches geography, world history, American history, and American government to high school students at Southern Valley. He is also the head coach of the SV Golf Team, a position he has held for over 21 years. Mr. Epp grew up and went to high school in the rural community of Arthur, Nebraska, and says he has always loved small towns. He then attended Chadron State College where he earned his degree in education while playing on the basketball team there. Mr. Epp says he loves teaching and coaching because he likes to watch kids grow and achieve their goals. He currently lives in Alma with his wife, Tammy, and their four children.
Mrs. Ruskamp has been teaching first grade for two years. She has served Southern Valley for 7 years. In that time, she has held positions as a part-time sub, a full-time sub, and a para. Her favorite part of teaching is seeing the joy on the kid's faces when they get a new concept. Mrs. Ruskamp teaches 1st-grade subjects, which include Math, Reading, Social Studies, and Science. Mrs. Ruskamp is married to Matthew Ruskamp. The couple has four kids who attend/attended Southern Valley: Jeramyah, Jazmynn, Kasten, and Kinze. Ruskamp graduated SV in 2001 and was in SV’s first class which started in 7th grade and went all the way through JH/SH at SV.
Ms. Haley Reed is in her second year teaching at Southern Valley. She is the 2nd grade teacher and also coaches high school track. Ms. Reed had many role models during her senior year of high school who inspired her to become an elementary teacher. She does many fun activities with her students throughout the year, but what they do on the 100th day of school is one of her favorites. During this activity, 100 students lay on the ground to see how long they would be. Ms. Reed and her students always try to keep a positive environment within the classroom. One way they do that is always to tell each other “good job” and try to help each other through mistakes. Her favorite part of her day is reading time because she gets to see all of her students. Ms. Reed is also the HS pole vault coach. Her favorite memory from this last season was that all her vaulters got PRs or SRs during the season.
