Leigh Community Schools Logo

On August 31, 2006, Carter Nathan Brabec was born to April and Andy Brabec. 

In addition to Carter's parents, he has two siblings, Dylan (20) and Sadie (14).  He is the grandson of Charmayne and the late Gary Brabec of Leigh and Lucy Nathan and the late Larry Nathan of Norfolk. He also has two dogs, Boomer and Bullet. 

Carter has participated in many different activities during his high school career, including FFA for 4 years, One-Act for 3 years, and basketball for 2 years. Outside of school activities, Carter participates in Leigh Youth Advisory Committee and Pioneer 4-H Club.  

Three words that describe Carter are dedicated, funny, and honest. His great personality and hard work have also awarded him the honor of “Student of the Month.” He says his greatest high school accomplishments are being a state Star Finalist in Ag Placement for FFA and playing a great girl in this year’s One-Act play. 

The people Carter admires the most are his parents because they are always there for him and push him to do better for himself.

Carter has many high school memories, but he says his favorite is going to Olive Garden and going to the To Kill a Mockingbird play in Omaha with his class when he was a sophomore. On the flip side, he says his most embarrassing moment was coming to a new school in 7^th grade not knowing many kids. 

Three of Carter’s goals on his bucket list consist of buying a nice semi, going to Alaska, and going on an airplane. 

Carter has tons of favorite things, like his favorite movie, Happy Gilmore. His favorite song is “I’m Done” by Koe Wetzel. His favorite sports team is the Kansas City Chiefs, his favorite restaurant is Texas Roadhouse, and his favorite subject in school is any ag or shop class. 

Outside of school, you can see Carter riding four-wheelers, hanging out with friends, or working at Scheer Farms in Madison. 

If Carter won the lottery, he would use the money to buy farm ground and build himself a nice shed and house. 

If Carter could travel anywhere in the world, he would go to Bora Bora so he can swim and just hang out. 

When asked what his biggest pet peeves are, Carter said when people are singing to the radio when he’s driving. 

After high school, Carter plans to go to Northeast Community College with a major in Diversified Agriculture, and he is planning to work on the family farm and get his CDL. In 10-15 years, he sees himself working on the family farm and driving trucks. 

Before he graduates, Carter’s advice to underclassmen is that “School can be great if you wander the halls and find people to talk to.”

Each spring, more than 7,000 FFA members, advisors, and guests attend the Nebraska State FFA Convention. This year at the 97th Annual Nebraska FFA Convention in Lincoln, almost all Leigh FFA members competed at the state level finding tremendous success and growth! 

Members who attended state convention competed in Leadership Development Events, Career Development Events, and went on educational tours, to leadership workshops, the Career Fair and Expo, and attended speeches and sessions.

At general sessions, FFA members all around the state had the opportunity to listen to keynote speakers and retiring addresses from the Nebraska State Officers. Leigh was recognized at a session for participating in Connecting Chapters. The award was received due to the learning program the chapter has set up with Little Sprouts. 

Many Leigh FFA members advanced to finals of their events, earning high honors!

Senior Kammy Held was State Champion in Goat Production Proficiency!  Sophomore Carmen Malena was State Runner Up in Ag Sales Entrepreneurship Proficiency! Senior Carter Brabec was a Star Finalist in Ag Placement!

Brianne Kuhr earned Third Place overall in Extemporaneous Speaking. Hannah Martensen finished Sixth overall in Junior Public Speaking, and the Farm and Agribusiness Management Team of Brianne Kuhr, Brayden Loseke, Luke Eisenmann, and Kyle McMullin finished 5^th overall!

Additionally, Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Jared Olson, Kammy Held, and Paige Kurgeweit were all recipients of their State Degrees, which is the highest award applicable in the entire state. 

In the chapter’s down time, team bonding took place on Thursday afternoon at Sunlane Valley in Lincoln. During this time members participated in bowling and laser tag. Throughout the entire convention, Paige Kurpgeweit participated in the state chorus that sang at every session.

Sophomore Daphne Jedlicka said, “State FFA was someone that we all looked up to this whole year. With competing in so many events, our chapter did their best. We also had so much fun hanging out with each other not only during our chapter bonding time, but throughout the whole three days. Many memories were made, and a lot was learned. We cannot wait for next year!”

Advisor Mrs. Alyssa Went said, “Wow! What an amazing state convention for our chapter! One like we've never seen before! Having students make finals round to scoring perfect scores on interviews to securing a state champion plaque is something special! These students put in countless hours and I am beyond proud of all of their efforts!”

Full Results:

State Degree Recipients:

Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Jared Olson, Kammy Held, Paige Kurpgeweit

Goat Production Proficiency: State Champion

Kammy Held

Agricultural Demonstration: Silver

Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Jared Olson, Kammy Held

Ag Sales Entrepreneurship Proficiency: State Runner Up

Carmen Malena

Ag Placement: Star Finalist

Carter Brabec

Extemporaneous Speaking: 3rd Gold

Brianne Kuhr

Junior Public Speaking: 6th Gold

Hannah Martensen

Farm and Agribusiness Management Team: 5th

Brianne Kuhr, Brayden Loseke, Luke Eisenmann, Kyle McMullin

Natural Resources Speaking: Silver 

Luke Eisenmann 

Senior Public Speaking: Bronze

Paige Kurpgeweit

Cooperative Speaking: Bronze

Rebecca Hastreiter 

Junior Livestock Judging Team: 6^th

Blake Loseke (blue), Carmen Malena (blue), Daphne Jedlicka (blue), Hannah Martensen (red)

Senior Livestock Judging Team: 11^th

Kammy Held (purple), Carter Brabec (blue), Luke Eisenmann (blue), Kyle McMullin

Poultry Evaluation: 16^th

Reese Wietfeld (white), Kaylee Brabec (white), Reese Bruhn, Grace Hansen

Agronomy: 50^th

Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Cody Jedlicka, Daphne Jedlicka

Agriscience: 62^nd

Sadie Brabec (red), Cade Hoesly (white), Tyce Larson, Easton Brabec

People in Ag Posters: Gold

Layton Held, Avery Kuester, Ella Hansen, & Ryan McMullin received Golds

People in Ag Posters: Silver

Cruz Malena, Bergan Settje, and Lexi Bruhn received Silvers

State Chorus:

Paige Kurpgeweit 

Delegate Representatives:

Ava Kasik and Nevaeh Zulkoski 

On Thursday, April 3, the Clarkson-Leigh track team traveled to Osceola for a meet. There were lots of competitors that day.

This was our track team’s first meet of the season, and although many were missing for State FFA, it was a great meet. The weather was perfect with a high of 53° and a low of 35°. This weather gave our track team a great opportunity to practice their skills.

This year C-L has 33 girls and 16 boys in track. The seniors include Brianne Kuhr, Izzy Hollatz, Baylee Settje, Brynn Settje, Ella Urban, Nile Jones, Otto Crecco, Korbin Lemburg, and Zach Gall. 

The coaches consist of Briana Wietfeld, Jim Clarkson, Lee Schneider, Brianne Bachman, Jeff Korus, and Kim Heimann.

Sophomore Maizie Stoklasa brought home two first place medals in the 100M dash (12.7 s) and Long Jump (17 ft).  On the boys’ side, Tucker Matthies finished second in the High Jump. 

Head Coach, Briana Wietfeld said, “Patriot Track and Field demonstrated individual and team growth, determination, and sportsmanship at the first meet of the year in Osceola. We were low in numbers that day, but those who were there to compete gave great effort. We had some upperclassmen show growth and underclassmen show potential.” 

Violet Hollatz said, “Without having the FFA kids there, we had a very successful first meet. We are excited to see how we work as a full team in our future track meets.”

Stats:

Girls’ Results: 

High Jump: Lexis Gleason—4’0; Lainey Urban—4’2; Triple Jump: Josie Brabec—26; Long Jump: Maizie Stoklasa—17; Shot Put: Bailey Rios—31’4 (fourth place); Emersyn Urban—30’ (sixth place); Shaylynn Marty—22’; Discus: Emersyn Urban—79’ 11 (seventh place); Shaylynn Marty—67’7; 100M Dash: Maizie Stoklasa—12.7 (first place); Kendall Schneider—13.6 (8th place); Rae Scott—13.8; 200M Dash: Rae Scott—30.2; 400M Dash: Baylee Settje—1:08.1; Maizie Stoklasa—1:12; Kendall Schneider—1:08.6; 100M Hurdles: Lexis Gleason—19.98 (eighth place); Josie Brabec—20.2; 800M Run: Izzy Hollatz—2:44.8 (fifth place); Lainey Urban—3:10. 

Boys’ Results: 

High Jump: Tucker Matthies—5-8 (second place); Long Jump: Coal Fernau—15’; Jeryn Struebing—15’ 6; Shot Put: Korbin Lemberg- 38’ 7½ (fifth place); 100M Dash: Jeryn Struebing—12.77; Corey Steffensmeier—13.35; Logan Stodola—26.5; 200M Dash: Jeryn Struebing—27.93; 400M Dash: Jeryn Struebing—1:02; 800: Nile Jones—2:25; 1600M Run: Nile Jones—5:59; Otto Crecco—6:15

Several members of the junior class traveled to Kearney and attended the UNMC Backstage Pass event at UNK on April 9. Chaperoned by Mrs. Brianne Bachman, the students that attended were Mia Glissman-Mayner, Lexis Gleason, Jocelyn Donnelly, Ava Kasik, Karly Wendt, and Nevaeh Zulkoski. At the UNMC Backstage Pass, they engaged and participated in hands-on activities and learned new things in all kinds of different healthcare fields. They got to explore health care professions more in depth.

 “It was an extremely informative and eye-opening experience,” Mia Glissman-Mayner said. “Honestly, I didn't know half of those careers existed, but they were all interesting and fun to learn about.”

The students got to partake in holding fake newborn babies, practicing ultrasounds, molding a thermoplastic mask on their face for radiation therapy, practicing CPR, and putting a tube into the trachea as a physician’s assistant. 

“They were able to walk around and learn about the different professions and the opportunities in those professions. Each booth also had hands on experiences. Many of the girls said that they either learned about something they didn’t know about, or were able to further explore what they are considering as a future career path. It was a fantastic opportunity and everyone took something new or interesting away from the experience,” said Mrs. Bachman. 

Overall, this was a great experience for the students to learn more about careers in healthcare!

On April 9, 2025, the Leigh Quiz Bowl Team traveled to Northeast Community College to compete in a 28-team Quiz Bowl tournament. The team consisted of Captain Brianne Kuhr and other members Brayden Loseke, Elizabeth Hoffman, Luke Eisenmann, and Brett Wemhoff.

Leigh had tough draw facing the returning runner-up, O’Neill St. Mary’s in the first round. After a close, low-scoring match, Leigh fell short.

This moved Leigh to the Consolation side of the bracket where they had to face Emerson-Hubbard. Leigh kept their tournament run alive, beating Emerson Hubbard.

Leigh then narrowly beat West Holt, before going on to decimate Madison.

Leigh’s run on the consolation side came to an end when they fell short against eventual third-place finisher, Clarkson.

O'Neill High won the tournament and Crofton finished as runner-up.  

Senior captain Brianne Kuhr said, “Even though we lost to St. Mary's in our first match, we went on a run afterwards. I am proud of our team making it to the point that we did with how many schools that were competing. We didn't end up making it as far as we would have liked, but it was a solid way to round out our season. I am proud of our quiz bowl team this season, and I know the team will have much success next year.” 

“I’m so proud of our Quiz Bowl team!”  said Mrs. Gall. “They work really well together and do a great job representing our school.”

April 6-10 the Leigh FCCLA Chapter traveled to the annual State Leadership Conference. It was held at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in downtown Lincoln. Chapters from all around the state came together to participate in STAR events and attend numerous sessions.  

The conference gave students the opportunities to attend leadership conferences, many sessions, listen to the keynote speaker - Dr. Laymon Hicks, and compete in STAR Events. At the closing session, the new state officer team was announced for the 2025-26 year

Chapters were recognized for all of their hard work throughout the year with several awards. The Leigh FCCLA Chapter was awarded with the Gold Chapter Award, and the Red and White Affiliation Award. The chapter was also recognized for their participation in these national programs: Career Connections, Community Service, FACTS, Families First, and Student Body. Mrs. Hillen as well received the “Adviser Committed to Excellence” Award, and Baylee Settje was a $1,000 Non-FCS Education Scholarship recipient. Madi Freundenburg and Averi Clausen were also recognized at SLC for Power of One. 

This year the Leigh FCCLA Chapter had 7 members qualify for Nationals in their STAR events! Seniors Ella Urban, Brynn Settje, and Brianne Kuhr received State Runner-Up. Seniors Izabel Hollatz and Baylee Settje received State Champion. Lastly, junior Elizabeth Hoffman and freshman Trevor Hoffman received State runner-up. All these members qualified for the National FCCLA Conference in Orlando, FL from July 5-9, 2025. 

Overall, the Leigh FCCLA Chapter had 9 gold Medalists, 7 silver medalists, and 7 national qualifiers.

Ella Urban, the chapter president stated, “This year's State Leadership Conference was a great success, with us having three groups qualifying to go to nationals in Orlando. We learned a lot through all of the sessions we went to that we can use in upcoming years to help our chapter progress even further. Baylee, Brynn, Izzy, and I had the opportunity to present a “Red Talk,” where we got to share our presentations that we give to the 6th graders to other chapters across the state. All in all, this conference was a great success!” 

Megan Hillen, the Chapter Advisor stated, “Another wonderful State Leadership Conference for the Leigh chapter is in the books! As an adviser, I am incredibly proud of our students who competed at the state level! It was also exciting to see students from Leigh who delivered RED Talk presentations, received scholarships, and the effort from our chapter throughout the year to earn Gold Chapter recognition!”

Silver medals 

Jocelyn Donnelly, Halle Korth - Promote and Publicize FCCLA (level 3), Ella Higby, Vylet Hollatz, Emersyn Urban - National Program in Action (Level 2), Ella Hansen, Bergan Settje - Professional Presentation (Level 1).

Gold Medals 

Ava Kasik, Karly Wendt - Repurpose and Redesign (Level 3)

State Runner-up (National Qualifiers)

Brianne Kuhr, Brynn Settje, Ella Urban - Chapter Service Project Display (level 3), Elizabeth Hoffman, Trevor Hoffman - Professional Presentation (Level 3)

State Champion (National Qualifiers)

Izzy Hollatz, Baylee Settje - Chapter Service Project Portfolio (Level 3)

On Wednesday, April 2, in the first meet of the season, the Clarkson-Leigh Golf team traveled to David City Aquinas to compete in the David City Aquinas Invite. The only golfers that competed were Dexter Indra, Parker Sayers, and Trevor Hoffman. In his first-ever high school meet, freshman Trevor Hoffman placed in the top ten overall, finishing 9th after shooting an 89. Dexter Indra shot a 98, followed by Parker Sayers who shot a 101. 

Hoffman said, “It was fun to play in my first high school meet and be able to place. I hope to keep up this success throughout the course of the season.”

Head Coach Connor Blum said, "The boys battled through some cold and some wind. There were some good and some bad moments on the course. We are looking forward to a good season and looking to improve throughout the year.”

This year’s golf team consists of 10 members. The lone senior is Dexter Indra. The Juniors are Josh Eisenmann and Parker Sayers. The only sophomore is Wyatt Langhorst. The freshmen are Cash Fehringer, Tyce Larson, Michael Wemhoff, Caleb Settje, Trevor Hoffman, and Justin Eisenmann. 

The Patriot Golf Team is coached by Mr. Connor Blum and assisted by Mr. Mike Meyer. 

From the day I was born to now, I have lived on the same family farm, or as I call it – “Home.” My parents, two brothers and I have lived on the farm for a long time. My brother is 20 years old and he has lived on this farm for his whole life, so you can say we know the farm forward and backwards to the crisp. 

Living on a farm has taught us all so much in life, but having parents who had also been raised on a farm is another advantage for us kids. We have been blessed to have parents who have not only taught us practical lessons on the farm, but also life lessons. If there is ever any problem that us kids come across, our parents are right there helping and teaching us what to do and what is right and wrong. 

Living on the farm gives kids so much to do in a day. No matter if it's cold or hot out, one will always have something to do to keep them busy. There will be some days that are busier than others, but that doesn't mean that there isn't anything to do. During spring and fall there is more to do because of planting, spraying and harvesting your crops, but while it’s not that time of the year, you are still preparing those machines for the next time, emptying bins, and other random tasks around the farm that need to be done. But growing up on a farm is not always hard work. There are also a lot of other activities to do that are more fun than working like riding ATVs and just being around livestock.

I’m sure living in town can also have its advantages, but it’s hard for me to even picture it. On the farm, you never have to worry about your neighbors knowing every little thing you’re doing, and there really isn’t much traffic to contend with unless it’s a slow-moving piece of farm equipment! Another advantage of living on the farm is that there is always something to do outside, and you never any need to be inside on electronics or other devices.  

I feel blessed to have grown up on a farm. It has not only kept me busy and taught me practical skills, but it has also taught me life lessons, developed my work ethic, and been a lot of fun! In short, growing up on our family farm has made me the person I am today!

In the modern-day tech industry, many repair companies are finding it increasingly difficult for them to continue to repair consumer electronics. 

This is because the manufacturing industry is prioritizing profits over user repairability. We should be pushing for more ‘rights to repair’ laws. The reasons that consumers and repair shops should have the right to repair electronics are numerous. 

First off, this affects the environment due to electronics getting thrown away over things that should be able to be simply fixed, like bad batteries or screens. This creates more e-waste that releases pollutants into the ground and air. The batteries not being properly disposed of, creating these problems. This also means most computers are starting to become “disposable” in the sense that you use it for 3-5 years and then throw it away because it unable to be repaired.

 We should be pushing more rights to repair with restrictions. For example, the European Union made it so that tech like phones and laptops need to start selling replacements to the public by 2027. While this is good, it has a major flaw. When they implemented it, they had no regulations on it, so the replacement parts can cost as much or more than getting a new device. This does not encourage consumers to repair their products. Second is that it costs the consumer way more money than saving the device and repairing it themselves or with a repair company. We should be pushing for consumers to be able to keep the device for 5+ years and just repair or upgrade it when it needs it. This can benefit America because it will help the average consumer save hundreds or even thousands of dollars. This will also reduce e-waste and the rapid depletion of precious minerals needed to create today’s technology.

Unfortunately, the majority of today’s big tech companies are choosing profit over common sense and ethics. This is why we need to prioritize new laws that give the consumer the right to repair our own products. 

On September 5th, 2006, in Norfolk, Nebraska, a beautiful baby girl was born, Alisyn Marie Lich. Alisyn is the daughter of Erika Slattery and Chris Lich.  Alisyn later became a big sister to Madisyn Lich, 15; Paityn Anderson, 8; and Arabella Slattery, 3. 

Her grandparents are Lareta Anderson of Stanton, Darlene Lich of Norfolk, Terry Lich of Battle Creek, and Chris Brandt of Altoona, Iowa. 

To round off her family, she has 2 pet cats named Ballie and Butterscotch and one turtle named Bucky.

Throughout her high school career Alisyn has been involved in Choir, Golf Team, and One-Act Play for 4 years, FBLA, Yearbook, and Journalism for 2 years, and Cheer Team for 1 year.  Outside of school she has also participated in pageants for 4 years. 

Three words Alisyn would use to describe herself are Introverted, Passionate, and Thoughtful. 

Her favorite subject in school is Choir. Her favorite song is “Breaking Dishes” by Rihanna. Her favorite sports team is the Huskers. Her biggest pet peeve in life is slow walkers.  She feels that if she walks faster than you, you should probably get out of the way.  She also says her biggest bad habit is biting her nails when she is anxious. 

Alisyn lives in Stanton, and outside of school, you might find her working at Dollar General in Stanton. 

If Alisyn could travel anywhere, she would go on a trip around Europe because she has always wanted to travel there and she feels like it would be fun to go with friends. If Alisyn won the lottery, she said she would save half of it for herself and donate the other half to various charities and causes.  

After graduation, Alisyn plans on attending Wayne State College and getting her Bachelor's degree in Mortuary Science. Then she plans on going to either Kansas or Iowa to a mortuary school and says her ultimate goal is to eventually have her own funeral home and mortuary.

In 10-15 years, Alisyn sees herself married with kids, running her own successful funeral home with a modest-sized house. She hopes to still live close to Leigh. 

Three other goals on her bucket list are going to watch a Nascar race, growing a couple inches taller, and swimming with turtles. 

Someone Alisyn admires in her life is her cousin, Cortlynn Cadwallader. She feels that Cortlynn has always worked hard to get what she wants and always strives for her goals. 

Before she goes, Alisyn leaves this advice to underclassmen: “Cherish these moments and the memories you make while you can because you’ll miss it when it's gone.”