Blog Archives

To Taiwan and Beyond: Beyond School Bells’ Think Make Create™ Trailer Takes Nebraska Expanded Learning Opportunities across the Globe

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

Learning can veer into countless directions and exciting terrains.

Afterschool provides that space, not only throughout Nebraska but the world. As you probably know, we all learn differently, but we know one thing for certain: when we are engaging ourselves and our children, our capacity for success is limitless.

In a rapidly changing, fast-paced world, our great state needs to retain and grow young, driven, and innovative professionals. There’s simply no better place than afterschool – wherever you may be – to partake in quality learning that can spark future careers.

Find out how Nebraska Children’s afterschool initiative, Beyond School Bells’ Jeff Cole and his daughter created a formidable team that’s taking afterschool halfway across the world, all the way to Taiwan and back!

Planting the Seeds: Beyond School Bells, the Malone Center, and the Career Academy Grow STEM Afterschool Equity and Activities for Girls and Women of Color and Underrepresented Groups

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

Beyond School Bells (BSB) wants to empower girls, especially those of color and other underrepresented groups, with the power of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Tyrina Webster, Director of Operations at the Malone Center, wants to equip young women with knowledge, dreams, and career choices. So does Joshua Jones, the Director of The Career Academy. Together, we make a formidable team. Thanks to BSB’s partners at STEMNext, we joined the charge in this nationwide initiative to include more girls in this cutting-edge field. When we hear how partners like the Malone Center and The Career Academy have partnered with us to join this movement, we’re thrilled to the moon and back.

Beyond the Books: Beyond School Bells and Young Entrepreneurs of the Future Omaha Help K-12 Students Work Toward their Dreams

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

Thanks to afterschool programming, we can expand beyond traditional school hours and well into the afternoons and evenings. While parents can work, they can also rest assured that their children and teens are safe, engaged, and learning life skills! Beyond School Bells (BSB), Nebraska’s statewide network of afterschool professionals, works tirelessly with their equally energetic partners, including Bre and Travis of Young Entrepreneurs of the Future Omaha (YEF), to support their efforts to create quality expanded learning opportunities (ELOs) across the state.

In 2018, when married couple Breann and Travis Hines began the Omaha, Nebraska-based nonprofit, Young Entrepreneurs of the Future Omaha (YEF), they set out on a mission. Their goals were to inspire the vision of youth entrepreneurship and develop self-reliance…

The Power of Partnerships; the Essence of Failure: Beyond School Bells, Young Entrepreneurs of the Future, and VentureLab Empower Youth

Posted on May 18, 2022 by Nebraska Children — 1 Comment

Meet our new generation of businesspeople!

Girls create DJing businesses. Kids embody different food truck roles. Youth operate socially-conscious clothing brands and learn braiding, cosmetology, budgeting, and pricing, all thanks to your support of our Beyond School Bells initiative, VentureLab, and Young Entrepreneurs of the Future Omaha!

Calmer Waters and Brighter Horizons: GetConnected 2022 Welcomes Over 400 Afterschool Learning Leaders and a Heightened Awareness of Expanded Learning

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

Nebraska Children and Families Foundation is dedicated to weathering the storm. Although these storms come and go, one thing remains for certain within uncertainty: together, with your support, we can continue to stay afloat and redirect ourselves during rough weather. Beyond School Bells, our afterschool network of dedicated statewide professionals has truly done an incredible job of remaining buoyant during difficult times. For the third time since the pandemic, the team and their partners, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), NDE’s 21st Century Community Learning Center, and Nebraska Extension rescheduled GetConnected 2022, their statewide conference of afterschool learning leaders, and on Feb. 25, it was finally able to happen!

Just the Beginning: Nebraska 4-H and Beyond School Bells Launch an Intergalactic Afterschool Winternship Program…with More to Come

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

In the real world, failure is often viewed as a disappointment. Whether we blame our shortcomings on others or the world at large, when we don’t achieve our goals or embody our envisioned success, we often feel helpless. The good news is Nebraska Children’s Beyond School Bells, Nebraska 4-H Youth Development, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Honors Program can change this mindset through quality afterschool programming in the form of “winternships” and more!

Nothing to Hide: A’zja Reveals How Her Past Gave Her the Strength to Succeed

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

As a teenager, A’jza escaped her family and hid for three weeks in a friend’s closet. She’s also walked herself to therapy, deciding that she needed mental health support. She learned Omaha’s public transit system as a child, worked a job since she was 12, and has been mistaken for someone almost twice her age – with good reason.  Read about how, with a Connected Youth Initiative and Beyond School Bells internship, this remarkable young woman stepped into a thriving career.

To See and Be Seen: Denise Daugherty Leaves Her Difficult Past Behind to Find Inspiration, a New Career, and Outlook

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Nebraska Children — 2 Comments

Denise Daugherty reveals how she pushed beyond foster care and incarceration and into her dreams with Beyond School Bells, Connected Youth Initiative, and Central Plains Center for Services' coaching and support. Read more.

Meet Denise Daugherty.

“Now I do what makes me happy. I’m not worried about others. The reason I got into trouble was that I needed to love and protect people.” Denise Daughtery reveals how she pushed beyond foster care and incarceration and into her dreams with Beyond School Bells, Connected Youth Initiative, and Central Plains Center for Services’ coaching and support. Read more.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Beyond School Bells and Partners Reveal their New Afterschool High-Tech Tool

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

Today, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation’s afterschool initiative, Beyond School Bells, and many hardworking partners aren’t just growing greens. That is to say, the Greenery is not your typical afterschool program. Read about how we’re changing the face of afterschool.

To Infinity and Beyond: Amanda Gutierrez Joins Million Girls Moonshot Advisory Board, Plans a Trip to Mars, and Takes the Next Generation with Her

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

Meet Amanda Gutierrez. Amanda is passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). She’s planning on being an astronautical engineer. Amanda is also one of the newest members of the Million Girls Moonshot (MGM) Advisory Board. MGM is a multi-year, national initiative organized by STEMNext to increase the presence of women of color and other underrepresented groups in STEM. STEMNext awarded an MGM grant to Beyond School Bells (BSB), Nebraska Children’s initiative supporting afterschool and summer learning in Nebraska. Read about why STEM is Amanda’s passion and how a trip to the moon might be in her future.