Two grads return to teach in McCook

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Two McCook High School graduates have been hired to teach at McCook next year.

The McCook School Board approved Monday night at the regular meeting teaching contracts for Jacob Curl as an industrial tech teacher and Joe Vetrovsky as a resource teacher.

Both are MHS alumni, said board member Shane Messersmith. He added that Curl was a FFA student at MHS when Messersmith hired him at a labor auction, so "I know he's a hard worker. After he was done working for me, he was ready to go into education."

Board member Tom Bredvick commented that it has been a recent trend for McCook School District to hire students with local ties, who have an idea of the what the school district is about.

Curl graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2013 with a bachelor's in agricultural education with an emphasis in industrial technology education. He student-taught woodworking and drafting at Lincoln Southeast High School and Lincoln Northeast High School.

Vetrovsky graduated from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, in December 2013 with a BA degree and also began advanced studies, Master's level at Doane in Summer, 2013. He taught special education at Arlington Elementary School in Arlington, Nebraska, from January of this year to the present and student-taught special education at Crete Elementary School.

A total of seven teaching contracts were approved Monday night by the board, including one for Tracy Cooper for Ag education.

Cooper has been teaching vocational ag at Hayes Center Public Schools since 2011 and before that, at Scribner-Snyder Community Schools from 2000 to 2011. He graduated from the UNL in 1987 with a degree in ag education for grades 7-12.

At the March school board meeting, members of the FFA Booster Club asked the board that they be included in the selection process of a new ag instructor. Superintendent Grant Norgaard said that the administration team would be in contact with them at some point regarding their concerns.

After Monday's meeting, Norgaard confirmed that the administration team who conducted interviews for an ag instructor met with the FFA Booster Club president, Ami Hauxwell, along with other Booster members.

Other teaching contracts approved Monday by the board were: Deborah Donelan, elementary music; Thomas Benedetto, fourth grade; Marguerite Gallegos, seventh grade science ( 2013-14 school year) and Jessica Shepherd, second grade.

Norgaard explained that Gallegos is a current science at the junior high but will be unable to return next year as she is taking a teaching job in her hometown of Hershey, Nebraska.