Our Youth

Beating the Odds and Giving Back

“No child should die in the dawn of life.” This quote by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Founder Danny Thomas holds incredible meaning for the family of 12-year-old Ethan Benson.  After he was diagnosed in January 2023 with an aggressive brain tumor located on the brain stem, he spent nine […]

Strong in Body, Heart & Soul

Most people don’t expect a 13-year-old to be a champion weightlifter, but Chassity Del Balso isn’t a typical eighth grader at Concordia Junior High School. She recently placed first in her age and weight category in the 2023 USA Weightlifting National Youth Championships. She also finished as the fifth best […]

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Award-winning Young Artist Harlow Wilkinson

Harlow Wilkinson is a confident young woman with an innate talent for business and marketing who connects easily with her customers. Wilkinson sells pottery, handmade journals, willow heart decorations, and hand-dyed towels through her business, I am a verb. Despite being only nine years old, she’s already won two trophies […]

young man working on a computer

Changing the Sports Journalism Game

Westside High School senior Noah Atlas’s intense drive and creativity keep him focused. Once he starts something, he isn’t satisfied until he finishes. This drive turned his love for sports into a first-place finish at the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) State Journalism competition as well as a paid gig […]

boys garden

Farm to Table Family at Sorrows Family Farm

When 12-year-old Andrew Sorrows and his 11-year-old brother Isaac started their microgreens business—Sorrows Family Barn—in February 2022, they had so much work ahead of them. First, they researched how to grow product. Then they needed a greenhouse, so they created a business plan. They learned about input costs, fixed costs, […]

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Handsewn Dolls with Heart

A seventh-grade homeschooled student, Skyler Fadell created her hand-sewn doll business Heartsewn by Skyler because she loves crafting and sewing gifts for people. She taught herself to sew at six years old and loved it from the start. She began by finding old clothes, cutting them up, and creating a […]

Cotton Candy

Sweet Success in Shining Sugar for Gloria Dickinson

At only eight years old, Gloria Dickinson is already running her own successful business, the Shining Sugar Cotton Candy Company. Gloria was inspired by her sister Dagny, who also started her own business making hand-blended tea called Tiny Tea. Listening to her sister present concepts to their parents and watching […]

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In the Groove and Hasn’t Missed a Beat

At a young age, Ainsley Van Deun dreamed of being a hip hop dancer. Now a Millard West sophomore, Van Deun has since trained and performed in many more styles of dance such as tap, contemporary, ballet, lyrical, and her favorite, jazz. She began her dance career in Olney, MD, […]

outdoor coffee shop

Creativity Meets Coffee in an Adapted Corn Crib

It takes a creative mind to look at a corn crib and think—coffee! Seventeen-year-old triplets Morgan, Megan, and Maddie Moore have just such a spark. They serve a full menu of drinks from an adapted corn crib on their acreage in Elkhorn that has become a local destination for coffee […]

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Comfort with a Cause – a Message of Love

There’s something special about the perfect pillow. Not only can it provide a good night’s sleep, but it’s often associated with comfort, security, and an overall sense of well-being. Ten-year-old Eliza White, with the aid of her younger sisters Evelynn and Everley, has taken the pillow-as-comfort concept to a new […]