Food resources for families

Below are school and community resources available to provide food assistance for those who need it. 

Food Market at Irving

The Irving Food Market is open to any student, parents of students, and school staff. Those who need food assistance may come to the Irving cafeteria on Monday, November 3, 2025, at 3:00. Menu-specific items are available and supplemented by a limited number of donated goods, bakery items, and fresh produce as those items are available. Food is based on an allocated amount. 

Free and Reduced School Meal Program

Families can apply for Free and Reduced school meals at any time, especially if there has been a recent life change or change in income. If approved, the student then qualifies for free and reduced meals through the school year. Families will need to complete a new application starting next school year. Once your student is approved for free and reduced meals, you can also qualify your family for scholarships and fee waivers for student activities at school.

You can pick up a paper application from your student’s school if unable to access the form online. Learn more about the Free and Reduced Meal program on our website.

LPS Emergency Pantry

In response to the high need of students and their families experiencing hunger, the Food Bank, in cooperation with Leadership Lincoln and Lincoln Public Schools, opened the LPS Emergency Pantry.

Any LPS, private or homeschool student and their family can come to the pantry to receive food assistance. The amount of food families can have is based on family size.

The pantry is located at Bryan Community (300 S. 48th St.) and is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3-5:30 p.m. when school is in session.

*You must have a school-aged student to visit the Emergency Pantry.

Community Food Resources

• List of community food distribution opportunities compiled by UNL Extension

• 2-1-1 Nebraska

• Food Bank of Lincoln website (and here is a pdf list of resources from the Food Bank)

• Little Free Pantries

• MyLNK is a website (https://mylnk.app) and a mobile app (for Apple and Android - search MyLNK) that has information about community resources. It can be downloaded in a wi-fi environment and then used when wi-fi is not available. The website provides translations in Spanish, Vietnamese, and Arabic.

• Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (SNAP)

Information from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services about SNAP

On October 29, Nebraska paused SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown. This means that SNAP benefits will not be issued during the month of November until the shutdown ends.

What do I need to do?

• If you are currently on SNAP, you may continue to use any remaining benefits on your EBT card for nine months from the date of last use.

• You must also continue to recertify your SNAP and report any changes to your personal information.

• If you are not on SNAP, you can still sign up, and your application will still be processed.

Interested in helping an LPS student and family in need?

If you are interested in helping LPS students and families in need, you can give to The Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools student emergency fund, or contact them at 402-436-1612.

Your child is in 7th grade and there are health requirements which MUST be completed. You can schedule PHYSICALS at any time and at the same time receive the required TDap VACCINE. A DENTAL EXAM is also required for all 7th graders.

If you do not have a doctor or you do not have insurance, you may contact the Clinic with a Heart at 402-421-2924, the Health Department at 402-441-8065, or Health 360 at 402-441-6642.  

We highly encourage that the Physicals, Immunizations, and Dental Exams be completed as soon as possible and turned in as soon as possible. As soon as these requirements are met, please turn in the forms to Irving Middle School either in person, by mail, Fax : 402-458-3214 or email : cehmke@lps.org.

Students who are not compliant with immunizations by October 15th, 2025 will be excluded from school until they are compliant. If you have any questions regarding these requirements or need help with resources, please contact the Irving Health office 402-436-1214 ext 4. 

In PE, we have started our soccer unit. Students will focus on ball handling, passing, shooting, and eventually working their way into competitive games.

The students have finished an inquiry activity where we looked at what history has to say about Queen Zenobia. After reading secondary and primary sources, the students then chose one of three paintings that they had to defend as the best painting that captured who Zenobia was as a leader. It was really awesome to see students go through the process of analyzing texts while also tying that learning into their analysis of artist depictions of a historical figure. Our next unit will cover the fall of the Roman empire and the emergence of the Byzantine. We will spend a significant amount of time on Justinian I and the students will consider if he actually deserves the title of Justinian the Great.

English 7: Over the next two weeks, our 7th Grade English students will be diving into our new unit, "People and the Planet." We will be exploring the essential question, "What effects do people have on the environment?" To do this, we'll be "reading like writers," analyzing how authors build effective arguments in famous environmental texts like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and Al Gore's Nobel Prize speech. Students will learn to identify an author's central claim, the evidence they use, and their tone. We will also explore how fictional stories and poetry can make powerful arguments about the world. This work will serve as the direct foundation for our main second-quarter project, the argumentative essay (our District Common Assessment), which we will introduce at the end of Week 2.

English 7D: Hello families! We are diving into our next unit, which centers on the theme of adaptation and problem-solving. Our main project will be an argumentative essay (DCA) where students argue how "adapting to an unexpected environment or circumstance plays an important role in solving problems." Over the next two weeks, we will launch this essay and begin reading our whole-class novel, The Martian by Andy Weir. Students will have novel reading as homework to keep pace. In class, we will analyze the novel alongside related short texts (like "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed"), brainstorm "personal experiences" to use as evidence, and learn the key components of strong argument writing. By the end of the second week, every student will have a complete thesis and outline for their essay.

Students have spent the last week making some observations about bath bombs and designing a molecular scale model to explain what is happening when we put a bathbomb in water. In the next couple of weeks, we will be exploring our questions about what bath bombs are made of, what are in the gas bubbles that were created, where the bath bombs go when they disappear, etc. While answering our questions, we will be learning about physical properties, property changes, and chemical reactions! We are looking forward to many demonstrations and hands-on activities as we explore the matter around us!  Please feel free check out our website with some videos and lesson activities we have been working on! LINK 

We have been spending the last week making some observations about bath bombs and designing a particle model to explain what is happening when we put a bathbomb in water. In the next couple of weeks, we will be exploring our questions about what bath bombs are made of, what are in the gas bubbles that were created, where the bath bombs go when they disappear, what are the active ingredients in a bath bomb . While answering these questions, we will also be learning about physical & chemical properties, property changes, and chemical reactions. We are looking forward to many demonstrations and hands-on activities as we explore the matter around us.  Please feel free to check out the website with videos and lesson activities that we have been working on. Online Website.

Hello!  Students are just finishing presenting their partners to the class.   They have done a wonderful job working with open ended, probing, and clarifying questions.  I was so impressed with how they worked with their randomly drawn partners instead of choosing their friends.  That can be challenging for middle school students and people in general.  

After we take a one day pause to celebrate our successful first unit, we’ll dive into Unit 2, which centers around the essential question:  What shapes the messages we send and receive.  In this unit, students will learn about the communication model including nonverbal communication, interference, active listening, and filters.  This will help them prevent miscommunication and know how to fix communications when they do occur.  

As always, please email me if you have any questions!  skroenk@lps.org 

We have had a wonderful time exploring all of the languages offered in LPS!!!  I hope your students decide to pursue high school credit Spanish or German in 8th grade:)

• In art class we have been busy going over classroom expectations and procedures. 

• We are learning the classroom space and where materials are stored.

• We also discussed symbolism and wrote down objects that personally     represent us. 

  1. Students chose 1 symbol to create using found objects in a 40 min task party.

  2. Students will use those 5 symbols to decorate their sketchbook covers.

This week we have been working on our clay unit. Students learned the different stages of clay and created their own hand-built mug using clay slabs. Later, once fired, students will get to glaze their mugs using various design elements. 

Students in Business & Technology 7 have recently concluded their computer software applications unit, with a mini-unit exploring Google Sheets.  Students are now learning about infographics and using that knowledge to create infographics in Adobe Express.  Students are creating an internet safety infographic, as well as an infographic about their dream vacation.

Students in Family and Consumer Science are just wrapping up their sewing projects. They did an awesome job working in the sewing lab. The rest of our quarter will be spent on a safety and sanitation unit in the kitchen. We will also work on measuring and working with their group to complete food labs. 

Rewards Plus-  Students are moving into a Unit using a passage about Food Preservation to practice many reading and writing skills.  The skills include vocabulary, sentence writing, sentence structure, spelling and fluency.  

Rewards Secondary-  Students are moving into a Unit that includes four types of lessons focusing on word parts, prefixes, suffixes, vowel combinations, sentence writing, sentence structure, vocabulary, spelling and fluency.  

***Please encourage your child to read, practice fluency and practice spelling at home***

Please email me with any questions! Thanks! rhughes3@lps.org or jbaker@lps.org

The orchestra is off to a wonderful start this year and sounds fantastic. With a big group, we start slow to focus on routine and structure in the classroom so that rehearsals can run smoothly. Students have grown on this front each day this week. Thank you for all the effort. 

Practice Cards: 

Students are expected to practice 60 or more minutes each week and record it on their blue practice card. Each week, the card will be due on Tuesday. Ideally, students will turn it in Monday, but it gives them a chance to forget, and bring it the next day if necessary. Practice can be on any music the student wishes to play, as long as they are accomplishing class assignments. That could include the music from class, music from private lessons (the actual lesson time does not count), music from other books/online, playing by ear, or playing along with recordings of music they like.