April 6, 2022

Language Fair is an annual event hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for high school students across the state. It is a variety of events and competitions that aim to celebrate language and culture. It was held on March 31 and the theme was “World of Migrants”.

This year was the 43rd anniversary of Language Fair and the first time it has been held since 2018. It was a massive success. Norris juniors Breena Potter and Derrick Schaefer attended the event and recommend it to everyone, but especially people who are interested in language and culture.

“I loved it!”, exclaimed Potter when asked about her thoughts on Language Fair. She performed Solo Dime Algo Feliz by Gilrean Eärfalas during the poetry reading. “If you really enjoy language and all it has to offer I would definitely go.”

Language Fair provides the competitive events of music, poetry, folk dancing, short film, and posters while also giving the opportunity to take mini language classes that offer a brief look into the language of your choice. It is an exciting place for one to spend their day if language is their passion.

“I absolutely loved Language Fair! I would do it again”, said Schaefer. He participated in the poster session which required him to, in his preferred language, make a poster inspired by the theme.

The opening ceremony began at 9:00 and the activities commenced for about five hours. Norris primarily competes in Spanish, but there are events in Russian, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese as well. The Fair ended at 2:00 after the awards ceremony concluded.

Language Fair is an excellent place for students to hone their love for language. Potter and Schaefer, who both had exceedingly high praise to give, are a testimony to this.

At Norris we do many things to encourage positive behavior and thinking. One thing we do is Titan certificates. Many probably don’t know what these are, so I’ll explain. First you’ll want to know what the acronym stands for.

The first ‘T’ is for trustworthy. Teachers nominate/give out these certificates to the students that demonstrate trustworthiness.

The ‘I’ stands for innovative. When asked what Mr. Olbricht looks for in a student who positively shows innovation, his answer was, “For innovation, I usually try to think of students who have done things in a different way or a more creative way. For example, if there’s a presentation type thing and a student went above and beyond to include interesting things.”

The second ‘T’ stands for tenacious. Normally the students who are nominated for the tenacious certificate show their teachers that they don’t give up and will persist in whatever they do.

The ‘A’ stands for accountable. Mr. Applegate answered, “Owning up to your responsibilities, is a good one. Also if I see a kid studying really hard for an exam and they do really well, I think that’s also another good example of accountability.”

The ‘N’ stands for noble.

These certificates come out every week and five random people are drawn to create our Fab Five. Those five students then get their picture taken and uploaded to social media, as well as sent to the newspaper most weeks, and receive a free cookie at lunch. Then at the end of the semester the school has a pep rally and all the before-acknowledged students’ names are put into a bowl to be drawn for the overall “winners” of each category/letter.

The Titan certificates are just what the high school does. The other school buildings at Norris do something similar. The elementary has Titans gems, the intermediate has Titan trophies and the middle school has Terrific Titans.

Students at Norris have a variety of ways they can be rewarded for their positive behavior and hard work, and being nominated for the Titan certificates is a fun achievement to aim for, which many students and staff members alike agree.