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DANCING IN NYC: Seven dance team members from Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson High Schools in the Council Bluffs Community School District will be dancing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The members are Thomas Jefferson junior Joie LeRette-Hutchinson and Abraham Lincoln seniors Shannon Howe and Alaysia Rehfeldt, juniors Lauren Wilson and Chelsea Budd and sophomores Sami Myers and Jordan Rehfeldt. Since they qualified this summer at their dance team camps, the seven have joined to raise funds to pay for their registration fees and airfare. So far, the dancers have had car washes and raffles, sold cookie dough, held jewelry parties and sold pizza cards. The trip includes two performances in New York City as well as the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

WATCH THE NUMBERS: Plastic recycling bins have returned to the hallways at Millard South High. Dispose of recyclable plastic in the designated bins.

TIME TO TALK: Millard West High School will have parent-teacher conferences Thursday.

ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO: A team of artists involved in the Benson Mural Project has finished a mural to help decorate downtown Benson. Local artist Watie White and Benson High School student Andrew Forsman completed their artwork on the alley alongside the Pizza Shoppe, 6056 Maple St. Their collaborative design is a sea scene inspired by Homer’s “The Odyssey.” Two more murals will be painted soon. Benson High students Jasmine Ruch and Brandon Moore are working with professional artists Renee Ledesma Hoover and Bill Hoover to finish the trio of murals. Leadership Omaha, the Benson Business Association, the Benson-Ames Alliance, Omaha by Design and Art Omaha sponsor the Benson Mural Project.

CURTAIN TIME: Westside High will present its fall play, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Sept. 12 in the school’s Little Theater. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at the school’s business office. Adults are $8; students are $5.

CLOTHING DRIVE: Omaha North High School has joined with several organizations in the metro area to collect clothing for children in Ethiopia. The goal is to collect enough donations to clothe one child per day, year-round in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The drive will run through Oct. 30. North High, 4410 N. 36th St., will serve as a receiving site for gently used infant, children and young adult clothing. Items can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

PARENTS, PLEASE: Parents of middle and upper school Brownell-Talbot students will gather at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Swanson Auditorium for Parent Information Night. Lower school parents will have Parent Information Night on Thursday from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Training on using the school’s Web-based student information system will be offered in the auditorium at 6:15 p.m. both evenings.

AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Parents of seniors at Burke High in OPS will have a college planning information session at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

COMB YOUR HAIR: Skyline Elementary students in the Elkhorn district will have picture day Thursday.

BUSY PLACE: Spring Ridge Elementary will have its walkathon today. Wednesday will be curriculum night at the school in the Elkhorn district.

COTTON CANDY? Aldrich Elementary in the Millard district will have its school carnival from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.

NOW SHOWING: Standing Bear Elementary PTO will have movie night Friday from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the OPS school’s gym. The film will be “Meet the Robinsons.”

ONE STEP, TWO STEP: Fifth-graders at Columbian Elementary in OPS will begin the “dancing classrooms” program Friday. The six-week program introduces students to such dances as the tango, rumba, merengue, waltz and fox trot.

PARENTS, TAKE NOTE: Pine Creek Elementary in the Bennington Public Schools will have curriculum night at 6 p.m. Tuesday, except for Mr. Heese’s fifth-grade class, which will have curriculum night at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Picture day for the school will be on Thursday.

SMILE: Thursday also will be picture day at Bennington Elementary.

FOUR-DAY WEEKEND: Students in the Blair Community Schools will have Tuesday off school for teacher in-service day. With the Labor Day holiday, that means an extra long break — for students, that is.

A SPECIAL TIME: Friday will be Grandparents Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for second-graders at Deerfield Primary School in Blair.

I LOVE A PARADE: Blair Community Schools will have a homecoming parade at 2 p.m. Friday.

TWO GENERATIONS: Second-graders at West Primary School in Blair will have Grandparents Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.

BUSY SCHOOL: Swanson Elementary in the Westside district will have picture day Tuesday. Frisbee Club for grades four through six will meet after school Thursday. The sixth-grade outdoor education meeting for parents will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Friday will bring the Family Fun Fair to Swanson.

TEACHING THROUGH SONG: Central Park Elementary students recently enjoyed the original songs and choreographed dances of Chosen, a Ugandan children’s choir touring the United States. The seven children, ages 8 to 12, are sponsored by Action for Empowerment and represent the millions of children who have been affected by the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The choir performs in churches and schools to heighten awareness of and monetary support for the relief work taking place in Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda and Botswana. Anyone interested in learning more can go to www.aoet.org.

ABC, 123: Prairie Lane Elementary in the Westside district will have curriculum night from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Tuesday for kindergarten through second grade. Curriculum night for third through sixth grades will be from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Thursday.

TWICE AS BUSY: Neihardt Elementary in the Millard district will have a busy Tuesday. Pictures will be taken during the school day. Then curriculum night is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WELCOME: Willowdale Elementary in Millard will have back-to-back events Tuesday. The PTO will have a new family dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. PTO meeting.

NO BUNNY EARS: School pictures will be taken Thursday at Harvey Oaks Elementary in Millard.

PARENTS, TAKE NOTE: Parents of students at Westside High School will have a chance to preview a program on sexually transmitted diseases from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

TELL ME A STORY: Storyteller Linda Gorham will visit Wheeler Elementary in the Millard district from 1 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Friday. She will perform for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The Wheeler PTA funded the visit.

SING AND PLAY: Grades five and six at Rockbrook Elementary in Westside will have a music program at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

BREAKING BREAD EARLY: Friday will bring a Veterans Day Breakfast at 7:45 a.m. at Rockbrook Elementary. The Westside school also will have picture day on Friday.

TAKING A BREAK: Students in the optional calendar program at Mockingbird Elementary in Ralston will not have school from Monday through Sept. 25 for their intercession break.

PRACTICE THOSE SMILES: Oakdale Elementary in the Westside district will have picture day Friday.

WHAT’S BEING TAUGHT: Thursday will bring curriculum night to Thomas Elementary in the Gretna Public Schools.

GET MOVING: Friday will bring the 4:30 p.m. Freedom Walk at the Lied Activity Center, home of the Bellevue Public Schools. At 8:30 a.m. Saturday will be the Freedom Run, also at the Lied Activity Center.

MAKE MINE CHOCOLATE: Tuesday will bring curriculum night and an ice cream social from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Bellevue Elementary School.

HOW ARE YOU DOING? Progress reports will be sent home Friday at Bertha Barber Elementary in the Bellevue Public Schools.

SPRINKLES, PLEASE: Thursday will bring curriculum night and an ice cream social to Birchcrest Elementary in Bellevue.

ABCS AND MORE: Thursday is curriculum night at Wake Robin Elementary in Bellevue.

SAY CHEESEBURGER: Tuesday will be picture day at Springfield Elementary in South Sarpy District 46.

IN THE ELEMENTS: Sixth-graders at Hickory Hill Elementary in Papillion will have their outdoor education program Tuesday and Wednesday. After their overnight adventure, the students won’t have class on Thursday.

MORE BOOKS: Papillion Junior High will have curriculum night from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

SAY GORGONZOLA: Rumsey Station Elementary in Papillion will have picture day Wednesday.

WELCOME, MAYOR: Second-graders at Parkview Heights Elementary in La Vista will have a special visitor Thursday. La Vista Mayor Douglas Kindig will come to class.

SPECIAL VISITOR: Papillion Mayor David Black will visit second-graders at Bell Elementary in Papillion. He will discuss leadership Thursday with the students.

SHARE THE LEARNING: Patriot Elementary in Papillion will have curriculum night from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

ALL SMILES: Bryan Middle School will have picture day Friday for seventh-graders and Sept. 14 for eighth-graders.

SHORT WEEK: In addition to being off Monday for Labor Day, students in the Plattsmouth Community Schools also will have Friday off from school.

GO MILLARD: Upchurch Elementary in the Millard district will have picture day Friday followed by the PTA Tailgate Party before the Millard South-Millard West football game.

SMILE: Tuesday will be picture day at Kreft Primary in the Lewis Central Community Schools.

SPEAK NOW: McPhee Elementary in Lincoln has been selected for SPEAK Project. SPEAK stands for Standards-based Physical Education Activities for K-5. The project’s goals are to improve professional development and collaboration of physical education teachers and after-school program staff; expand moderate to vigorous physical activity; and improve the capacity of schools and after-school programs to allow students to participate actively in physical education activities. More than $500,000 in federal funds has been received for equipment and staff training for implementation of SPEAK lesson plans.

STRINGS, ANYONE? Central Nebraska youths have an opportunity to learn how to play stringed instruments through the University of Nebraska at Kearney String Project. It is partially supported by a grant from the National String Project Consortium. UNK is one of 35 project sites in the nation and the only site in Nebraska and the surrounding area. According to Ting-Lan Chen of the Department of Music & Performing Arts, the mission of the program is to increase the number of young students playing stringed instruments by providing string education in communities where students may have difficulties accessing string education. Last year, more than 30 students participated in the UNK String Project. Students in grades 3-12 have the opportunity to study violin, viola, cello or double bass. A $90 fee covers 60 hours of class time, and students need to provide their own instruments. Interested? Contact the UNK Department of Music & Performing Arts at 308-865-8618.

SHE’S THE ONE: Hollie O’Brien, a junior at Ord High School, was the only Nebraska student to attend the summer SOLAR Institute at the School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, S.D. The program was part of NASA’s Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education’s multitiered year-round program designed for students in ninth through 12th grades who are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and careers. O’Brien and 38 others participated in the two-week collegiate experience. The exposure to college life was designed to improve study skills and encourage the pursuit of higher education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The program included lectures, field trips and homework.