REMINDER: Summer Internships for current NorthSTAR students are now posted for positions at Mutual of Omaha. Please go to www.mutualofomaha.com for details,or go to the tab on this NorthSTAR site labeled ‘Applications’ for a link to take you to the posting site.

NEXT EVENT (MARCH 2010) : OMAHA COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE

A number of students have expressed an interest in the Performing Arts, so this should be a fun tour. Beyond acting, there are also a number of other jobs that go on behind the scene at this place, so this should be interesting. This event is scheduled for Tuesday, March 16th, 2010. It will begin at about 9:45 AM and will include lunch on-site. A backstage tour has been scheduled from 10-10:45 AM with the following topics being presented: Acting, Design, Directing, Drafting, Marketing, Sound/Set/Costume Design and . From 10:45 – 11:15 , there will be a Question & Answer session about the tour and also about a Jr./Sr. Theatre Technological Apprenticeship (with College Credits) !!

IMPORTANT: NorthSTAR Recruitment Breakfast

Our annual NorthSTAR recruitment breakfast will be held on March 31, 2010, from 7:30 AM – 8:15 AM in the Lecture Hall (Yes, breakfast will be provided ! ) Applications have been sent to the counselors, and also to current NorthSTAR students for re-enrollment. We encourage current students to hand out applications to any of their friends who may be interested in the program for the next school year. We are looking for students who are going to be sophomores or juniors. These applications should be returned during the recruitment breakfast or handed to your counselors. The mentors will meet in April to select the students for next year’s NorthSTAR program. At that time, those students will be notified.

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September 2009:

NorthSTAR Kickoff:
The NorthSTAR kickoff meeting for the 2009-2010 school year was held at 5:30 PM on Tuesday, September 22, at North High in the Lecture Hall. Mentors, students and parents were encouraged to attend so we could introduce the mentor group, talk about the program and the plans we’ve made for the school year, meet new students and hear what current students think of the program.

Tailgate Party:
The third annual North Tailgate party was held on Thursday, September 10th at Omaha Northwest Kinnick Stadium prior to the game between Omaha North and Norfolk. For those mentors, students and parents who could attend, it was a great time with great food and fun.

October 2009:

The planned event for this month was the college visit the UNL campus in Lincoln on Tuesday, October 13th. Both students and mentors rode the school bus for the road trip to Lincoln. Once there, we had two departments within the University that did separate tours with the students: Engineering and Journalism/Mass Communications. Next, a representative from the recruiting office gave a short presentation about UNL, the career choices available, college life, college applications, scholarship opportunities….and more! We then broke out into three groups and were led by current students around campus….they did a great job with this tour, we saw so much ! (and we did lots of walking !) Later, everyone was treated to lunch before we returned to Omaha.

November 2009:

HALO Thanksgiving Basket Delivery . This is our annual community event sponsored by Mutual of Omaha where we deliver food to families in need for the holiday. This year, it was held on November 24 (Tuesday before Thanksgiving) . Thanks to all the students who helped with packing the boxes with food, helping take those boxes to waiting delivery drivers, and also with the actual delivery to the needy families!!! Deliveries were made to approximately 256 families (over 1000 people), so the event was a success !! Students were then treated at lunch at Mama’s Pizza after the deliveries are completed for some fun social time.

December 2009:

IMPORTANT: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSPOTONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER. LOOK FOR A RESCHEDULE OF A SOCIAL EVENT IN SPRING 2010……….’December to Remember’ social event: Due to blizzard conditions in Omaha, all the major schools in the city were closed, so this event was cancelled. It had been planned as another bowling outing at Chops Bowling……but don’t worry !! The group is planning on re-scheduling this social event for sometime in the spring. This is such a fun time together, so we don’t want to pass it up !!!

January 2010:

Due to inclement weather and so many school cancellations, the tour of the Omaha World-Herald was posponed. Please see this event scheduled for February 2010.

February 2010:

This is our rescheduled event from January: Many students expressed an interest in journalism/broadcasting… And one of our mentors has a husband who works at OWH. So a tour will be put together to show us how that world functions and what careers students may keep in mind to work this field. This event is scheduled for Thursday, February 25, 2010. We will start the event off with lunch onsite 12:00 – 1:00 in OWH Bldg Sunroom in Newsmakers Cafeteria. This will be followed by a tour of their Freedom Center from about 1:00 – 2:00, and then back to the OWH to have a talking session with the news staff from about 2:00 – 2:45 PM. This should be an exciting time for students to see how the real world of news/journalism works. Please come with questions !!

March 2010:

Omaha Community Playhouse: A number of students have expressed an interest in the Performing Arts, so this should be a fun tour. Beyond acting, there are also a number of other jobs that go on behind the scene at this place, so this should be interesting. This event is scheduled for Tuesday, March 16th, 2010. It will begin at about 9:45 AM and will include lunch on-site. A backstage tour has been scheduled from 10-10:45 AM with the following topics being presented: Acting, Design, Directing, Drafting, Marketing, Sound/Set/Costume Design and . From 10:45 – 11:15 , there will be a Question & Answer session about the tour and also about a Jr./Sr. Theatre Technological Apprenticeship (with College Credits) !!

April 2010 :

Tentative: We are trying to arrange a tour of UNMC to discuss careers in the medical field. This is a growing field with lots of opportunities and job openings into the future ! Look for updates on this once we finalize our plans.

May 2010:

Senior Send-Off and ‘Welcome New Students’ Event: With the school year winding down, our mentoring group likes to do something extra special to say ‘good luck’ to our graduating seniors, and we like to welcome newly selected students to the NorthSTAR program. At this time, it is still a surprise….because the details of this event are still being worked out. We are thinking this will be a day in early May, and we will let students know as soon as possible so you can mark your calendars and arrange your schedules to accomodate this event

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2008-2009 Events

* Halo Thanksgiving Food Baskets—November 2008
NorthSTAR members again participated in Mutual’s annual HALO Thanksgiving basket distributiion on November 25, 2008. This is a good community service experience where the students can help pack boxes of food for needy families, help with delivering the boxes to the delivery vehicles for Mutual associates to deliver, as well as help in the delivery of those food baskets to the families. The HALO organization was very pleased to receive the help our students provided.

* Tailgate Party

* Kickoff Event—September 2008

* NE Methodist College Tour—October 2008
On October 21,2008, members of NorthSTAR had the opportunity to visit and tour Nebraska Methodist College to discuss healthcare career options. After the tour, lunch was served while several members of the college gave presentations of careers that students may want to consider in today’s healthcare field.

* Chops Bowling—December 12, 2008 Social Event
The NorthSTAR mentors treated the students to an annual social event for the month of December. This year, we went to Chops Bowling. Sure seemed like everyone had a great time! Organizers set up a zany game for the first set of bowling; this was lots of fun. The next set of bowling games were set up to have the mentors and students bowl together so everyone could get to know one another better.

* Offutt AFB—January 23, 2009
The NorthSTAR group visited Offutt Air Force Base in January 2009. Doug Shapland ( Chief, Design Element) at Offutt was kind enough to arrange the tour. Presentations and testimonials were given from six different engineers and architects about their jobs and the various types of engineering and architecture careers which would interest many of our students. We were then given a tour of the Air Force Weather building during which we were shown how architects and engineers are currently designing ‘green’ buildings.

* Holland-Basham Architects—February 24, 2009
Tim Holland led the NorthSTAR group in a tour of Holland-Basham, explaining the different aspects of having a career with an architecture firm. He introduced us to an architect and interior designers as well as explaining the types of architectural and design changes made to their firm’s building. He then gave a wonderful presentation in the conference room, showing everyone some of the tools used and he discussed the MidTown Crossing project they are involved in.