Partnership & Alignment Committee (PAC)

2024 PAC Projects:

The Foundation’s Partnership & Alignment Committee (PAC) reviews, approves, and funds projects that align with the Elkhorn Public School District Strategic Plan and Goals.

Helper Helper App

The Elkhorn Public Schools does a great job incentivizing students to participate in school activities, strive for high academic achievement, and volunteer in the community through the Foundation-funded ACHIEVE Scholarship Program. To assist students with tracking their volunteer hours, PAC provided funding for the Helper Helper app. Currently, Helper Helper is being piloted by the freshmen classes at the high schools with the goal of expanding it to more students next year.

Meg Starman, ENHS Counselor, describes Helper Helper as a “platform that allows students to track and verify their service hours throughout high school.” Another benefit according to Megan Scobie, EHS Counselor, is that through this platform “they have an app at their fingertips to track their hours instead of the old paper copy that they were expected to keep track of for 4 years.” Additionally, she is “excited to see the response from students on the ease of use and effectiveness.”

Helper Helper has the additional functionality to browse volunteer opportunities. In the future, Jess Hoskins and her fellow ESHS Counselors “hope to have service opportunities posted on the app for students to attend (blood drives, school clean ups, etc.).” 

Meg said, “It is very generous of the Foundation to help with the funding, and we are hopeful that the students love the service.”

Social Media Speaker

In alignment with the district-wide goal to focus on mental health, the Elkhorn Public Schools with the financial support of the Foundation welcomed Dr. Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, in the spring for her presentation: “Parenting and Guiding the Smartphone Generation.” Following her presentation, there was a panel discussion composed of Dr. Twenge, Creighton Volleyball coach and EPS parent Kirsten Bernthal Booth, ENHS Counselor Martha Dowd, and several EPS students.

Dr. Twenge’s presentation highlighted the similarities and differences between the various generations. In an effort to guide parents of teens, she encouraged parents to prioritize sleep, enforce rules that keep kids safe, and reframe the smartphone, which means: “The smartphone needs to be a tool we use, not a tool that uses us.”

Cohort Pathways Program

The Cohort Pathways Program is an opportunity for Elkhorn Public Schools’ teachers to begin pursuing their master’s degrees through a cohort coordinated by the Elkhorn Public Schools, the Foundation, and the University of Nebraska Omaha. The cohort features three courses taught by EPS administrators and is taken with fellow EPS educators. The second cohort started during summer 2024 and has 10 participants. After completing the three courses, participants can complete their UNO master’s degree at their own pace. Due to the rising cost of higher education, the benefit of this program is that the Foundation pays for the participants’ tuition up front, with a stipulation that it will be paid back upon completion of the coursework, which is offset by the participants’ coinciding pay increase earned by completing those three courses.

District-Wide Safety Initiatives

The Elkhorn Public Schools is dedicated to keeping our students and staff safe. Steps the district has taken to increase safety include hiring a Director of Safety & Security, adding doors to previously open concept school buildings, and more. Additionally, the district partnered with PAC to purchase safety-alert software that will be used district wide.