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The scoreboard at Union Bank Stadium — the official name for the new field at Lincoln Northwest — will be ready to go this fall thanks to a Husker football legend.

It's former Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch's company, Crouch Recreation, that's erecting the roughly 25-by-30-foot combined scoreboard and videoboard, according to a building permit filed July 8.

Lincoln Public Schools has worked with Crouch's company in the past — mainly in supplying playground equipment, said Director of Operations Scott Wieskamp. Crouch Recreation was also responsible for new bleachers at Lincoln Southeast's track.

Crouch's company secured the roughly $500,000 bid for the project last year. Cheever Construction, the general contractor for the football stadium, was expected to pour footings for the scoreboard this week.

The scoreboard will be very similar to the one at Seacrest Field, Wieskamp said, featuring a roughly 16-foot-tall videoboard and the Union Bank name.

In addition to Union Bank Stadium, which will initially be able to seat about 2,800 to 3,000 people, Northwest's athletic complex — shared between city schools — will also have a baseball field along with tennis courts, softball and soccer fields for teams to practice.

Work to place the stadium's artificial turf and pour the track's asphalt is also expected to begin soon, Wieskamp said.

The days are numbered to complete it. The Falcons host their first football game against Ralston on Aug. 26.

LPS is doing away with the commendable-satisfactory-needs improvement grading scale still used in some LPS middle school classes.

Academic Connection courses in LPS middle schools — classes like music, PE and art — will this fall move to the A-F scale that all other classes use.

The grading change ensures more consistency for parents and students, Director of Curriculum Takako Olson said during a student learning committee meeting earlier this year. The consistent grading scale also dispels any perceived value difference between courses, Olson said.

The board does not have to approve the change since it's a regulation, as opposed to a policy, so it will go into effect this school year, officials said. The district consulted with teachers, who were overwhelmingly in favor of the move.

Math- and reading-intervention courses would still use the CSN scale in middle schools, which is also the case at the high school level. Elementary schools use a 1-4 value system for grading.

Three Lincoln students were crowned champions at the 2022 National Speech and Debate Association Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, last month.

Lincoln Southwest senior Amani Al-Hamedi placed first in expository speaking; Lincoln East junior Rachel Laws was first in prose reading; and East junior Celeste Cruz Rivera was the champion in the online poetry contest.

Senior Loc Nguyen, who overcame a battle with cancer to win a state debate title in public forum, was named a national student of the year finalist.

East was named a school of excellence in speech — given to the top 20 schools — and Southwest was a school of honor in debate (top 40 schools). East's Jess Nguyen was also honored as the NSDA assistant debate coach of the year.

You can find the full results at lps.org/post/detail.cfm?id=14742.

LPS is encouraging families to fill out an application for the federal free- and reduced-lunch program as soon as possible with universal free meals set to sunset this summer.

Families can apply for the program at www.myschoolapps.com/Home/PickDistrict. Applications can also be filled out at your student's school office.

Some low-income families — like those on SNAP benefits — are automatically certified for the program and do not need to fill out an application.

During the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's school nutrition program made breakfasts and lunches free for all students, but Congress failed to extend the waivers for the next school year.

That means school districts across the country will once again have to rely on the three-tiered federal lunch program in which families pay full price, a reduced cost or nothing at all.

Families must reapply each year and households must submit a new application within the first 30 days of school to avoid losing benefits.

At LPS, full-price meals will increase by a nickel to $2.45 at the elementary school level, $2.70 for middle school students and $2.80 in high school. The cost of reduced-priced lunch will stay at 40 cents and breakfast prices will not change.

Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @HammackLJS

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