Nebraska

Nebraska Growing Readers program boosting literacy in young children

Published

10 months ago

May 24, 2025

Nebraska Growing Readers program boosting literacy in young children

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Early childhood education is taking flight thanks to a statewide Pilot Program.

The Nebraska Department of Education teamed up with the Nebraska Children and Families’ Foundation, the Statewide Family Engagement Center and Unite for Literacy to provide communities with access to numerous books.

The program focuses on enhancing the literacy of young children by providing a wide array of books to communities across the state.

The Vice President of Early Childhood Programs at Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, Stephanni Renn, told Channel 8 this has had a huge impact on younger generations.

“Kids have more access readily available because of their childcare centers and their school districts,” she said. “We do different assessments on our kids, and one of those is the ECI, which is the Early Communication Indicator. Those kids that were receiving books in their home, scored at benchmark under language practices because families are reading more, they’re choosing books and they have access to books.”

The Executive Director of Educare, Quentin Brown, said having a diverse selection of books helps keep kids interested in reading.

“To think that people can come in and naturally and organically say ‘Oh! There’s a book that looks like me, there’s a book that sounds like me, there’s a book that expresses an interest that I’m interested in,’” he said. “So what we’ve seen is that there has been a natural desire as people pass through our lobby. There’s a natural desire to just pick up books and read and engage with them and it’s a special thing when it’s someone with a child.”

Renn said one of the best parts about the program is the easy access for families.

“If you scan the front page of this book, it takes you to our digital library,” she said. “And so then you can read the book in various languages. So maybe if I’m an ESL parent, and English isn’t my first language, I can listen to it in Spanish, I can listen to it in Korean, whatever language I am more comfortable in and then I can also have it in English. So it really is access to books and it’s about shared reading and hoping that families choose books.”

And Brown adds that the program is very inclusive for every community.

“One of the important aspects is that children and families have an opportunity to engage in their home language and in their culture and I think that’s a special thing,” he said.

Tags: Access, Assessmentas, books, Children, communities, Desire, Diverse, Early Childhood Programs, Early Communication Indicator, educare, esl, executive director, families, kids, Korean, languages, literacy, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, Nebraska Department of Education, Quentin Brown, reading, Selection, Statewide Family Engagement Center, Stephanni Renn, Students, Unite for Literacy, vice president

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Nebraska

Vanderbilt braces for a ‘road game’ in NCAA Tournament as Nebraska fans flood Oklahoma City

Published

2 hours ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

Vanderbilt braces for a ‘road game’ in NCAA Tournament as Nebraska fans flood Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington expects a hostile environment when the Commodores play Nebraska on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Byington is well aware of how Nebraska’s fans flooded Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center for a first-round game. A sea of red witnessed history on Thursday as Pryce Sandfort led the fourth-seeded Cornhuskers (27-6) to a 76-47 victory over Troy for their first-ever tournament win.

Byington said his fifth-seeded Commodores (27-8) will need to stay connected and lean on their experience to deal with the atmosphere. The arena is just a six-hour drive from Nebraska’s campus in Lincoln, and Cornhusker fans took advantage by creating a caravan down Interstate 35.

“I think it’s neutral by name only,” Byington said. “This is going to be a road game. I heard reports. They said it was even better than the home games in Nebraska — the noise, the environment.”

Nebraska entered March Madness as the only team from a power conference without an NCAA Tournament win. Now, the loyal fanbase wants more. Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg believes the crowd could be more intense on Saturday.

“I think it’s going to be maybe even louder, because people are going to be off work and come down for the weekend,” he said. “Yeah, we fully expect to have another amazing crowd, but you can’t rely on that to win a game. You have to still execute and focus on the game plan.”

Vanderbilt, which rallied to defeat McNeese in the first round on Thursday, has faced tough environments this season, and things have not gone well. The Commodores played Southeastern Conference road games against NCAA Tournament teams Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee and came out of those contests with a 1-4 record.

Big Red shenanigans

Hoiberg addressed a Nebraska fan jumping into the Bricktown Canal in downtown Oklahoma City on Thursday night.

“I saw one guy jumped in the canal last night,” he said. “Yeah, they (Nebraska fans) took over. It’s almost like they didn’t want the day to end, you know? That was fun to see all that stuff, although I’m guessing he got in a little bit of trouble for doing that.”

‘Better and better’

VCU has kept winning since mid-February, including a run through the Atlantic 10 Tournament to get a bid to March Madness and set up its massive comeback from 19 down to beat sixth-seeded North Carolina in overtime. And coach Phil Martelli Jr. had a clear message about what could be ahead for his 11th-seeded Rams (28-7) entering Saturday’s second-round game against Illinois.

“What I told those guys is every time you win in March, the wins feel better and better and better as you go along,” Martelli said. “Last night felt pretty good. Winning the championship felt good. Last night felt a little bit better.

“I told them, if you want to feel a pretty sweet feeling, you go get No. 2 tomorrow.”

That said, the pressing challenge is stopping an offense ranked No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency by averaging 131.7 points per 100 possessions.

“One thing I know about these guys is they’ve responded to every challenge and they’ll be ready to go,” Martelli said.

The third-seeded Fighting Illini (25-8) faced the least drama of any winner in Thursday’s four first-round games in Greenville, South Carolina. Illinois advanced with a 105-70 win against Penn after shooting 50% and making 15 of 36 3s (.417), while the Illini dominated the glass (48-25) with their size.

“We have so many versatile players on the team that we kind of spaced the floor, and we were able to pick the defense apart with our skill,” guard Andrej Stojakovic said.

This is Illinois’ sixth consecutive NCAA bid. The Illini have failed to reach the second weekend in four of the previous five years, the outlier being a run to the Elite Eight two years ago before falling to UConn on the Huskies’ romp to a second straight national title.

Another Cinderella run?

VCU looks to add to its long history of tournament upsets.

Illinois is a 10 1/2-point against VCU, favorite according to BetMGM. But VCU has a long history of pulling shockers during March Madness.

In 2011, the 11th-seeded Rams got all the way to the Final Four, defeating No. 3 seed Purdue and No. 1 seed Kansas along the way. In 2007, No. 11 seed VCU knocked off No. 6 Duke in the first round. In 2012, No. 12 VCU defeated No. 5 Wichita State in the first round.

Almost home

Houston is one win from going back home for the Sweet 16.

The Cougars (29-6) will face Texas A&M (22-11) in the second round Saturday in Oklahoma City. If they win, they would then need two wins at the Toyota Center in Houston — just a few miles from campus — to return to the Final Four.

The Cougars have fought the urge to look ahead from the moment the brackets were announced. They looked focused when they rolled past Idaho 78-47 in the first round on Thursday.

They’ll face a tough Aggies team that defeated Saint Mary’s 63-50 on Thursday.

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AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard contributed from Greenville, South Carolina.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

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Nebraska

Nebraska’s Baxter, Jorgenson earn second-team All-America honors at NCAA championships

Published

14 hours ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska’s Baxter, Jorgenson earn second-team All-America honors at NCAA championships

LINCOLN, Neb — Nebraska picked up two second-team All-America honors as the 2026 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships moved into its final stretch, with Abby Baxter and Gena Jorgenson earning the awards during prelim sessions.

Jorgenson, a senior distance swimmer, earned second-team All-America recognition in the 500 freestyle with a 14th-place finish. It was a career best in the event and her fourth All-America title.

Jorgenson’s time of 4:38.77 also stood as a school record. She had broken the previous record just weeks earlier at the 2026 Big Ten Championships, lowering her time by 0.38 from 4:39.15.

The format for All-America recognition has also changed. Until this year, swimmers could compete in the evening session for the B finals. Now, places nine through 16th are awarded honorable mentions in the All-America category.

On the 3-meter springboard, Baxter scored 312.15 to finish 11th. The junior from Coppell, Texas, finished 20th at nationals last year with a score of 290.45. Her 11th-place finish marked the best showing for a Nebraska diver in the event since Abi Knapton placed 15th at the 2019 NCAA Championships.

In the 50 freestyle prelims, Hungarian swimmer Beatrix Tanko posted a 22.36. Tanko set the school record at the Hawkeye Invite in November, swimming a 22.17 for a second-place finish. Seeded 46th, Tanko moved up to 39th in the event.

Nebraska’s NCAA Championship competition will continue with Kelsey Clairmont in the platform dive to conclude her time at Nebraska. Tanko is also set to swim the 100 freestyle to wrap up her inaugural championships.

The meet is streaming on ESPN+. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. CT, with diving trials starting at 11:15 a.m. CT. Finals resume at 5 p.m. Results can also be followed on MeetMobile.

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Nebraska

What Troy coach Scott Cross said after first-round loss to Nebraska

Published

1 day ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

What Troy coach Scott Cross said after first-round loss to Nebraska

Troy coach Scott Cross met with the media following his team’s 76-47 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory was the first NCAA Tournament win in Nebraska basketball history.

The Huskers were led by Pryce Sandfort, who scored 23 points in the victory. The former Iowa Hawkeye shot 7-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-12 from the 3-point line. Rienk Mast contributed 13 points and 6 rebounds in the win.

As a team, the Huskers shot 25-of-65 from the field, 14-of-39 from the 3-point line and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Troy shot 13-of-46 from the floor, 8-of-28 from beyond the arc and 13-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Cross told the press that while the defeat was difficult to take, he knows his team won’t let this season be defined by this one loss.

“Thank you for being here. I would like to thank the good Lord for the opportunity to just have your guts absolutely ripped out. It stinks, but I told our guys in the locker room, they’re not defined by this basketball game.”

Troy entered the NCAA Tournament on a four-game winning streak after earning the regular-season and tournament titles in the Sun Belt Conference. Cross acknowledged that this Nebraska team is one of the best teams he’s seen in his over 25 years of coaching.

“They played an amazing team. Nebraska is one of the best teams. I’ve been doing this since 1998. They’re really, really freaking good. The way they shoot the basketball and the way they defend, watching it on video, you’re, like, man, there’s no openings as you watch it on video.”

Nebraska and Vanderbilt will play on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on TNT.

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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: What Troy coach Scott Cross said after first-round loss to Nebraska

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