Wysong starts tenth school year with pack-strengthening activities

August 11, 2025

Wysong Elementary School staff members showed why their pack is strong this summer by celebrating ten years of winning Wolves memories.
 
Fifty teachers, specialists and administrators marked the beginning of the building’s tenth school year with a festive birthday party. They boosted their teamwork skills in a cake decorating contest, shared laughs at a dancing event and cheered for each other during a rock, paper, scissors challenge. They also held several professional learning sessions throughout the encouraging morning.
 
Wysong teachers Keri Daffer and Larissa Smith said the tenth anniversary celebration was a great way for the Wolves to kick off the new year. They said students will benefit from the enthusiasm that staff showed in the cafeteria.
 
“Our energy directly affects their energy,” Daffer said. “And so I think when we have a positive attitude, when we’re excited about just being at school, all the new things that are going to happen this year, then that shows up in our students too and our families and makes them feel welcome and excited about starting a new school year.”
 
“I think it’s really important to start our school year off positively, so that we’re going into it with a growth mindset,” Smith said. “We know that we have a really important job, and we can influence and shape the lives of so many students. And so I think if we’re not positive, then we will affect the students negatively, so we need those positive and collaborative experiences.”

 
Wysong Principal Stephanie Drake said she was pleased to watch staff members strengthen their cooperation and communication talents. The Lincoln Public Schools theme for 2025-26 is “Leading With Connection,” and Drake felt the birthday party gave the Wolves a chance to do exactly that.
 
“We really focus here at Wysong on teamwork and collaboration, and we know that we can’t do our work alone,” Drake said. “Our kids need us as educators to be on the same team, to be a champion for them, and so that’s just kind of the theme of our birthday party. Yes, we’re celebrating, but we are also focusing on our core values, our mission statement, of teamwork and collaboration.”
 
A cake decorating contest was one of the activities that dovetailed with the LPS theme. Each team had 30 minutes to collect supplies, create a plan and place decorations on their birthday cake. They competed for awards in the areas of “Most Creative Cake,” “Most School Spirit” and “Best Representation of School Mission Statement.”
 
Smith and her fellow third grade teachers captured the “Most School Spirit” honor for their inventive design. They drew a wolf on top of their cake and incorporated Wysong’s royal blue color scheme throughout their pattern. Smith said it was fun to see their blueprints become an award-winning cake construction project.
 
“We really wanted to make it colorful, to make it positive, just like the vibes here, and include everybody,” Smith said. “We all worked together on it as a team.”

 
Drake said it was exciting to watch those types of deeper connections take shape throughout the morning. She and fellow administrators Jessica Hughes and Kristy Kennedy wore t-shirts that listed Wysong’s 2025-26 motto of “One Pack, One Purpose” as they visited each table. Randy Oltman, who was Wysong’s first principal from 2016-22, later surprised the Wolves with his role as guest judge for the contest.
 
“I’m just so proud to lead this staff,” Drake said. “Everyone here is committed to our kids and committed to doing the work they need to do to support our kids. The energy this morning was amazing.”
 
Daffer said the “Leading With Connection” and “One Pack, One Purpose” messages are valuable ones for staff to showcase to students. Connection, caring and unity are all ingredients that create a trusting environment at school. That positive atmosphere then leads to stronger academic results, smiles at the lunch table and pack-building actions on the playground.
 
“To me, that is the core foundation of my classroom, is building strong relationships,” Daffer said. “If the kids don’t trust me, or they don’t see me as somebody that makes them feel safe, then it’s going to be hard for them to learn. So having a positive relationship with my students, with the families, with the staff members, my team, that is the core to, I think, making everything else fall into place.”

 
Lincoln residents authorized the construction of Wysong as part of a 2014 bond issue. More than 300 children walked into the 80,000-square-foot building when it opened on Aug. 14, 2016. That number has more than doubled over the past decade. There were 738 young Wolves learning at Wysong last year.
 
Daffer said that expansion has been fulfilling to witness. She was on Wysong’s first team of teachers in 2016 and will start her 19th year with LPS. She felt the school would continue to have a strong pack as it moves into the future.
 
“We’ve just grown a ton,” Daffer said. “We now have some grades that have six sections. And so it’s exciting to see how the neighborhood has grown, the families, the community that we’ve built here. You know, siblings coming through, full families of four kids, five kids that have made their way through the building. It’s just been fun to see the community growing together.”
 
Interested in a career in Lincoln Public Schools? Stop by our careers page at https://home.lps.org/hr/careers/ to see our current opportunities.

Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!

---