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2025 Highway 91 Career Fair

On Wednesday, September 24th, Howells-Dodge High School hosted the fourth annual Highway 91 Career Day. This year’s event welcomed 390 students in grades 9–12 from Howells-Dodge, Clarkson, Leigh, Humphrey, Lindsay Academy, Archangels, and St. Edward. The career fair was designed to connect students with valuable career exploration opportunities and equip them with skills for their future.

The day began with an engaging keynote presentation from Mike Donahue, founder of Value Up, a character-based education program that empowers students to embrace their value, build respect for others, and create a positive culture. Following the keynote, students were able to select and attend career presentations by those in the respective areas.  Additionally, students participated in breakout sessions tailored to their grade level:

• Sophomores had a small-group breakout session with Mike Donahue, where they discussed tools for success and strategies for making positive choices.
• Juniors worked with Brandy Thompson from ESU 7, who presented essential job-keeping skills that will help them in the workplace.
• Seniors participated in mock interviews with community professionals, gaining firsthand experience in the interview process.

While the high school students were engaged in the career fair, 152 junior high students from Howells-Dodge, Clarkson, Leigh, and Humphrey traveled to Wayne State College for a college visit. Their day included a campus tour, a visit to the planetarium, a session on planning for their future, and lunch in the campus dining hall.

This event was made possible through a grant written by the school counselors from Howells-Dodge, Clarkson, Leigh, and Humphrey, along with the generous support of local businesses and the participating school districts. Over the past four years, Highway 91 Career Day has continued to grow and thrive, and we look forward to providing this outstanding opportunity for our students each year.

If anyone was inadvertently omitted, please know it was not intentional. Thank you to all who helped make Highway 91 Career Fair 2025 a success!

 

A special thank you to our meal donors:

Cargill Meat Solutions

Clarkson Bank

Homestead Bank for grilling burgers

Humphrey Public School & FCS Program

Clarkson Public School & FCS Program

Leigh Community School & FCS Program

Howells-Dodge Consolidated & FCS Program

 

A special thank you to our presenters:

A Full Plate / A Full Cup-Shannon Hekrdle

Accounting-Allison Brockhaus

Alec & Ashley Windeshausen

Army National Guard-Matt Williams

B&D Drone Service-Maple Creek Seeds

BD Construction-Marsha Wilkerson

Center for Survivors-Traci Pilar

Central Nebraska Rehab Services-Carly Faltys & Stacy Janata

CHI Healthcare Professions-Marissa Stoklasa, Sandi Doernemann, Ashley Konwski

Clarkson Bank-Adam Cerv

Clarkson Christian Daycare-Shayla Corder

Clarkson Plumbing, Heating & Hardware-Rob Brabec

Classen Farms Beef - Travis Classen

Colfax County Law Enforcement-Deputy Brichacek

Columbus Community Hospital-Kaitlyn Cattau & Dr. Anthony White

Columbus Community Hospital-Mike Sloup & Melissa Bulin

Criminal Justice Careers- Matt McCarthy NECC

Cuming County Public Power- Willy Anderson

Diesel Mechanic Caterpillar - NMC-Eddy Sayers

Dodge Dental Office - Hygienist-Suzie Steffensmeier

Doernemann Construction-Jeremy Doernemann

Eighty8 Bar & Grill-Brad Hegemann

Engler Entrepreneurship-Hailey Demers

ESU 7 Licensed Mental Health Practitioner-Iris Medina

Eternal Tattoo-Cole Beebe

EXP Realty-Shae Spitz

Farmers Union Cooperative-Isaiah Fischer & Jim Buresh

Hegemann Electric -Mark Burenheide

Hochstein Strategic Legal Planning-Justin Hochstein

Howells Dodge School-Scott Polacek

Howells-Dodge Elementary-Christina Radcliff

Jeanette Johnson Art & Design

Job Keeping Skills - Brandy Thompson

Landscaping-Jason Gronenthal

Lindsay Manufacturing-Aubrey Nygren

Mitchell Equipment-Miley Prine

NPPD Cyber Security-Lourdes Herling

Obstetrics Nursing Columbus Community Hospital-Kim Eisenmann

Platte Valley Equipment-Jeremy Vrana

RedStar Ag Services-Taylor Stoklasa & Pete Martin

Schwartz Farms-Mirna Chich-Price & Tyrell Pokorney

Shear Designs & B's Place-Carmen Belina & Bailie Graybill

St. Joseph's Villa Nursing Home-Melanie Kudera

Steffy Construction-Jon Steffensmeier

Stitches & Petals-Betty Mandel

Tools for Success - Mike Donahue

United States Army-Maleek Hicks

Vavrina Inc.-Rod & Brad Dirkschneider

Vet Tech - NECC- Anna McCracken

VO Enterprises-Austin Coufal

Wealth Management Bank of Lindsay-Jenny Korth

Welding -CCC Landon Hunt

West Point Dairy -Kristin Oltrogge

Wolken Therapy-Ryan Wolken-Owner & Professor