Marking the beginning of this upcoming school year of August 2016 will be the 75th anniversary of Lincoln Northeast High School, a school with a whole lot of history.

First founded in September of 1941, Lincoln Northeast High School was a merging of three rival high schools: Bethany, Havelock, and Jackson high schools. LNE is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and has been rated one of the top schools by the Nebraska Department of Education since 1943.

Having been named the LNE rockets after a famous local train, the “Rock Island Rocket,” we represent, all the while wearing our signature black and white, on the basketball court, the football field, and just about anywhere else. An abundance of trophies and awards line the school’s “Hall of Fame” in the commons area. The boys basketball team having earned 12 state titles, 7 runner ups, and four peat state championship teams, it’s no wonder LNE is known as “the basketball school.” The girls basketball team, as well, have won many state titles, their first in 20o5 and earned runner up in 1982 and 2006.

Perhaps the most significant alumni of LNE is William L. Armstrong, a U.S. representative and the senator of Colorado from 1979 to 1991. Athletic alumni include Joba Chamberlain, the major league pitcher for the Detroit Tigers; Danny Noonan, a football player for the Packers as well as the Cowboys; and Shawn Bouwens, a football player for the Detroit Lions and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The various alumni aren’t the only ones with an impressive track record; as it turns out, 70% of the staff here at LNE hold master’s degrees. That’s not the only impressive feat though; some particular staff members have been here since just about the beginning.

Bruce Chapman, a drama and English teacher, has been with LNE since the fall of 1985. That’s 31 years! When asked what his first impression of LNE was, Chapman said, “Positive. I liked the traditions LNE had sustained for 50+ years. I liked the diversity of the student body. I liked how accepting students were of each other.”

Obviously, LNE has changed a lot over the years. In Chapman’s time, LNE was a grade 10-12 school, and over the years, several additions have been added to the building; for instance, air conditioning. Kurt Glathar, the principal of LNE, who’s taught and administered in several schools over the years, such as in Gretna, Beatrice, Louisville, and even Glenwood, Iowa, has seen many changes to Northeast in the 12 years he’s been here; his first impression of the school was, “run down” with, at the time, still no air conditioning, uncomfortable, wooden seats in the auditorium, and wooden paneled walls in the counselor’s hallway. That was all resolved however, when in 2008, a bond issue paid for the much needed renovation of the school. In Glathar’s words, the renovation made for a “better education facility.” This was made all the better with the “outstanding” staff at LNE.

Another dedicated LNE teacher, Jim Campbell, has been teaching at LNE since 1975. He has been teaching math to several generations of students, and in total, he’s been teaching for approximately 45 years. He got his start at teaching at Pound Jr. High in 1971. According to Campbell, in his time, the physical structure of the building, the diversity among the student population, and teacher and student expectations have certainly changed.

Now, in 2016, after the old one was stolen in 1990, a new rocket statue is being built, and for funding, original LNE bricks are being sold, ranging from a hundred to a thousand dollars. Jason Lemon, a graduate of Lincoln Northeast High School in 1991, is pushing an effort to raise the money for a new rocket statue to be built for the school. The original rocket, reportedly, was donated by the Lincoln Air Force Base in the 1960’s. The new 12-16 foot rocket, costing $55,000, is planned to be installed by the 2016-2017 school year.