Lincoln Southeast High School Jazz Band is seeking $1,500 in donations (plus cost reimbursement) to purchase professional-quality jazz saxophone mouthpieces for our students. These mouthpieces are essential for developing authentic jazz tone, projection, articulation, and stylistic flexibility—elements that cannot be fully achieved on standard concert equipment.

Not all of our students are able to afford professional-quality equipment, and one of our core goals at Southeast is to remove financial barriers so that every student has access to the tools they need to succeed. By investing in school-owned mouthpieces, we can ensure that all of our saxophonists—regardless of personal financial circumstances—have the opportunity to develop the sound and skills required for high-level jazz performance.

Our Jazz Band is highly visible throughout the community, performing at local middle schools, the historic Pla Mor Ballroom, the UNO Jazz Festival, and the NSBA State Jazz Competition. These performances allow our students to serve as ambassadors for Lincoln Southeast while gaining meaningful real-world experience as musicians. Your support will have a direct and lasting impact on our students’ musical growth and the quality of performances our community enjoys.

Thank you for your consideration,

Seth Burk

Director of Jazz Bands

Lincoln Southeast High School 

Lefler Middle School seeks $1,000 plus cost reimbursement to purchase motivating and relevant student rewards for our "Lions Den" school store. These rewards directly support our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program, which encourages students to follow the ROAR expectations: Respect, Ownership, Accepting, and Responsible. Funding will ensure the program maintains high engagement, leading to a consistently positive and effective learning environment.

Statement of Need

A strong school climate relies on proactively teaching and reinforcing positive behavior. Our school has successfully implemented the ROAR system, utilizing "pawsitive tickets" issued by staff when students demonstrate these key expectations.

The "Lions Den" is the primary mechanism for reinforcing this behavior, acting as a redemption center where students exchange their earned tickets for prizes. However, our current budget for rewards is inconsistent, often resulting in limited, repetitive, or non-motivating prizes. This lack of diverse and desirable inventory leads to decreased student effort in earning tickets, causing the overall positive behavior system to lose momentum.

This $1,000 request is crucial to immediately stock a wide variety of engaging rewards, ensuring the intrinsic motivation gained from earning a "pawsitive ticket" is matched by a tangible, desirable reward.

Project Description

The Lions Den Positive Behavior Reinforcement Initiative focuses solely on restocking the school store with incentives proven to motivate students across all grade levels.

The ROAR System

Staff members issue "pawsitive tickets" immediately upon observing students demonstrating one of the four

ROAR expectations:
Respect: Showing courtesy to peers and staff, caring for property.
Ownership: Taking responsibility for actions, assignments, and learning.
Accepting: Demonstrating tolerance, inclusivity, and good sportsmanship.
Responsible: Following school rules and being prepared for learning.

The Lions Den

Students collect their "pawsitive tickets" and can visit the Lions Den on designated days to exchange them for merchandise or experiential rewards.

Lincoln East won the Nebraska state competition for We the People, a mock congressional hearing, demonstrating our expertise in the Constitution. In April, we will be traveling to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national competition against schools from across the country. Students are responsible for the cost of the trip to Washington, D.C., so we are asking for financial aid to help offset the cost for individual students.  Last year, Lincoln East had a unit win a top unit award for the nation!

The We the People competition is a simulated congressional hearing in which students "testify" before a panel of judges acting as members of Congress. Students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles and have opportunities to evaluate, take, and defend positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues.  Requesting $14,000 plus cost reimbursement.