A Year of Growth, Play, and Innovation
Through strong school community partnerships, Community Learning Centers (CLCs) bring schools, families and neighborhoods together to provide what youth and their families need to be successful. Community partners are lead agencies that assist with promoting and implementing a successful CLC at their schools. The CLCs also work with other organizations like Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln, who coordinate wellness clubs in several CLC locations.
A Banner Year It has been a landmark year for the Lincoln Community Learning Centers. From receiving prestigious community honors to expanding their reach across age groups, CLC sites continue to shine as hubs for student success and enrichment.
Honoring CLC Impact: The Place Matters Pioneer Award In July 2026, the Lincoln CLCs were honored to receive the Community Health Endowment’s inaugural Place Matters Pioneer Award. This recognition was awarded for their work with the Get in the Game Initiative. What began as a modest traveling league of six teams has blossomed into a thriving program with 22 participating schools. Students now enjoy soccer, basketball, and volleyball seasons throughout the year. The CLCs have now expanded access to younger learners (2nd and 3rd grade) through new sports-based clubs and have piloted a successful flag football program with our 4th-5th grade students.
Expanding Horizons for Middle Schoolers Building on the success of their long-running middle school Spring Break camps, the CLC office significantly scaled its summer programming in 2025. In collaboration with partners like Nebraska Wesleyan, Lincoln Surf Soccer, and VCN, they offered six weeks of free sports and arts camps. By providing transportation, students from Dawes, Goodrich, Park, Lefler, Mickle, and Culler—had the opportunity to stay active, creative, and engaged all summer long.
Innovative Learning: Project Based Learning (PBL) CLC School Community Coordinators (SCCs) are bringing fresh academic energy to after-school hours by prioritizing "student voice and choice." As an example, students at Huntington Elementary recently completed an in-depth study of animals. This project culminated in a trip to the Omaha Zoo, where students took the lead by presenting their research reports directly to their peers in a real-world setting.
A Look Ahead Whether it’s on the court, in the classroom, or out in the community, the CLCs remain committed to providing Lincoln’s youth with the tools they need to thrive.
Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln/CLC Collaboration
Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln (PHL) oversees Wellness Clubs in twelve CLCs, serving over 500 children in 44 clubs. PHL manage AmeriCorps members who work alongside CLC elementary schools with the goal of teaching and encouraging students to develop healthy eating habits, learn how to grow and enjoy fresh produce, participate in and enjoy physical activity. AmeriCorps members serve at elementary CLC sites at no cost to the CLC programs.
Programs like Harvest of the Month (HOM) give kids an opportunity to taste fresh Nebraska produce from local farms (Farm to School), many for the first time. Kids tasted apples, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, honey, turnips, beets, and asparagus with a wide majority loving or liking what they tasted. Taste tests gives kids an opportunity to see how delicious nutritious foods can be, and programs like WeCook and Food Smarts teach kids and their families how to make healthy snacks and meals. Over the school year, HOM provided over 1,000 taste test to kids.
SPARK programs engage kids in fun physical activities to help develop a life long fitness habit, while indoor and outdoor school vegetable Garden Programs teach kids about the science of growing and connect them in a fun way to healthy foods.
For more about the CLCs, email Kristi Chambers kchamber@lps.org. For more about PHL Wellness Clubs and the AmeriCorps Program, email Matt O'Rourke, morourke@healthylincoln.org.
