Teachers: Champions of Children!

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Nebraska State Board of Education President Rachel Wise congratulated the school and citizens on their new addition. Photo Credit/Denise Gilliland, Editor and Chief, Kat Country Hub.

Rachel Wise, District 3, Nebraska State Board of Education (November, 2014)

A highlight of serving on the Nebraska State Board of Education is participating in the celebration of the Teacher of the Year and Excellence in Teaching Awards. The Nebraska Teacher of the Year program has been in place since 1972. The award winners receive a great deal of accolades for their accomplishments and a variety of monetary awards, including a $1,000 grant from the State Board of Education to each of the recipients’ school districts to support innovative practices, tools and resources.

The Teacher of the Year for 2015 is Shelby Aaberg, a high school math teacher at Scottsbluff High School. The Excellence in Teaching Award Winners include: Jim Fielder, a high school science teacher at Hastings Senior High School; Christopher Maly, an English teacher at Lincoln High School; and, Sarah Schau, a business teacher at Westside High School in Omaha. The commonality of all of these exceptional teachers includes a passion for their students and an ability to inspire and motivate every student, every day! Following the November luncheon celebration, the 2014 Teacher of the Year, Kristi Bundy from Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools provided an overview of her experiences the past year to the State Board of Education. Congratulations to these amazing educators who are the everyday champions of children and education.

Though this event highlighted only a few of the outstanding teachers in Nebraska, I know that every school in Nebraska has teachers of excellence—teachers who come to work every day to provide engaging learning experiences for all children. Our schools in Nebraska are always working to get better and to build on their strengths; one of their strengths is our great teachers!

At the end of October, the Nebraska State of the Schools Report was released to the public. At the November meeting, the State Board of Education discussed highlights of that report as well as the status of student achievement. The good news: students across the state are improving in reading, math and science! The challenge: an achievement gap among groups of students continues to exist! Once again, I encourage you to go to the NDE website, www.education.ne.gov, to review a wealth of information about our schools and student performance, including student dropout rates and school district test scores. This is an accurate and reliable source of information about our Nebraska schools.

Finally, the State Board of Education is making progress pursing a “waiver” or flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In earlier articles I described the challenges schools have working to meet the unrealistic federal accountability benchmark of 100 percent student proficiency in reading and math. The State Board’s goal is to submit a “waiver” request this spring.

This article represents my personal view, not that of the State Board of Education or my role as president. Feel free to contact me at rachel.wise@nebraska.gov. Search the Nebraska Department of Education website at www.education.ne.gov to learn more about education in our state.