Aspiring Educators: New partnership to boost numbers of early childhood teachers at LPS

March 20, 2025

East High School graduate Rema Al Neamah couldn’t stop smiling as she envisioned how she would help local early childhood students as a full-time teacher.
 
Al Neamah took a major step towards that dream March 13 when she officially joined the Lincoln Public Schools Early Childhood Avenues program. The school district is partnering with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a new endeavor that will increase the number of early childhood teachers at LPS.
 
Al Neamah and nine other college students are currently serving as paraeducators at LPS buildings. They aim to earn their teaching certificates and lead their own early childhood classrooms.
 
Al Neamah is in her second year at UNL and is a paraeducator at Everett Elementary School. She said it was exciting to know she would be able to help future LPS graduates. She completed the early childhood education pathway at The Career Academy before starting her collegiate journey.
 
“I’ve always had a passion for early childhood, so being able to be that teacher that is teaching them the beginning things that they will use for the rest of their life is just so amazing,” Al Neamah said. “I can’t wait to be in that role.”

 
Lincoln High graduate Lia Ortiz was also thrilled to take part in a signing ceremony at the Steve Joel District Leadership Center. Ortiz owns an associate’s degree from Southeast Community College and is obtaining her teaching degree through an online program at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Ortiz said becoming part of the first group of LPS Early Childhood Avenues students was encouraging. She worked as a paraeducator at Pyrtle Elementary School prior to joining the Avenues initiative. She is continuing to help children at the building through the program.
 
“For me, it’s just knowing that I have resources behind me as I go in to be a teacher,” Ortiz said. “I have these people who I know and I’ve made connections with, and they are able to help me further along. I know that I’ll never be alone, and I know that I can really help students where they need help.”

 
Ortiz and Al Neamah are joining Hser Blay, Chloe Burrows, Meghan Gibbons, Brenda Perez Lopez, Audrey Phillips, Nevaeh Sanders, Addi Wyatt and Bre Lennander as program participants. They are members of a pilot program that is the latest effort in the LPS Grow Your Own initiative. The endeavor is designed to increase the number of educators in the school district.
 
LPS Interim Superintendent John Skretta told the group he was excited to know that they would help hundreds of LPS students in their future teaching careers. He said attracting and retaining talented professionals through programs like LPS Early Childhood Avenues was essential. The Nebraska Department of Education included early childhood education in its list of teacher shortage areas in the state for 2024-25.
 
“We know that the earlier we can support and provide great formative educational experiences for our youngest students, the better the outcomes are for everyone at the end of that educational journey,” Skretta said. “The impact that early childhood educators have is profound, and we are very, very proud to have this group as our first cohort.”
 
LPS Early Childhood Director Cara Lucas-Richt said many organizations provided support for the initiative. In addition to the collegiate partners, the effort has also received funding from the Nebraska Department of Education, Nebraska Department of Labor and Lincoln Board of Education.
 
“This is really exciting,” Lucas-Richt said. “We are hopeful that this will continue. It’s exciting that we have these students who are pursuing and understand the importance of early childhood education and have chosen that as their career.”
 
LPS will employ each student as a paraeducator in the LPS Early Childhood Department while they complete their college classes. Each student will work with a cooperating teacher in their classrooms during their “paid job-embedded professional learning experience.” They will spend three to five half-days each week learning about the early childhood education profession.
 
Each student is receiving tuition assistance to complete the courses needed to obtain an early childhood education certificate. After they finish the Avenues program, many of them will become early childhood educators at LPS.

 
Al Nemeah felt the arrangement worked out well for everyone. She said the ability to be in the classroom on a long-term basis has helped her form valuable relationships with children.
 
“It’s been very, very nice,” Rema said. “I feel like I have more responsibilities as a paraeducator rather than just a student doing my practicum. I feel like I’m more involved with the students this way. I get to see them more often and I’m a person that they can rely on to be there every day. It’s really great.”
 
Ortiz also said her paraeducator role has been beneficial. She has developed classroom management strategies, worked with special education students and talked with students, parents and administrators about educational activities.
 
“You learn a lot hands-on right away before you’re even a teacher,” Ortiz said. “You’re really seeing what you can do, and you’re seeing the people behind it and how they’re making this come true and making the program better.”
 
Al Nemeah is looking forward to joining the LPS team on a full-time basis once she graduates. She said all early childhood educators share her vision of helping the littlest learners achieve giant dreams.
 
“We’re all like a community working together to educate these children,” Al Nemeah said. “We’re working together to provide the best environment for them. That’s my favorite part, personally.”
 
Visit home.lps.org/earlychildhood/ to learn more about LPS early childhood programs and how they prepare a solid learning foundation for young students.
 
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