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.
 
“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.
 
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.
 
“For me, it’s just knowing that I have resources behind me as I go in to be a teacher,” Ortiz said. “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.
 
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.
 
“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.
 
LPS Early Childhood Director Cara Lucas-Richt said many organizations provided support for the initiative.
 
“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.
 
Al Neamah felt the arrangement worked out well for everyone.
 
“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,” Rema said.
 
Ortiz also said her paraeducator role has been beneficial.
 
“You learn a lot hands-on right away before you’re even a teacher,” Ortiz said.
 
Al Neamah is looking forward to joining the LPS team on a full-time basis once she graduates.
 
“We’re all like a community working together to educate these children,” Al Neamah said.
 
Visit home.lps.org/earlychildhood/ to learn more about LPS early childhood programs.
 
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