Lindsey Wilson, center, joins four of her seventh grade students at Bennington Middle School after Wilson is named the 2025 Nebraska Teacher of the Year. From left: Carter Nebbia, Spencer Hartig, Abby Iverson and Lucy Hunt. Sept. 19, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

BENNINGTON, Nebraska — The Nebraska Department of Education honored a Bennington Middle School science and social studies teacher Thursday as the 2025 Nebraska Teacher of the Year.

Lindsey Wilson, who has been a teacher since 2009 and joined Bennington in 2022, has also taught math to sixth and eighth graders at the middle school, according to the Education Department. Wilson previously taught at King Science and Technology Magnet School and Morton Magnet School in Omaha.

“It’s not just me but it’s all of the people that I work with, my kids, that I’ve spent the last two years with, my family,” Wilson said of the honor. “It’s kind of a collective award.”

‘The geeky science teacher’

Bennington Public Schools is one of the fastest growing of Nebraska’s 245 school districts, and Wilson said she’s proud to be part of the district. She said her teaching style has evolved in her 17 years of teaching to be more hands on, in part because of her own experiences.

“I, as a student, struggled a lot in school,” Wilson told reporters. “I didn’t see the value in it or my place within a traditional educational system.”

Once in college, Wilson said, she fell into some college education courses and started to love the new fit she found.

“Each year I just love it more and more and see the value that I added to the kids, to my colleagues, and I’m just having so much fun,” Wilson said. “I truly can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Nebraska Commissioner of Education Brian Maher surprised Wilson with the award during one of her morning classes. More than 100 teachers were nominated. They are then invited to apply as part of the extensive, competitive application process that includes a one-hour interview and mock lesson with department staff.

Maher told Wilson’s students that there are many great Nebraska teachers but what sets Wilson apart is “her energy, her willingness to do what’s right for kids [and] her willingness to take risks in teaching but always keeping student interest at the forefront.”

Wilson will serve as an ambassador for Nebraska next year on the statewide and national stage and advocate for teachers.

Two other finalists will be recognized as Award of Excellence winners: Megan Pitrat of Syracuse/Avoca/Dunbar Middle School and Tom Whisinnand of Neihardt Elementary in Millard Public Schools.

Wilson said she doesn’t know if she is different from any other teacher in Bennington and said all add their own value to what they teach or do.

“I am kind of the geeky science teacher, and I own it. I love that,” Wilson said, laughing that some of her science colleagues peeked into her classroom to join in the celebration.

Making learning fun

Wilson said when she started she was afraid to try new things for fear they might fail. But as she expects her students to try new things without fear of failure, she works to model that vision.

Teaching is all about having fun, Wilson added, describing herself as a fan of innovative teaching that gets students up and moving or helps them to look at education differently and see that every lesson can be fun and engaging. 

“If you’re not having fun as a teacher, the kids aren’t having fun, and so you have to love what you do, just like you do with any career,” Wilson said. “If you’re in there, learning with them, alongside them, then it makes it worth it.”

Some of Wilson’s students also had her as a teacher last year, including Abby Iverson. Abby and one of her friends, Lucy Hunt, each said Wilson has “crazy” ideas that make learning tough lessons like science easier.

“I’m just really happy for Mrs. Wilson,” Abby said.

Lucy said Wilson taught a lesson on natural materials a few weeks ago and had students scour the school halls to take selfies with people or other materials to demonstrate what they had learned. For example, Lucy said, a cucumber in the lunchroom represented a reusable resource.

“She makes it really fun, and it’s an easier way to remember it when you were doing something fun with it,” Lucy said.

‘Not just conveyors of information’

Wilson said Bennington has a well structured science curriculum but one of her initiatives is building lessons around that curriculum in a way that is more fun, digital or hands on. She likes to take  what’s in the textbook and bring it to life in jobs or data.

“Right now they are acting as student geologists, and they are tracking earthquakes and volcanoes and all the things to kind of look for those patterns in real time data working alongside each other,” Wilson said of her students.

Wilson said that students and society are changing and that education doesn’t have to stick to a “traditional mold” that many grew up in. She acknowledged in her application for the award that “our influence extends far beyond the walls of our classrooms.”

“We are not just conveyors of information, but shapers of future citizens, thinkers, doers and leaders,” Wilson wrote. “This realization is empowering, and it’s essential that every teacher recognizes the profound difference they make every day.”

The Nebraska State Board of Education will honor Wilson, Pitrat and Whisinnand at a December reception. Wilson will also compete for the National Teacher of the Year competition.

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