Lindsey Herting
Marian Battey Andersen and Charles Wheaton Battey Outstanding Teacher Award
About the Award: This award recognizes outstanding leadership or potential for leadership at Sheridan Elementary, Irving Middle School, and Lincoln High School.
Amount Awarded: $2,200
Nominated By: Andrew Bargen, a fellow teacher at Lincoln High School.
Nomination: I suspect that each year you read nominations for many deserving candidates for this award, but I can tell you without hesitation that no candidate embodies more fully the qualities of commitment, learner, relationships, leadership, and service than Lindsey Herting. I cannot recommend any candidate more strongly for your consideration.
In terms of COMMITMENT, Lindsey has always made students--all students, of every background and at every level of ability--her primary focus. Each semester, Lindsey teaches students in the International Baccalaureate program, in the Advanced Placement program, and students in standard track classes at Lincoln High School. In addition to IB and AP Psychology, she has taken a LEADERSHIP role in developing the History of Civil Rights course. Her approach in this course has been to help students of myriad backgrounds to connect to coursework, with an eye towards telling stories and empowering students in their own academic journey. Every one of her students at every ability level would speak to Lindsey’s talent at building strong RELATIONSHIPS--which is perhaps *the*essential component in motivating students to succeed.
Furthermore, Lindsey has taken a LEADERSHIP role in spearheading Psychology instruction both within our district--by annually serving as a mentor for new psychology teachers--as well as in the state of Nebraska by helping to establish the Nebraska Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (NEBTOPSS)organization, providing one of the only opportunities for collaboration and networking between psychology teachers in Nebraska. By going above and beyond in organizing and leading NEBTOPSS, Lindsey demonstrates a commitment to SERVICE to both her colleagues and the discipline that she teaches.
Lindsey also takes seriously her role as a lifelong LEARNER. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she successfully completed a master’s program in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education’s Teaching American History Grant and Nebraska Wesleyan University. But her COMMITMENT to her students has led her to pursue another master’s degree. Lindsey has a desire to offer her psychology classes as dual-credit courses at Lincoln High, to make college credit more accessible to more of her students. With that goal in mind, Lindsey has enrolled in graduate courses at UNL to earn the necessary graduate credits in Psychology to be able to do just that. It is for this reason, in fact, why I chose to nominate Lindsey for this award. The funds from this award would be used to help pay for those courses. In short, by recognizing Lindsey, you would be granting students at Lincoln High School greater access to college credits. It is Lindsey’s COMMITMENT to her students and their futures that makes this opportunity possible.
In sum, Lindsey’s record speaks for itself. She embodies each of the qualities of commitment, learner, relationships, leadership, and service in ways that very few, if any, can match. Given that this award is designated for an “outstanding educator” and is intended to further a nominee’s teaching excellence, I cannot imagine a more deserving recipient. Thank you for your consideration of her for this honor--she is most deserving.
