Hser Blay and Brenda Perez Lopez are helping early childhood students write positive opening paragraphs of their Lincoln Public Schools stories this fall.
The first-year teachers are both subjects of successful educational tales themselves, as they are recent graduates of the LPS Early Childhood Avenues initiative. The program embeds college students and paraeducators into LPS classrooms for training before they begin their careers as certified teachers.
Blay works with special education students in an early childhood classroom at Belmont Elementary School, and Perez Lopez is guiding young learners in an early childhood special education program at Campbell Elementary School.
“I am really grateful for the Early Childhood Avenues program, which has given me the opportunity to gain hands-on classroom experience while completing my university education,” Blay said. “The support with tuition and the opportunity to work alongside teachers have helped me prepare for my career and allowed me to gain meaningful experience working with students.”
“The Early Childhood Avenues program played a huge role in helping me become a teacher,” Perez Lopez said. “While I was a full-time college student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I also worked as a paraeducator through the program on the days I did not have classes. That experience gave me valuable hands-on opportunities to work directly with young children and learn from experienced teachers.”
LPS Director of Early Childhood Cara Lucas-Richt said she has been pleased with the job readiness that Blay and Perez Lopez have displayed. She said the Early Childhood Avenues program helped them make seamless transitions from college students to preschool teachers.
“For about 18 months prior to graduation, they worked in LPS preschool classrooms for on-the-job training as part of our Early Childhood Avenues initiative,” Lucas-Richt said. “They got an excellent front seat of working in a pre-kindergarten classroom with much more extensive experience prior to their student teaching in early childhood.”
Early Childhood Avenues is a partnership between the LPS Office of Early Childhood and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It supports the work of those wishing to become early childhood educators by giving them essential knowledge about those classrooms. Each person spends three to five half-days each week working with students, paraeducators and certified teachers.
Lucas-Richt and Kelley Goecke, an associate professor in the UNL Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, began creating the current program in June 2024. Their preparation paid off in March 2025 when ten people pledged to work for LPS after completing their degrees.
Goecke, who coordinates UNL’s early childhood inclusive program, said it was inspiring to know that all of their initial groundwork has come to fruition. She said Blay and Perez Lopez have shown the value of the program’s framework.
“Through the apprenticeship program I have had the opportunity to observe Hser and Brenda in numerous classroom settings and environments beyond the traditional program at the university,” Goecke said. “Both come to the district as multilingual teachers who have had opportunities to support children and families providing translation, implementing dual language support within the early childhood classrooms, and fostering family connections.”
Blay and Perez Lopez both graduated from UNL in May 2026 with early childhood inclusive degrees. Both were interested in helping special education students develop prosocial learning skills such as cooperation, kindness and curiosity. They were also intrigued by the idea of working with children at the beginning of their educational journeys.
Blay said it has been rewarding to work at Belmont this fall. She felt the Early Childhood Avenues program equipped her well for her classroom duties.
“I have really enjoyed building relationships with my students and getting to know them this year,” Blay said. “I feel truly blessed to be part of their journey and to have the opportunity to support them. I am also grateful to have a wonderful, supportive team and an amazing coach by my side. Their encouragement, teamwork and support make such a difference.”
Perez Lopez said she learned how to form strong relationships with children by studying with veteran LPS teachers. She felt her 18 months of training gave her opportunities she would not have received otherwise.
“Being in classrooms while I was still in college helped me connect what I was learning in my coursework to real-life teaching experiences,” Perez Lopez said. “I learned how to support children with different strengths and needs, collaborate with families and other professionals, and create inclusive learning environments. The experience also built my confidence and prepared me for the transition to becoming a full-time early childhood special education teacher.”
Early Childhood Avenues is just one program under the umbrella of the LPS Grow Your Own strategy. The first step of the districtwide human resources effort is identifying college students and LPS employees who display a passion for classroom leadership.
Once this occurs, there are several potential routes for them to take. Multiple graduates of both Early Childhood Avenues and the Nebraska Teacher Apprenticeship Program (NTAP) are now certified teachers at LPS buildings. LPS also began hosting signing day celebrations last year for high school seniors who are planning to become professional educators.
Perez Lopez said the encouragement she received through Early Childhood Avenues is helping her pen many successful moments for her students.
“Now, as an early childhood special education teacher, I find myself using many of the skills and strategies I learned through Avenues,” Perez Lopez said. “The Avenues program gave me a strong foundation and allowed me to enter my first year of teaching feeling excited for this role.”
Discover how the LPS Office of Early Childhood supports children and families with programs throughout the year.
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