French, German teachers honored as state's best

Teachers from Lincoln Public Schools have been honored as the state’s best for French and German.

The Nebraska International Languages Association (NILA), in conjunction with the Nebraska Association of Teachers of French, named Lisa Maupin of East High School the state’s French Teacher of the Year. NILA, along with the state’s association of German teachers, named Marissa Wanamaker of Lincoln High School the Nebraska German Teacher of the Year.

Both announcements came Oct. 31 at NILA’s annual conference, held this year at Millard North High School in Omaha.

“I am touched to have received this award,” Maupin said. “My thanks go out to my colleagues, whose constant support, encouragement and ideas sustain me. This award will inspire me to continue to find ways to reach every student, every day.”

Wanamaker said winning the award was a “complete shock - an amazing one.” She added, “Teachers work very hard. We do what we do every day because our goal is to get our students to improve their knowledge. We often come up with many ideas, strategies, compromises and a lot of hard work to do so. But we're not teachers for the praise we receive - we do it because it makes us feel good when one student ‘gets it.’”

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