LPS world language teachers win prestigious state awards

November 17, 2025

Four Lincoln Public Schools teachers are speaking the supportive language of providing excellent instruction for their students.
 
The Nebraska Languages Association (NEBLA) honored Brenda Lopez Adame, Mohammed Alnajem, Sarah Klankey and Janine Theiler with state awards at their fall conference. Lopez Adame received the NEBLA Outstanding Language Teacher of the Year Award, Alnajem received the NEBLA New Language Teacher of the Year Award, Theiler received the Nebraska Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Teacher of the Year Award, and Klankey received the Nebraska Association of Teachers of French Teacher of the Year Award.
 
NEBLA Executive Director Danielle Fulcher said having passionate and dedicated world language teachers in Nebraska is important for many reasons. In addition to providing a host of college and career readiness skills, world language teachers also give students essential social and cultural knowledge in their classes.
 
“Those teachers have the ability to ignite their students’ curiosity to know more and to open their eyes to the world around them,” Fulcher said. “I read the nomination letters for these teachers, and there was a very clear commonality in all of them. Those teachers, like Janine, Mohammed, Sarah and Brenda, plant those seeds of love in their students and inspire them to love languages.”
 
LPS Language Curriculum Specialist Katie Damgaard said it was “an incredible honor” to have four of this year’s state recipients representing LPS world language programs.
 
“Their recognition reflects the exceptional dedication, creativity and expertise our language teachers bring to their classrooms every day, inspiring students to connect not only with cultures and communities around the world, but also with the rich diversity within our own city of Lincoln,” Damgaard said.
 
Brenda Lopez Adame
Lopez Adame leads a variety of Spanish classes at Lincoln High. She helps many Links learn the basics of the language each day, and she also guides students who have spoken Spanish for a longer period of time. She said it is fulfilling to help heritage speakers feel more comfortable with their conversational skills.
 
“The thing that I enjoy the most about teaching Spanish at Lincoln High is working with heritage speakers and helping them grow the language they have grown up with,” Lopez Adame said. “Even though they have grown up in a Spanish-speaking household, most students do not feel confident in their language skills, so seeing them grow, being more confident and helping them see the importance of maintaining the language is what I enjoy the most.”

 
NEBLA President Terri Wright said Lopez Adame has established herself as an influential member of Nebraska’s world language community. She began teaching at LPS in 2018 and has led professional learning sessions for many fellow instructors.
 
“Brenda had several nominations, not only from colleagues, but from her students,” Wright said. “Everyone praised her passion and dedication, noting a deep connection with students and their families that was above and beyond expectations for a classroom teacher. Her work with heritage language learners, which included her work with them in the classroom and her creation of a heritage Spanish speakers club, was highlighted and praised repeatedly.”
 
Lopez Adame had originally majored in business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but she switched to education after volunteering at several local schools. She enjoyed student teaching at Lincoln High and was thrilled when a full-time position became available there. She later earned a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Lopez Adame said one of her top goals is creating a sense of community within the classroom. Students in one of her advanced courses achieved that one morning when they were immersed in the Spanish language. Lopez Adame spoke to them primarily in Spanish and helped them discover new words such as la manzanilla (chamomile herb), la sabila (aloe vera) and el ajo (garlic).

 
Lopez said she also strives to help students realize that everyone can accomplish hard things. Not only does this boost their confidence in their Spanish classes, but it also provides a meaningful lesson that will remain with them after they graduate.
 
Wright said that encouraging mindset makes Lopez Adame an outstanding world language teacher.
 
“Her creative projects, enthusiastic approach in the classroom and her collaboration with other teachers make her a role model for world language teacher colleagues and her students,” Wright said. “She is very deserving of this award, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to honor her.”
 
Mohammed Alnajem
Alnajem teaches Arabic classes to high school students at both North Star and Northeast. He said it is rewarding to help the Navigators and Rockets learn more about the language.
 
“Arabic has been my chosen field of study and professional focus from the very beginning of my life,” Alnajem said. “Studying Arabic not only deepened my appreciation for the language itself, but it also helped me develop the ability to learn English more easily and quickly. I found that I could communicate more fluently than many of my peers, which further strengthened my passion for teaching Arabic.”

 
Wright said one of Alnajem’s supervisors highly recommended him for the new language teacher award. She said the nomination letter confirmed how much of a difference he has been making for students.
 
“His work in teaching Arabic extends well beyond the classroom,” Wright said. “He has worked tirelessly to create all levels of curriculum for Arabic, and he founded the LPS Arabic for Arabic Students class to better differentiate the curriculum and reach students more at their level. He maintains great relationships with his students, is very giving of his time and is always willing to listen to students.”
 
The Rockets and Navigators rely on Alnajem’s expertise every time they open their classroom materials. He wrote the Arabic language textbook that they use each day for their lessons. He decided to author the book after observing the needs of his students in previous years.
 
Alnajem said he is continually encouraged by the progress students make in his classes. During one of his sessions at North Star, many Navigators spoke words and phrases with confidence in front of the entire group.
 
“I consistently remind my students of the goals they can achieve through studying a second language, or Arabic in particular,” Alnajem said. “When students set clear goals, understand their purpose and recognize their own progress, they experience genuine satisfaction and motivation. My overarching goal is for students to study Arabic over four years and become fluent in reading, writing and comprehension and be able to hold a conversation.”

 
Wright said Alnajem will continue to help many LPS students achieve those dreams in the coming years.
 
“He is the kind of new world language teacher that we want to encourage and keep in the profession,” Wright said. “Hopefully this award helps him realize how much we all value him and his contributions to world language teaching in Nebraska.”
 
Sarah Klankey
Klankey began leading French and World Languages classes at Moore Middle School two years ago. She said she enjoys watching the Mountain Lions learn how to read and write foundational nouns, verbs and adjectives.
 
“I love teaching French and World Languages because I love helping students discover a new way of communicating and viewing the world,” Klankey said. “Learning to speak another language is a long process that is fun, challenging and highly rewarding. I truly enjoy helping to start students on that journey!”

 
LPS teachers Stephanie Miller and Sara Parkening nominated Klankey for the Nebraska Association of Teachers of French honor. They said they have been impressed with her leadership and enthusiasm.
 
“Sarah has been a great addition to the world language team in LPS,” Miller said. “She has innovative ideas and takes the little things into consideration when working on curriculum planning. She is passionate about teaching French and enjoys imparting her knowledge to her students at Moore Middle School. Moore is lucky to have such a dedicated, hardworking teacher like Sarah!”
 
“Her passion for French and languages is evident in her teaching and in her collaboration with colleagues,” Parkening said. “She is hardworking, shares awesome ideas and contributes positively to curriculum development. She is an amazing addition to the LPS world language department.”
 
One example of Klankey’s uplifting teaching style came during a first-period French class. After teaching the Mountain Lions new family-based words such as grand-mere (grandma), tante (aunt) and oncle (uncle), she focused on basic conversational phrases such as reste chez moi (stayed home).
 
Students then created 30 flashcards filled with verbs, adjectives, feminine nouns and masculine nouns. The activity provided a fun way for them to continue learning important French words with their classmates. It also gave them more ownership in the process of studying for upcoming tests and projects.

 
Klankey said she wants to set up her students for successful language adventures as they move into high school.
 
“My goals for my French students are that they learn to communicate in French and that they get a lot of speaking practice every day,” Klankey said. “For World Languages, my goal is to introduce students to other languages and cultures and help them build skills that will help them learn languages down the road.”
 
Janine Theiler
Theiler teaches Spanish classes at Northeast High School and has spent more than a decade leading LPS students. She said it is a good feeling to help the Rockets reach new milestones on their Spanish language pathways.
 
“I find joy in the challenge of figuring out what motivates every scholar, of determining how to build that sort of ‘Goldilocks’ scaffolded space where every student is supported ‘just right’ so that they feel safe, capable and ready for success with language learning,” Theiler said.

 
Nebraska Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (NATSP) President Theresa Jensen said Theiler has distinguished herself as a state leader in both classroom management and instructional practices. Jensen received a quote from a Northeast student who said Theiler teaches Spanish with both excitement and enthusiasm. The student said Theiler’s “ability to keep any material from being boring” has been extremely helpful.
 
“It was an easy choice selecting Janine for Spanish Teacher of the Year,” Jensen said. “She exemplifies excellence as a master teacher who creates an engaging, immersive and equitable learning environment. She uses the target language consistently, tailors instruction with authentic materials and real-world applications, and is deeply invested in her students’ success, earning high regard from both students and colleagues as a leader and advocate for language learning.”
 
Theiler owns bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to her teaching expertise, she has also worked for UNL and the Nebraska Department of Education. She was a research assistant at UNL from 2005-12 and was the NDE’s director of educator effectiveness from 2015-18.

 
Theiler said she enjoys watching the Rockets become more familiar with the Spanish language and culture during their high school careers.
 
“My main goals are that students build confidence in and skill with communicating using a language that is not their native language, and that they build intercultural competency while exploring the amazingly diverse world in which we live – whether that diversity be situated in the student next to us in class, our neighbors across the street or our friends in another land,” Theiler said.
 
Brenda Lopez Adame, Mohammed Alnajem, Sarah Klankey and Janine Theiler represent the strong world language curriculum that exists at LPS. Discover more information about the school district’s world language classes at home.lps.org/worldlanguage.
 
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