Staff Spotlight: Steve Spieker - math teacher at Pound Middle School

December 12, 2025

Every week, we shine a spotlight on one Lincoln Public Schools staff member! This week, meet Steve Spieker, math teacher at Pound Middle School.

“Steve goes above and beyond to help and encourage students. He coaches several sports teams at Pound, as well as our archery team. He also takes eighth graders to Washington, D.C., because he believes it is important to educate our students on the past, present and future. He is kind and genuinely enjoys teaching math to students by causing them to think about problems and how to solve them. He always comes to school with a positive attitude and is a very supportive team member.” - Rachel Veenendaal, special education teacher at Pound Middle School

In a few sentences, briefly describe your role at LPS.
I am currently a sixth grade math teacher at Pound Middle School. In addition to my teaching duties within LPS, I help coach cross country and archery at Pound and umpire baseball games for LPS during the spring.

How long have you worked for LPS?
This is my 27th year of teaching in LPS. I began my teaching career at Campbell Elementary School for 13 years and am currently in my 14th year of teaching at Pound Middle School.

What inspired you to become part of the education field at LPS?
As I was working on my degree in elementary education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work in a variety of grade levels at multiple schools within LPS. Throughout these classroom experiences, I was able to experience firsthand many different classroom settings that catered to and met the needs of a diverse student population.

Throughout these practicums, I was fortunate to work with excellent teachers that were supportive, welcoming, and passionate about educating the youth of Lincoln. Living in the Lincoln community and embracing these positive classroom experiences, I knew that this was the district and community in which I wanted to begin my professional journey.

What has been your favorite part of working here? What aspect of your job do you find most rewarding?
To identify one favorite part of working within LPS is a challenge. One of the items that I find most rewarding is the opportunity to play a part in helping students show growth academically and socially. Seeing students persevere through challenges, and then watching them find success in many different endeavors is one of the highlights that motivates me to continue teaching each year. In addition, seeing many former students become teachers within LPS, and to have the opportunity to be colleagues and teach WITH them is a very cool full circle experience.

The other aspect of my job that I find rewarding and cherish are the incredible people that I have the opportunity to work with. I have been blessed to work with incredible teammates that are supportive professionally and personally. It is such an amazing thing when coworkers can begin as colleagues and become some of your closest friends!

Did you attend LPS as a student? If so, which school(s)? If not, where are you from?
No, I did not attend LPS. I grew up in Fremont, Neb., graduating from Archbishop Bergan High School.

What do you enjoy most about the Lincoln community?
Growing up in Fremont, I never had the desire to live in a big city. While Lincoln now has a population greater than 300,000 people, it still feels more like a community as opposed to a big city. It has been a great place to settle in with my spouse, Brenda, and raise our two boys!

Embracing the diversity of Lincoln is also extremely rewarding! Living in a community that is shared by people from around the globe has opened my eyes to the world! I cherish the opportunities to learn about traditions, celebrations, locations, etc., that I have not previously had the opportunity to experience! These experiences have opened my mind and heart, to embrace and celebrate cultural differences while recognizing how similar we all are!

Share a shout out to a former teacher who impacted your life.
It is next to impossible to pick a single teacher that has impacted my life! In high school, Mr. Joe Wojtkiewicz and Dr. Rich Beran were incredible inspirations as coaches and teachers. They were passionate about what they taught, and engaging to the students in their classroom. Their positive attitudes and emphasis on effort, teamwork and work ethic are qualities that I strive to pass on to my students.

As my student teaching cooperating teacher, Mrs. Lesa Christiancy provided inspiration and guidance that gave me a perfect springboard to my own classroom. Her sense of humor and personal connections with students modeled the importance of relationship building in the classroom.

As a brand new teacher with LPS, Dr. Vann Price and Mrs. Barb Miller provided guidance and support as my first mentors and teammates. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive pair of teachers to work with, learn from, provide guidance through "new teacher challenges" and praise when successes occurred. They helped instill the importance of having high expectations of students, while motivating students to find personal growth and success in all aspects of their lives. Their sense of humor and encouragement were key components to managing the stresses of being a new teacher.

There are dozens of additional teachers that have had a significant impact on my educational journey. I have been so blessed to have impactful teachers in every step of my educational journey! This continues to be true today with the many incredible educators I have the opportunity to work with in Lincoln Public Schools!

Do you know a LPS staff member we should feature for Staff Spotlight? Fill out this form to nominate them!

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