About Schools Departments News Staff Parents Communications Home CommBlog LPS In the News Events Guides Branding Guidelines Community News Graphics Web Speakers Bureau: Speaking for the Children Lincoln Public Schools is the second largest public school district in Nebraska, serving over 42,000 students from early childhood and kindergarten through senior year in high school—and at 39 elementary schools, twelve middle schools, six high schools and numerous programs and focus programs. In addition to Superintendent Steve Joel, members of the LPS Speaker’s Bureau offer a broad variety of voices in all aspects of public education in the School District, telling the fascinating story of our schools: addressing the School District’s master facility plan, the value of school athletics, the School District budget, what we want students to learn and how we know they are learning it, and much more. Speakers tailor their time and topics to the needs of your group, whether it is a community organization, a business or a neighborhood group. There is no fee for this service, but we suggest advance notice. Please call us today—and invite us to speak for the children. Contact Mindy Burbach, Director, Communications for Lincoln Public Schools Phone: 402-436-1609—Email: mkroth@lps.org President, Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education The Lincoln Board of Education is working for you The value of public education to our community Additional members of the Lincoln Board of Education are also available. For information about our board of education, president and members please visit our Board of Education information page. Matt Larson, Associate Superintendent for Instruction LPS by the Numbers Teaching and Learning in LPS Liz Standish, Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs School Finance 101 Lincoln Public Schools Budget Lincoln Public Schools: Good stewards of our tax money General topics on business and finance Eric Weber, Associate Superintendent for Human Resources Human Capital Public Sector Benefits Employee and Labor Relations John Neal, Associate Superintendent for General Administration and Governmental Relations Lobbying: Why a political subdivision needs one Favorite school district statistics Legislative issues for public education Community Learning Centers/Safe and Successful Kids Eagle Feather Project Athletics TeamMates Pet Therapy How district policies are created Walter Powell, Equity, Diversity and Multicultural Administrator Cultural diversity with students and staff Multicultural education: What does that mean? Race Relations Jenny Fundus, Director of Special Education Quality Special Education Programming for students Kindergarten to age 21 Aligning teaching strategies and the budget to meet student needs Building capacity of all educators to meet the needs of struggling learners Takako Olson, Director of Curriculum and Instruction What’s New in Curriculum and Instruction at Lincoln Public Schools How We Develop and Sustain a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum Josh Jones, Director, The Career Academy Dual Credit Options for High School Students in High Demand Career Pathways The Career Academy works with LPS and SCC to Provide College/Career Options for more than 650 Students School Choice Options at Lincoln Public Schools Pat Hunter-Pirtle, Director of Secondary Instruction Middle school and high school education Graduation Rate Future leaders and leadership development Sarah Salem, Director of Continuous Improvement and Professional Learning Continuous Improvement Professional Learning Communities Professional Learning Student Engagement Instructional Coaching Leadership Development Leslie Eastman, Director of Assessment and Evaluation Classroom Assessment District Assessment Plan NSCAS: State Testing Nola Derby-Bennett, Director of Lincoln Community Learning Centers Lincoln Community Learning Centers Community Partnerships and Public Education Parent and Neighborhood Engagement Cindy Schwaninger, Director of Elementary Instruction Teacher Appraisal Leadership Development in LPS Elementary Education in LPS Russ Uhing, Director of Student Services Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior Community Partnerships that Support Students Joe Wright, Director of Security School Safety Threat Assessment/Violence Prevention Community Partnerships Strengthen Student Safety Linda Hix, Director of Federal Programs English Language Learners Title I Cara Lucas-Richt, Director of Early Childhood Early Childhood Education Early Intervention and Special Education for children ages birth to 5 Early Development Network Kirk Langer, Chief Technology Officer Information Security and Data Privacy Digital Citizenship Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Technology and Learning The Role of CTO: Leading Change Chris Haeffner, Director of Library Media Services Impact of School Libraries on Our Communities Digital Citizenship Civic Online Reasoning: Online Information Evaluation Copyright and Fair Use Design Thinking: Making & Makerspaces Databases & Scholarly resources: At our Fingertips! eBooks & Digital Collections Multicultural Literature Supporting Literacy at School and Home Scott Wieskamp, Director of Facilities A comprehensive master plan for LPS facilities Update on construction across the School District Wendy Rau, Supervisor of Health Services School Nursing Practice Collaboration to Support Students with Chronic Health Conditions Trends in School Health Topics Immunizations Childhood Wellness Issues Kathi Wieskamp, Director of Athletics and Student Activities Educational-Based Athletics Programs – It’s More than a Game Athletics and Activities – Important Role They Play in a School and Student’s Success. Edith Zumwalt, Director of Nutritional Services Nutritional Value of School Meals Feeding Low-Income Students Special Diets How to Use Meal Viewer Wendy Van, Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools Why Community Matters when it comes to public education Update on The Career Academy and other LPS community projects Partnering with local schools for big impact Leveraging resources for big change Vital Signs: Collective Impact to support Lincoln Families Jim Bennett, Coordinator of TeamMates The power of mentoring All of our LPS Curriculum Specialists can speak about their area: Reading Language Arts Lisa Oltman, 402-436-1804, loltman@lps.org English Language Arts Mindy Murphy, 402-436-1803, mmurphy@lps.org Mathematics Josh Males, 402-436-1801, jmales@lps.org Science Betsy Barent, 402-436-1802, bbarent@lps.org Social Studies Jaci Kellison, 402-436-1805, jkellis@lps.org Career and Tech Ed Jason Thomsen, 402-436-1819, jthomse@lps.org Health and Physical Education Matt Avey, 402-436-1812, mavey@lps.org Gifted Education Joan Jacobs, 402-436-1822, jjacobs@lps.org Visual Art Lorinda Rice, 402-436-1813, lrice@lps.org World Language Katie Damgaard, 402-436-1814, jswanson@lps.org Computer Science Kent Steen, 402-458-3129, ksteen@lps.org Music Supervisor Lance Nielsen, 402-436-1631, lnielse2@lps.org Keep up-to-date with what's happening throughout Lincoln Public Schools Subscribe to receive our ConnectLPS email newsletter Lincoln Public Schools Lincoln Public Schools is the second largest public school district in Nebraska, located in the heart of the plains, renowned for its long-standing legacy of educational excellence and tradition of rigorous academic achievement. The school district is growing and thriving, serving over 42,000 students in more than 60 schools and programs. Education Equity The Lincoln Public School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, age, genetic information, citizenship status or economic status in its programs, activities and employment. Learn more Accessibility Statement Lincoln Public Schools is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for all persons, including people with disabilities. Learn more Visit Us, Contact Us, Follow Us 5905 O St, Lincoln, NE 68510 P.O. Box 82889, Lincoln, NE 68501 402-436-1000 Contact Form Home Jobs Calendar Board of Education Superintendent