Bob Feurer has been teaching at North Bend Central High School for the entirety of his 33-year career—“Same room, same desk, same tables!” The 2011 Nebraska Teacher of the Year spends his days teaching biology and global science to 7th-12th graders, as well as assistant coaching track. For many years, he also coached football and wrestling. He’s a classroom superhero who aims to create “seeing eyes” in his students by going above and beyond his daily lessons.

Feurer actively lobbies for more resources for his students and buys lab materials with money from his own pocket. But Feurer doesn’t stop at just working to get better resources for his students. He’s also used his Teacher of the Year award to sponsor professional development workshops for his fellow educators. These workshops help teachers to think more creatively when managing the classroom, which is a method Feurer has embodied over the years. He helped to create an arboretum on the schools grounds 20 years ago, and has acted as its curator since its inception. Complete with outdoor classrooms, wildflower plots, grass plots, shrubs, a pond and waterfall, and over 130 different species of tree, the arboretum offers unique teaching and learning opportunities. Feurer spends his summers planting, weeding, pruning, and generally maintaining the grounds for the community members and students.

Feurer describes himself as an “artisan” teacher. “I’m not a ‘book teacher’. I mostly use the texts as reference for self-created lessons. I’ve created a curriculum design in my classes that kids like and learn from.” He’s also making his district’s tighter budget go further. Feurer explains, “I used to have to count on the materials to carry my teaching, and now I can create meaningful experiences with ‘weird’ things.” He brings his personal rock, bug, and animal collections from home to share with his students, and he finds them very effective. “I’m a teacher who loves what he does every day, and I love all my kids.”

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