Danielle Reader of Kimball High School has been named TC & More’s Teacher of the Week.
Reader is in her seventh year of teaching – all as a math teacher at Kimball High School.
“The thing that I’m probably most proud of is getting kids prepared for life after high school and watching them achieve their goals at that point,” she said.
Before becoming a high school teacher, Reader worked at Clean Harbors in Kimball as the environmental compliance manager. She was in that position for 15 years.
Reader earned her teaching certificate through the transitional program in 2012. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1993 from Colorado School of Mines, and she earned a master’s degree in curriculum instruction in 2017 from UNK. She’s on pace to receive a master’s degree in 7-12 principalship in December 2019.
Reader said she’s glad she made the decision to become a teacher, especially in the Kimball schools district. She said she’s enjoyed working with both staff and students.
“I love being a teacher,” she said. “I switched careers very late for the sole purpose of trying to inspire kids to achieve their potential.”
In addition to her teaching duties, Reader is the Kimball school improvement chairperson. In previous years, she coached junior high basketball and was the speech sponsor.
The person who nominated Reader said, “I have experienced first-hand how much she cares about her students. She’s in her [seventh] year of teaching, and this last summer is the first time she has actually gotten a summer. The first five, she was in her classroom everyday of summer improving her teaching or finding new innovative ways to teach, such as a flipped classroom, which is where she has the students familiarize themselves with the material before class and then the whole class she can help with questions and homework! She even created her own math textbook to teach better, just for her students. She gives out her phone number to every student so they can call/text her anytime they want to, and there have been countless times when she’s been up until midnight helping students with whatever they are working on. In the last six years, she’s also gotten two master’s degrees in education to be able to teach better.
“She doesn’t just limit herself to being a math teacher, but also a mentor. She wants to help every student with life – any aspect of life that she can. To start each year, she asks the students what their career aspirations are, and then helps each individual student figure out which classes they need to take, what college they should be looking at, or even helping them with their ACT scores! She teaches a program called John Baylor that helps students get the best ACT scores they can. On top of all that, she has taken it upon herself to help students get the college classes they need. Whether it’s AP classes or duel credit, she figures out what they need and how to get it for them. [Reader] is at the school by 7 every morning and doesn’t leave until 5:30 at the earliest.
“Her determination and work ethic to help her students inspires me every day to be the best I can be. And I know it inspires so many other students. She has touched so many kids’ lives while she’s been teaching. She puts everything she has into Kimball Public Schools, and I think she definitely deserves to be recognized for that!”
Reader has lived in Kimball for 27 years. Before becoming a teacher, she was on the Kimball School Board for 14 years.
Reader and her husband, Brad, have four children who graduated from Kimball High School. Tori (Reader) Ingram, who graduated from KHS in 2012, is currently a preschool teacher in Kimball. She and her husband, Gabe, have a daughter, Mackenzie.
Jake Reader, who has an engineering degree and lives in Omaha, graduated from KHS in 2014. Jake is married to Taryn.
Alex Reader, a 2018 KHS graduate, is a sophomore at South Dakota School of Mines. Kate Reader, a 2019 KHS graduate, is a freshman at Colorado School of Mines.
Danielle noted that her husband is the fourth generation in Kimball, and they live on the family farm. Also, Danielle and Brad are members of the Trinity United Methodist Church Bell Choir.
“We have loved raising our family in Kimball,” Danielle said. “Our children have been fortunate to be raised in a community with wonderful small-town values while still having access to large city opportunities due to Kimball’s proximity to Cheyenne, Fort Collins and Denver.”
For being named TC & More’s Teacher of the Week, Danielle will receive a $10 gift certificate to TC & More, which is located at 1621 Broadway Ave. in downtown Scottsbluff. Gift certificates may be picked up at TC & More.
TC & More, which is the only business in western Nebraska that sells educational materials, offers a wide selection of classroom decor for area teachers. In addition, TC & More offers home decor, gifts, purses, toys, and so much more. TC & More, which encourages people to “Like” its Facebook page, also provides free gift wrapping and a 10 percent discount for seniors and military personnel.
If you would like to nominate an area teacher for TC & More’s Teacher of the Week honor, you may do so by sending an email to jeff.fielder@nspiretoday.com or by mailing a letter to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363. Nominations may also be submitted by sending a text to 308-220-8865.
In addition to being recognized online, teachers honored as TC & More’s Teacher of the Week will also be recognized in Nspire Today! magazine. To sign up for a one-year subscription (12 issues) to the magazine, please send $15 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363. To pay with a credit card, please call 308-220-8865. If you would like to increase your subscription to $20, Nspire Today! will donate the extra $5 in November to the Veterans and Military Families Emergency Relief Organization.
