Kimberly Lewandowski, originally from Kennesaw, Nebraska, is the new business teacher at Alliance High School.

Ms. Lewandowski went to high school at Grand Island Northwest and then attended the University of Nebraska at Kearney. In high school, she was involved in DECA and band. While growing up, she always knew she wanted to be a teacher.

Ms. Lewandowski teaches Intro to Business, Intro to Media, Information Technology, and Careers. Before teaching, she worked at a financial group. When she turned to teaching, she wanted to be an elementary teacher. Already having her business degree made it easier to become a business teacher, especially having three children. Going back to school to get her education endorsement to be an elementary teacher would mean she would need to be in Kearney every day.

Ms. Lewandowski previously taught at Grand Island Northwest, the same place she went to high school. After leaving her position, she subbed for four years. She decided that she was ready to get back into the routine of having a full-time teaching job. It was much easier to move since her kids were older and could take care of themselves.

Careers is her favorite class to teach because she has taught the subject before and it’s familiar to her. Including her four years of subbing, she has been a teacher for five years. Her favorite part of teaching is interacting with the students. She also likes the diversity from day to day. Her least favorite part of teaching is all the time and preparation that goes into it.

Ms. Lewandowski’s favorite part of Alliance is how laid-back the community is and how friendly the people are. Her least favorite part of Alliance is that all the stores that were available to her in Grand Island are not available here.

From her teaching and subbing career, Ms. Lewandowski has lots of memories. One of her fondest memories is of kids remembering her during her subbing years when she would return to schools. Her least favorite memory of her teaching career was subbing in a class with a student who got mad and threw a chair.

Ms. Lewandowski’s role models include her former business teacher and her mom. She looks up to her former business teacher because he was a positive influence and he always stayed in touch with former students. She admires her mom because she has always looked to her to be her rock.

Walking, bike riding, and cake decorating are a few of Ms. Lewandowski’s hobbies. During weekends and breaks she likes to relax, listen to music, especially 80’s rock, exercise, and sleep. She has three children; Amy is 20, Jill is 18, and Joe is 16.