OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Pine Elementary will open its doors for its very first day of school Wednesday.
Ngocanh Ly is one of the hundreds of new porcupines in Omaha.
“It’s very exciting,” Ly said. “It’s a brand-new school, a brand-new experience for everyone.”
But that wasn’t the plan for Ly when she moved here from Vietnam 23 years ago.
“I was a business major and had no intention of becoming a teacher,” she said.
Ly says her family was going through some hardships when she decided to join Omaha Public Schools as a para-professional in 2010.
She was immediately hooked.
“How many jobs out there allow us to touch the future?” Ly said.
She served as a para at Castelar Elementary for six years, but always had dreams of becoming a teacher and having her own classroom.
“Without thinking that I’d actually become one,” she said.
That’s because she needed teacher certification and a degree.
However, the opportunity surfaced when Ly learned about the Para-to-Teacher Career Ladder program, an 18-month program through a partnership with OPS and University of Nebraska Omaha paid for by the district.
Not only giving her certification, something she wouldn’t have pursued without the district’s financial assistance, but also invaluable experience.
“While we were working full-time as a para and learning about teaching in school and courses, we could immediately take it and practice it in the real classroom,” Ly said.
Once completed, Ly had a master’s degree in elementary education, and she quickly achieved her goal.
“Right away I knew that she would be a great fit for Castelar and became a first-grade teacher at Castelar,” Former Castelar Elementary Principal Adriana Vargas said.
Six years later, Vargas and Ly will be making the move from Castelar Elementary to Pine Elementary together.
The new school’s principal says Ly’s skillset, and ability to help teach English as a new language, is an incredible asset to the new school.
Around 70 percent of the students are coming from Latino backgrounds.
“She has that clear understanding of language development, and you can tell, because of all of the skillsets that she has,” Vargas said. “The way she implements them in the classroom is absolutely phenomenal.”
Speaking of skills, Ly handcrafts 3-D art designs. She has created a new one every year she has been a teacher, usually based on an animal. Each one can be found in her classroom.
“During the summer I would spend a couple days, a couple weeks, sometimes a month making something,” Ly said.
This year’s creation? A porcupine, of course.
“I’m just very fortunate to continue to be able to work with her because she is a great teacher,” Vargas said.
“I can’t wait to welcome all the new porcupines to the building on the first day of school and get to know them and have a great school year with them,” Ly said.
Throughout the year students in the classroom will add their own artwork.
Mrs. Ly says you have to be committed to get through the program but it’s well worth it, and she hopes other aspiring teachers will follow the path that she did.
For more information on the program and other open positions at OPS, click here.
