Jesse Neibaur, Granger High School

“I just had to nominate Jesse Neibaur again. Even though it’s summer, I know that Ms. Neibaur is already preparing for the upcoming year, and has been since summer began. Every year I have always been so impressed by the presentations, games, lessons, and service activities that Ms. Neibaur starts the year with – and I can’t believe that they are different every single year. She always sees room for improvement and wants to make sure each year’s materials are catered specifically to each group of students. Ms. Neibaur never takes a break from planning, and her undying dedication is evident in every presentation, lesson, service activity, etc. that she creates. Ms. Neibaur’s motto is “Every day we have a chance to make a difference in someone else’s life; why not start today.” She not only ends every email with this quote, but lives it every single day.

When I started teaching at Granger High School, Jesse Neibaur was the PLC lead for our department. Since I was new to the subject I would be teaching, Ms. Neibaur and the rest of my department came in for a couple of full days in the summer to help me with lesson plans, etc. I was so grateful!

It wasn’t until after the school year started, however, that I started to realize that this was far from Ms. Neibaur’s only responsibility. In fact, one of her biggest responsibilities was, and still is, teaching the Lancer Action Team (LAT) class. LAT is a service-learning class that is responsible for our Sub-for-Santa fundraising, shopping, and delivering — all of it. LAT also works with the Utah Food Bank, Red Cross, Harmon’s Senior Center, Granger’s own Special Ed. Department, and so many other worthy organizations and causes.

I quickly learned that to organize all of these projects with all of these groups, or to teach her students how to organize the projects, especially since there are often several projects going on every single week, is an astronomical undertaking for Ms. Neibaur. I noticed that she often arrives earlier in the morning than I do, even though I usually arrive 45 minutes before I’m required, and she often stays well past 6:00 pm. Despite this she never scales back on the projects because all of the organizations and causes are important and deserving of the help LAT provides, so Ms. Neibaur quietly makes each one work out, as if by magic.

One thing that truly impresses me about Ms. Neibaur is that her dedication and selflessness extends even further than the service she does with LAT. Even though Ms. Neibaur already puts in so many hours before and after contract time, she still manages to carve out time to attend the students’ plays, sports, after-school activities, etc. When I once asked her how she found the time and energy, she replied that she felt it was important to show our students that we support them, and are proud of the hard work they put in, by showing up to cheer them on. I think this is a very powerful message for everyone with students/kids they care about, and it says a great deal about the kind of person and teacher Ms. Neibaur truly is.”

-Mary Winters

About Teacher Features on KSL NewsRadio

Teachers are the backbone of our community, and at KSL NewsRadio, we want to highlight the hard work they put in to help their students. 

Do you know a teacher that goes above and beyond? Nominate them today by letting us know how incredible they are, attach their photo, and they’ll have the chance to win a huge prize totaling over $1,000!  

Teacher Feature prizes are generously sponsored by the folks at Cyprus Credit Union, who are dedicated to honoring Utah teachers and uplifting the incredible ways that educators go above and beyond every day.

See past nominations of teachers across the state, and read the official sweepstakes rules here.