I am extremely honored to be recognized at this level for teaching. I strive to provide the best for my students each day, making the classroom a place students want to be because learning is active and engaging. I am humbled that others noticed my passion for educating our future. I want to give my students the same support and encouragement to follow their dreams that I was blessed with from family, friends, and mentors in my life. I am grateful to be a teacher and work with children each day.

Jodi Neuharth Garretson, SD | K-6, Mathematics, 2022

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Jodi Neugebauer has been an educator for 16 years. She has spent the past two years teaching all subjects for second grade at Freeman Public School. Previously, she taught second grade at Garretson School District for 12 years and taught reading and mathematics interventions at Baltic School District for her first two years of teaching. Jodi works to incorporate projects into her curriculum, providing hands-on activities which bring learning alive for her students. She develops and organizes afterschool learning events such as pioneer night at the park, using a makerspace, coding for her class, and events or speakers for the elementary school. Jodi enjoys working with teachers across her state and has participated in a statewide mentoring program for new teachers for several years. She also mentors teachers working towards their National Board Certification. Jodi is a lifelong learner and seeks out professional development opportunities to both learn and teach. She is an active facilitator, collaborating with her state's department of education and teachers from across the state to provide mathematics professional learning opportunities. She helps develop, plan, and facilitate a summer workshop that helps teachers build their capacity in understanding numbers and number relationships. Throughout the school year, she helps facilitate mathematics circles for the state to help bring mathematics educators together to engage in rich grade-level mathematics tasks and have conversations around vertical alignment to standards. Jodi earned a B.S. in elementary education and special education from Dakota State University. She is a National Board Certified early childhood generalist.

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