AURORA — Scott Phillips, a 7th grade math teacher at Auora Middle School, reflected on being named the 2024 Nebraska Teacher of the Year during an interview with the media after the surprise presentation on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
When asked how he got into teaching, Phillips noted he originally wanted to get into broadcast journalism. However, he decided he wanted to blaze his own trail and decided to pursue education.
“I knew I wanted to teach middle school kids, given my personality,” Phillips said, “middle school was the right fit.”
Phillips noted that he personally does not come from a family of teachers, but his sister and his wife are teachers. “My wife is the one that comes from a family of teachers,” Phillips said with a smile.
He noted it has been fun to share his teaching experience, their successes and their failures, with his sister.
Phillips has worked at Aurora his entire teaching career, starting in 2010. He has taught 7th grade math, pre-algebra and a math intervention program.
Phillips said he believes that all the applicants who get to the finalist stage are deserving of the award.
The other finalists were Shelly Mowinkel of Milford High School and Amy Page of Forest Station Elementary School in Omaha.
A panel of Nebraska educators selected Phillips as the Teacher of the Year, which recognizes the contributions of classroom teachers who are exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, skilled and who have an ability to inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn.
“I am humbled and excited to be representing the state of Nebraska as a teacher,” Phillips said, “It’s a lifestyle, it’s a way of life for my family – my wife also teaches kindergarten.”
Phillips said Auora is a tight knit community and being able to represent the school district and town is, “a really special thing.”
Phillips had been nominated for the award in the past but did not choose to go through the application process.
He said after the COVID-19 pandemic, he spent time finding balance between his work and home life.
“Prior to COVID, I felt in a lot of ways that I wasn’t necessarily doing anything well,” Phillips said, “After the (COVID) experience, I realized the importance in balance in my life and after that, I felt like I was ready to apply.”
When asked about his teaching philosophy, Phillips said middle school students can be a bit daunting to teach at times, his main objective is for those students to leave the classroom with more confidence in themselves when it comes to math.
“Math can be a scary subject for students,” noted Phillips, “They look at it as either they are a math person, or they are not.”
“I want them to understand that math is not a scary thing and they can walk away knowing that they will use it in their lifetime,” Phillips said.
Phillips referenced his father, who owns a commercial roofing company and they use math everyday on the job. In fact, Phillps said he grew up helping his father with building projects and got to see the use of math.
“I had a positive life experience with math when growing up,” Phillips said, “because of building things with my dad.”
Phillips also noted that middle school students have an abundance of energy and excitement and are fun to teach. He noted he does a number of fun activities such as making YouTube videos for the class, he’s even been known to rap about math his videos.
There were also two of Phillips 7th grade math students who were interviewed after the presentation.
Davis Nachtigal said that Phillips doesn’t just teach math, but life skills as well, “That’s what makes him special.”
When asked about the YouTube videos, “That’s what makes if fun and special about his class, that is the way he is – you want that from a teacher.”
Addi Coplen, another student, said Phillips is, “really funny – even his jokes.” When asked if the rapping was good, Coplen quipped with a smile, “Sometimes.”
When asked if she enjoyed math before Phillips class, Coplen said, “I did not like math,” but said he teaches math in a different way than other teachers. She said if a student gets a problem wrong, its not the end of the world.
When asked about his message to other teachers, Phillips said that they should not be afraid of failure. He said they shouldn’t stress so much over a lesson plan going well, but to learn from it for the future.
In addition to teaching, Phillips also coaches basketball and works as a mentor in the school.
Phillips will be honored by the Nebraska State Board of Education at a reception in November and he will also participate in the National Teacher of the Year competition later this year.
