Two Lincoln educators were recently honored as two of the best art teachers in Nebraska.
Sarah Gabelhouse, the art teacher at Standing Bear High School, and Elizabeth Thomsen, who teaches art at Lux Middle School, both won Art Educator of the Year awards in their respective age groups from the Nebraska Art Teacher Association this year.
Gabelhouse, who taught at Arnold Elementary last year, was named the NATA Elementary Art Educator of the Year, and Thomsen is the Middle Level Art Educator of the Year.
The Lincolnites join a list of eight other teachers from across the state who were nominated and selected for the annual awards for their contributions to art education on both the state and national levels. The winners will be honored at the 2024 NATA Fall Conference Friday and Saturday in McCook.
For Gabelhouse, teaching art runs in the family. Her mom was also an art educator at Lincoln Public Schools, and about 15 years ago, she won the same award for the middle level.
“It's so lovely to be following in my mom's footsteps,†she said. “I'm going to get a little emotional because she's a lovely woman, and she was a lovely educator in Lincoln Public Schools. So to be recognized in a way in which someone I really, sincerely respect as an educator and as a mother, obviously, is just delightful.â€
Gabelhouse began her career at a nonprofit in Colorado teaching kids and families about art, where she stayed for 20 years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gabelhouse decided it was time to move back to Lincoln and began taking courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to renew her teaching license. At the same time, she was teaching art at Arnold Elementary.
She continued in her post at Arnold for several years, and loved every second of it, she said. This year, Gabelhouse is now teaching high school students at Standing Bear.
When she found out she had been nominated for the award this spring by a colleague at UNL, she was simply excited to have been thought of. But when she found out she had actually been selected, she felt “absolute joy†and had a “smile from ear to ear,†she said.
“It's so lovely to be recognized, let alone to win an award. I mean, I stand on the shoulders of all the art teachers that came before me,†she said. “I'm feeling very lucky and very joyful to be recognized in this way.â€
Thomsen, who has spent a majority of her career at LPS, echoed the same sentiment.
As an art teacher, Thomsen aims to inspire each of her students to be creative, unique and bold in their art, and hopes they leave her classroom feeling successful, she said.
In addition to teaching, Thomsen is also passionate about sharing her methods in the classroom to not only create future artists, but to truly connect with middle school students. As a member of both the NATA and the National Art Educator Association, she’s had the opportunity to present at several conferences, and will do so again at this year’s statewide conference.
Thomsen said she feels excited and humbled to be recognized as a teacher of the year.
“I was so honored,†she said. “I work with really amazing art educators here at Lincoln Public Schools. And to be recognized for the work that I do when I know there are so many well-deserving people, it was really an honor.â€
Both Thomsen and Gabelhouse are creative, thoughtful, patient, collaborative and innovative educators who are well-deserving of the awards, said Lorinda Rice, curriculum specialist of visual arts at LPS.Â
Thomsen and Gabelhouse are constantly working to find new ways of teaching art that encourage students to explore their own styles and try new things in welcoming, comforting classroom environments, Rice added.Â
"There's no two people that I would say deserve it better than these two," she said.