Alumni Educator of the Year Award Recipient, 2012
The alumni educator of the year award recognizes alumni who have made outstanding contributions in the field of education. We are pleased to announce Gregory P. Sand ’96 as the 2012 Alumni Educator of the Year Award winner.
Gregory P. Sand ’96, a native of Crete, has been a mathematics teacher at Omaha Central High School since 2002. He serves as an adjunct instructor for the University of Nebraska Lincoln as part of the Nebraska Math and Science Summer Institutes. In addition, Sand also teaches various high level mathematics courses at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
He has given presentations to various local, regional, and national groups, including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. At the UNO Math Appreciation Day in 2000, Sand presented a paper on Euler’s Foundation of Graph Theory and its modern applications. He is also a familiar face and presenter for 7-12 mathematics teachers from across the district during Omaha Public Schools curriculum days.
Sand, a Noyce Master Teaching Fellow, won the Alice Buffett Outstanding Teacher Award in 2011. Nominations were submitted by students, parents, or peers. He received $10,000 from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. Other education awards he has received include the Coca-Cola Distinguished Teacher Award in 2011, Central High Teacher of the Year in 2009, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Outstanding Mathematics Teacher in 2008 and 2011.
He will be the first to tell you that his favorite thing about teaching are the relationships forged with students and the chance to watch them grow over four years. His enrichment math course has a unique quality in that students can take the course for all four years of high school. It gives him a chance to work with a set of students, know them well, and help them develop from first year students to seniors.
This dedication to the student stems from the memories of his favorite teacher, Mrs. Jill Conrad, from Crete High School. Not surprisingly, she was his math teacher in both junior high and high school. Sand recalls that she had an amazing talent of guiding him through very difficult topics, but also a wit that that kept class interesting every day.
Congratulations, Gregory! We're proud of you!