Megan Helberg

Megan Helberg has an unusual way of inspiring rural students to stay in their small town and build community when they graduate. She shows them the world. And she invites along their families, cousins, and neighbors.

Helberg is an English teacher in Taylor, Nebraska, population 190. She started a travel club because many neighbors didn’t have confidence planning trips to new places. Traveling and exploring tightened bonds and actually gave students an appreciation for where they live.

Helberg returned to Taylor after college, but also spent time in Rwanda studying the 1994 genocide, lived in the Amazon with an indigenous tribe, and worked with the Anne Frank Center to teach her community about the Holocaust. She regularly brings outside guests into her classroom through video calls.

She says “‘we each have a role to play to help the community go from surviving to thriving.” Instead of looking at problems, she encourages her students to look for the good in others and themselves. And she says, “If you don’t see any good, then go create it.”

She was named 2020 Nebraska Teacher of the Year and invited to meet first lady Jill Biden at the White House. Helberg serves on the Board of Directors of the Nebraska Community Foundation and speaks statewide about the importance of community. She often shares her story with teachers and students nationwide, at churches, and with Rotary Clubs. Her work has been highlighted by various media, most recently by education news outlet The 74 Million.