Written by Charlie Palmer, CHS 2024
Martha Omar was presented the 2023 Central High School Teacher of the Year award in May at the Senior Recognition Ceremony. Omar was born in Norfolk, Nebraska, but lived most of her formative years in Kearney. She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and began her teaching career at Lincoln North Star right as it opened up as a school. After some time, she moved to Omaha and got a job teaching at Gretna Public Schools.
Before teaching at Central, Omar and her husband quit their jobs and moved to China for one year. They lived in Wulingyuan, China, a scenic region filled with great mountains and rock formations. Omar worked for the Chinese Republic of Education, teaching at a middle school and high school, and then a vocational school where students learned hospitality traits.
Omar wanted to work at Central ever since she drove past the “beautiful building” one day at 3:05PM and watched the thousands of students pour out. Over Skype, she interviewed at midnight in China – daytime in the United States – for an open teaching position at Central and was offered the job the next morning. She has been thriving at Central for the past decade coaching soccer, cross country, and teaching English. “I try to infuse myself with every aspect of this awesome place.”
“We are what could be great about Omaha. Not to say that Omaha doesn’t have greatness because it does, but we are something that Omaha should be really proud of. We have learned to pull from all the different neighborhoods and be a family that has a collective effort towards success.”
The connections she forms with students and the lessons she learns from them are her most favorite aspects of teaching. She elaborates, “The best part of teaching is how reciprocal it is and how a teacher can learn just as much as a student. I’ve also just been fortunate enough to be welcomed into kids’ lives where they invite me to their graduation parties or invite me to dinner with their family. My students’ lives have made me see a bigger picture of the world because they all come from different backgrounds. I’ve learned more as a teacher than I’ve taught, hands down.”
Family also plays a great role in Omar’s life. Both of her parents worked in education, and she is the middle of three sisters. She met her husband in college, who works as an attorney for immigration law and represents minors coming to the United States. Together, they have two boys, ages five and nine.
“For me, family is always a motivator, just trying to live up to the awesomeness of my family. I always tell my boys, I really don’t care if you’re happy, I care if you’re useful and nice people. I want them to be good community members and contribute to the world.”
Omar finds there are a lot of parallels between being a teacher, coach, and mom. She has similar expectations and goals from them, with an emphasis on being upstanding members of their communities. Omar illustrates, “Teaching for me and coaching for me is all about people being able to actualize their greatness, reach in and see the potential in themselves and leave this building a little more confident and proud of who they could possibly be in the world. And I also want my students to be good community members and you’re a better member of your community if you can feel good about yourself and what you do. With athletics and education, there’s years where I questioned, ‘Should these go hand in hand?’ and I think they definitely should. You’re empowered in both endeavors and can take those experiences into your adult life and make you a person who feels confident. In sports, you’re a member of a team and in the classroom, if you’re doing education right, you’re part of a collaborative space.”
In the next ten years, Omar expresses, “I want to continue to do what I’m doing here. I want to continue running cross country. I’m not beating the whole team but there are girls behind me when we run so that’s a goal there. I don’t know what I want to do in 10 years, be a grown up that’s my goal. I’ll have a 19-year-old and a 15-year-old, so I want them to be the students that make the Central faculty say, ‘Dang they’re good kids!’”
Congratulations to the 2023 Central High School Teacher of the Year, Ms. Martha Omar!
