Press Releases
Megan Helberg Named 2021 Lowell Milken Center Fellow
June 8, 2021
FORT SCOTT, KS — The Lowell Milken Center (LMC) for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, Kansas, an international educational non-profit, has awarded its prestigious Fellowship to 7-12th grade English teacher, Megan Helberg, of Loup County Public School in Taylor, Nebraska. Megan Helberg will arrive in Fort Scott on June 27th for a week of collaboration with LMC staff.
The LMC Fellowship is awarded on the basis of merit to educators who have distinguished themselves in teaching respect and understanding through project-based learning or who have the potential for this distinction. The Center selects exemplary teachers from across America and around the world, drawn from a variety of disciplines, to collaborate on projects that discover, develop, and communicate the stories of Unsung Heroes in history.
2020 Nebraska Teacher of the Year, Megan McNeil Helberg, proudly lives in rural Nebraska, where she taught English to 8th, 11th, and 12th grade students at Burwell Public School. This coming school year, Megan will be returning to teach 7-12th grade English at her alma mater, Loup County Public School in Taylor, NE. After growing up on a ranch in this area of the Sandhills, with only ten people in her graduating class, Megan feels strongly about exposing her students to various cultures and ways of life.
Sharing Holocaust and genocide education is an important passion for Mrs. Helberg. In 2013, upon receiving a Fund for Teachers fellowship, Megan used the opportunity to visit Holocaust related sites throughout Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. She also used the grant money to purchase class sets of Holocaust literature resources for her school. Megan was named a Museum Teacher Fellow for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in 2016 and has spent extensive time at the USHMM, learning from world renowned historians, authors, and survivors. Helberg saw a lack of exposure in her small town, so she founded a Travel Club for the school and community members to travel together and bridge the gap between school and community. Megan has also spent time in Rwanda, Africa, studying the 1994 genocide and in the Amazon Rain Forest, living with an indigenous tribe. Megan brings her stories and the experiences from her travels back to her classroom in the heart of Nebraska. The main mantra in Mrs. Helberg's classroom is, "Look for the Good: in others, in your community, and in yourself. If you do not see any good, CREATE it."
LMC Executive Director Norm Conard says, "Megan is a leader in Nebraska education and has already created successful unsung hero projects. We look forward to her creativity and dynamic educational work. She will be a powerful part of our 2021 class of Fellows."
While in Fort Scott, LMC Fellows gain knowledge, educational resources and ongoing support to enhance their classrooms and help students cultivate a passion for learning by creating projects that initiate positive change. Fellows emerge prepared to develop Unsung Heroes projects with their students, as they apply and evaluate the stories of role models who have changed the world throughout history.
To schedule interviews or for more information, please contact:
Norm Conard
Executive Director
Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes
1 South Main
Fort Scott, KS 66701
Phone: (620) 223-1312
nconard@lowellmilkencenter.org
www.lowellmilkencenter.org
2021 Lowell Milken Center Fellow
Name: Megan Helberg
Subject: 7 - 12th Grade English
School: Loup County Public School
608 Williams Street
Taylor, NE 68879
Phone: (308) 942-6115
Cell: (308) 750-3538
Email: meg.helberg@gmail.com