Six years ago, Kevin Mills approached the North Platte Public Schools superintendent with a problem: seven empty classrooms and no candidates for the district's teaching jobs. His pitch was unconventional.
Jennifer McNeel, a participant in North Platte’s para-to-teacher program, teaches a classroom of students at Lincoln Elementary School in North Platte in fall 2025.
NORTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Kevin Mills
NORTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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North Platte High School stands at 1220 W. Second St. in North Platte, Nebraska.
NORTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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North Platte Public Schools staff participate in the district’s weekly professional learning committee meetings — collaborative groups that let educators share ideas, review student progress and adjust approaches to continue learning how to promote better student outcomes — in fall 2025. North Platte contracts with Solution Tree for their professional learning committees.
NORTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Ryan Escamilla, director of recruitment and supervisor of secondary personnel at the Lincoln Public Schools, says the district holds signing ceremonies for high school students who express interest in becoming teachers, staying in contact with them throughout college and hoping to recruit them back into LPS classrooms years later,
GRACE LEWIS, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Logan Ericson, a student teacher who went through the Teacher Scholars Academy — a partnership between the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Omaha Public Schools to fund teacher education — leads her first-grade class with help from Briceon Gray at Belvedere Elementary in Omaha on Aug. 19, 2025.
ANNA REED, OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Kevin Mills, human resource director for North Platte Public Schools, and Stephanie Humpherys, a participant in North Platte’s para-to-teacher program, are shown at Eisenhower Elementary School in North Platte in fall 2025.
NORTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of July 2026
Heavy rain is seen falling over west Omaha, as viewed from the east on Thursday, July 16, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
People set off fireworks in Omaha, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Kids reach for bubbles on Woolworth Ave. during the annual 4th of July parade held at Omaha’s Field Club neighborhood in Omaha, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
People set off fireworks in Omaha, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
People set off fireworks in Omaha, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
People set off fireworks in Omaha, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
People set off fireworks in Omaha, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Damages is seen after a vehicle hit Eyebrow Microblading Specialists at 5723 NW Radial Highway in Omaha, on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. The neighboring business in the same building, Benson Shoe Repair, was also recently hit by a vehicle and sustained heavy damage.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
A Wednesday night storm knocked a tree onto 710 Donegal Drive in Papillion, as seen on Thursday, July 9, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
A Wednesday night storm knocked a tree onto 710 Donegal Drive in Papillion, as seen on Thursday, July 9, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Participants walk down Woolworth Ave. during the annual 4th of July parade held at Omaha’s Field Club neighborhood in Omaha, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
People arrive for The RiverFront Fourth of July Celebration featuring the Omaha Symphony at Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha on Saturday, July 4, 2026 .
JOSEPH CIEMBRONIEWICZ, THE WORLD-HERALD
From left, Alexis, 7, Ron Lewis, James, 6, and Jackie Lewis visit Edith German’s headstone in the Omaha National Cemetery in Papillion, on Friday, July 3, 2026. German was Jackie’s mother and the children’s great-grandmother. German’s husband, Kenneth, served in the Airforce, and she was a registered nurse, who worked in the Omaha V.A. hospital.
JOSEPH CIEMBRONIEWICZ, THE WORLD-HERALD
A lightning strike is seen near the Omaha National Cemetery and a Google AI Data-Center in Papillion on Friday, July 3, 2026.
JOSEPH CIEMBRONIEWICZ, THE WORLD-HERALD
Iris Herse, a former Rosie the Riveter who worked in a factory making bombs during World War II, displays her American Spirit Medallion at Lakeside retirement home in Omaha on Thursday, July 2, 2026.
JOSEPH CIEMBRONIEWICZ, THE WORLD-HERALD
Iris Herse, a former Rosie the Riveter who worked in a factory making bombs during World War II, stands for a portrait at Lakeside retirement home in Omaha on Thursday, July 2, 2026. She wears her American Spirit Medallion.
JOSEPH CIEMBRONIEWICZ, THE WORLD-HERALD
A peacock stands at the door of Diane Keane’s home in Omaha on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Keane believes the bird belongs to one of her neighbors, and says “it kind of just does whatever it wants.”
JOSEPH CIEMBRONIEWICZ, THE WORLD-HERALD
A peacock walks across Diane Keane’s porch as her dog, Biscuit, watches in Omaha on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Keane believes the bird belongs to one of her neighbors, and says “it kind of just does whatever it wants.”
JOSEPH CIEMBRONIEWICZ, THE WORLD-HERALD
Lincoln View principal Monica Thompson cuts the ribbon during a ceremony for the new elementary school in Papillion on Thursday, July 23, 2026. Lincoln View is Papillion La Vista Community Schools 17th elementary school to open.
NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Brinker Harding, Republican candidate for Nebraska's second congressional district, talk with reporters during a campaign event at WheatFields Eatery and Bakery in Omaha on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
Attendees wave as 30 buses pass by along Q Street to launch an anti-child sex trafficking awareness campaign in Omaha on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
Keyhden Ramirez stands for a portrait in her Papillion home on Friday, July 24, 2026. Ramirez is taking daraxonrasib in a clinical trial, which is Revolution Medicine's pancreatic cancer drug.
NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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