The following story is from the January 2025 Greatness Update magazine, featuring our 2024 annual report. For the full issue, visit plcschools.org/our-district/annual-report. 

“Every part of your life is setting you up for something, and being part of Education Academy is definitely setting me up to be a teacher in the future.”

As Papillion La Vista South High School senior Emmanuella Hall guides preschoolers through their first educational experiences at Carriage Hill Elementary, she’s experiencing firsthand how Papillion La Vista Community Schools creates opportunities for every student at every stage of their educational journey. Through the PLCS Education Academy, Emmanuella or “Miss Emmie” is bridging two crucial phases of that journey—supporting our youngest learners while preparing for her own future in education. Her story exemplifies the PLCS advantage: a commitment to comprehensive education that begins in preschool and extends through career preparation.

“Year one, every Friday I’d come to Carriage Hill. We were assigned to one student or two, and you’d plan a lesson out for that specific student.” The Academy students would create lessons based on the classroom curriculum in all subjects. Emmie adds, “Year two, I’m here every day.”

Before starting the Education Academy, Emmie thought she might want to teach third grade or older. Now, she is considering a future teaching preschool. She credits Education Academy with helping her explore different options before making commitments in her career.

“I’m getting hands-on, learning from my mistakes now so I don’t make them in the future.”

PLCS Academy programs are available to PLCS students as a way to explore career options while they are still in high school. PLCS offers eight Academy programs: Athletic Training, Education, Health Systems Biomedical, Health Systems Patient Care, Leadership, Media, STEM, and Zoo. PLCS students also have the option to participate in College Jump Start programs and additional academies through Metropolitan Community College (MCC). MCC programs provide the opportunity for PLCS high school students to begin their college experience while still in high school. 

Emmie sees the parallels in her educational journey with the young students she serves. “I’m learning while they’re learning, so it’s like, we’re learning together.” While she’s learning what she should be doing in the classroom, preschoolers are learning the essentials they need as they develop core brain structure.

Preschool curriculum in PLCS capitalizes on the critical early childhood brain development as students learn communication, self-help, motor skills, problem-solving skills, and grow socially. By the Nebraska Department of Education requirements, the PLCS preschool population is made up of children with a disability, children who are at-risk, and children who do no require special education services. Students can attend one of eight preschool locations, housed in the Papillion La Vista Early Childhood Center (PLECC) and seven elementary schools throughout the district.

In her extracurricular time, Emmie is on the Titan Cheer team and the Unified Cheer team. This involvement leads to other opportunities to volunteer and give back to her community, like welcoming staff back from the summer during the All-Staff Kickoff in August and welcoming students back on their first day of school. She enjoys being involved in extracurricular opportunities because they expose her to other points of view. At the heart of her involvement, the educator Emmie is becoming has a clear goal and an unwavering perspective: “With everything you do, you should be learning something.”