About me
Laurie Smith from Sumner-Eddyville-Miller (SEM) Public School was named the 2021 Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association (NRCSA) Elementary Teacher of the Year and the 2021 National Rural Teacher of the Year. The fourth-grade teacher from Sumner, Nebraska, received the award at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education, hosted by the National Rural Education Association (NREA) in November 2021.
Laurie took her first teaching job in August 1996 at Garden County Schools, where she taught second grade until 2000 before taking a position for Chappell Public Schools (later became the consolidated school of Creek Valley). Laurie taught first grade until 2007 and then moved back to central Nebraska. Upon moving back, she accepted the position of starting a part-time preschool program with Sumner-Eddyville-Miller (SEM) Schools before moving to fourth-grade teacher, which she loves.
Through these years, Laurie learned a harsh yet invaluable lesson on the importance of relationship building in the classroom and beyond. She has made it her mission to share the lesson taught to her by a 6-year-old that changed the course of her life in a way she never knew she needed.
