Barb Jizba

Barb Jizba received a Bachelor’s Degree with a Dual Major in Elementary Education and Special Education in 1982 from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. She substitute taught in Fort Collins, Colorado and taught in a Resource Program in Grantsville, Utah before returning to Nebraska.

Omaha Public Schools hired Barb in 1987 as a Resource Teacher where she traveled between Mount View Elementary and Fontenelle Elementary for one year. The next five years were split between teaching Resource at Fontenelle Elementary and staying home with her three sons.

Barb taught for twelve years at Minne Lusa Elementary. She was the Resource teacher for the first three years and spent the next nine years teaching fourth and fifth grade students. Barb drew upon her Special Education background to incorporate inclusive practices into her classroom through a team-teaching approach with the Resource teacher. From 1999 to 2001 her fourth grade class helped her explore new technologies as she completed a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 2005 Barb’s love of learning took her back to classes at the University of Nebraska – Omaha where she completed the coursework for a Library Endorsement. Barb spent the last two years as the Library Media Specialist at Kellom Elementary. While there she facilitated the move of their library back to the center of the school to improve staff and student access to library resources.

Barb is an advocate for 21st Century information literacy skills being integrated into the curriculum and the daily lives of her students. She believes that her students have always been the driving force behind her love of learning. She strives to keep up with her students’ insatiable curiosity and desire to find new ways to explore their world. Barb can’t wait to see where the students of Underwood Hills Focus School will take her next.