By TYLER ELLYSON
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – Reid Bednar stands on a chair, one arm stretched high above his head, holding a Hershey’s bar like a trophy.
Below him, seventh graders crowd around lab tables, eye droppers positioned carefully over pennies. The room hums with chatter and quiet counting as students race the clock, trying to see how many drops of water they can stack in one minute.
“Make sure you’re counting,” Bednar reminds them. “Do not cheat.”
Inside his classroom at Horizon Middle School, science is rarely confined to a textbook. Instead, it unfolds through experiments, conversations and moments that feel a little bit like magic – even when he’s quick to remind students that science always has an explanation.
In this case, the competition to win that candy bar led to a discussion about polarity and molecular attraction. The University of Nebraska at Kearney graduate often uses activities like this to make his lessons come alive.
“My teaching style is a little unique,” Bednar said. “I love having conversations with students, and I want to get them up and moving. I really enjoy labs and experiments because they provide a hands-on experience for students, allowing them to see something for the first time and not just learn it from a textbook. They can actually make that connection to something in real life.”
On a typical day, students might compare evaporation rates using water and isopropyl alcohol, build balsa wood structures to test on an earthquake simulator or assemble remote-controlled robots using metal construction kits.
The approach works, he said, because middle schoolers thrive on engagement.
“They’re hilarious. Every day is different. Every conversation is different,” he said. “You never know what they’re going to say. You never know what they’re going to do.”
Those lighthearted moments come alongside real change.
“They’re also at a point in their life when they’re trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do,” Bednar added. “Being part of that process is really important to me, because that was a transformative time in my life.”
The moment it clicked
Originally from Grand Island, Bednar didn’t always plan to become a teacher. He came to UNK intending to pursue a nursing career and worked as a certified nursing assistant at a local hospital.
“I realized it wasn’t the right path for me,” he explained.
After switching his major to teacher education, everything clicked once he stepped inside a classroom. Bednar completed undergraduate observations at Horizon Middle School and quickly realized that’s where he belonged.
“As soon as I was in this building, I knew for sure that middle school is where I wanted to be,” he said.
Bednar also completed his student teaching at Horizon before earning his bachelor’s degree in middle level education from UNK in December 2021, graduating summa cum laude with endorsements in science and English language arts. He began substitute teaching there in spring 2022 before transitioning to a full-time position that fall.
In addition to teaching science, Bednar coaches seventh grade boys basketball, advises the Robotics Club and serves as a co-instructor for Structures, where students design those balsa wood bridges and towers.
The most rewarding part of the job is watching the students’ growth.
“The kids give you energy. They give you life,” Bednar said. “I love getting to see how they change from the start of the year to the end of the year.”
He credits his colleagues, too, describing Horizon as a place where teachers are fully invested in students and each other.
“The teachers here are all-in,” he said. “They’re all bought into the same process and the same ideas, and they all care about kids and want them to do well. I think that’s infectious.”
That sense of purpose was reinforced during his time at UNK, where Bednar was heavily involved in student leadership, including Student Government, Mortar Board honor society and several service organizations. He received the Nester Student Leadership Award and Student Senator of the Year honors.
He said UNK’s teacher education program prepared him not just in content, but in the harder work of relationship-building.
“I loved that the middle level degree at UNK was more pedagogy,” Bednar said. “I spent more time learning how to be a good teacher and less time learning content, because the content comes as you’re in the job. The hard part is learning how to build relationships with kids, how to manage a classroom and how to deal with difficult situations. UNK prepared me well in that regard because of the professors I had.”
Learning to lead
That foundation carried into his graduate studies. Last month, Bednar graduated from UNK with a master’s degree in 7-12 school principalship.
Completing the program through his alma mater felt natural.
“I had such a great experience in undergrad, I wanted to continue that with my master’s,” he said, naming professors like Mike Teahon and Chelsea Feusner as key influences. “I knew that UNK’s principalship program was the best in the state, and I wanted to learn from those unbelievable educators.”
The online format allowed Bednar to continue teaching full time while expanding his understanding of how schools operate beyond his own classroom. Courses in school law, finance and human resources gave him a broader perspective and a deeper appreciation for the work happening behind the scenes.
“I really enjoyed learning how a school works as a whole,” Bednar said. “It’s made me a better teacher because I understand what goes into those decisions.”
While leadership may be part of his future, Bednar is in no rush to step away from what drew him to education in the first place. He and his wife, Mila, met while attending UNK, and the couple has built their life in Kearney, where they are raising their two young children.
“We love Kearney,” Bednar said. “We love the community here and the way people actually care about each other.”
For now, that sense of belonging keeps him right where he wants to be – in a classroom filled with questions, experiments and the occasional candy-bar competition.
“I love the classroom,” Bednar said. “I don’t want to leave the classroom anytime soon.”
