By TYLER ELLYSON
UNK Communications
BERTRAND – “A teacher’s heart is where it starts.”
This message, displayed on a sign inside Cheyenne Fitzgerald’s classroom, perfectly captures the approach the Bertrand Community School preschool teacher brings to her job every day.
She believes the strongest foundation for learning begins with relationships, care and nurturing young children’s natural curiosity.
That passion has carried Fitzgerald from student to educator in the same school she once attended. It also led her back to the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where she earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in early childhood education during Friday’s summer commencement ceremony, adding to the bachelor’s degrees she received from UNK in 2021.
“I’ve always wanted to teach preschool, because I want to be the foundation of their learning,” Fitzgerald said. “I love learning through play and hands-on experiences, and we get to do that in pre-K. It’s truly amazing to witness those ‘aha moments’ and see kids learning at their own pace and through their own lens.”
A 2015 Bertrand graduate, Fitzgerald teaches 3- to 5-year-olds in the same close-knit community where she grew up. After teaching kindergarten in Cozad and Elwood, she returned to her alma mater last year to accept the preschool position.
Coincidentally, Fitzgerald’s first year teaching in Bertrand also happened to be her mother Shauna Wilken’s final year in a third grade classroom before retirement, so they got to spend that time together.
“That was really special,” said Fitzgerald, one of the many students who learned from Wilken during her more than 30-year career.
Although she enjoyed her previous positions, Fitzgerald couldn’t pass up the opportunity to serve the community that first inspired her.
“This is home,” she said. “It just makes sense to be here. We want our kids to go to school here. It just feels good to be back in Bertrand.”
Fitzgerald and her husband Michael, an agronomist, live on an acreage near Smithfield with their daughters Paisley, 3, and Lucy, 1. In many ways, the life they are building mirrors the one Fitzgerald experienced as a child.
“We are one big family,” she said. “We know no strangers here in town. Everybody is so close. … I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
An Educator in the Making
Long before her own teaching career began, Fitzgerald was already making an impression on the educators around her.
Martha Ford taught her in kindergarten and has remained a close family friend through their church and community involvement. She saw Fitzgerald’s kindness, enthusiasm and love of learning early on.
“She’s always been just a gregarious, precocious, sweet little girl,” Ford said. “Outgoing, friendly, kind, smart – the kind of student you would love to have.”
Ford believes those same qualities now define Fitzgerald as an educator.
“She makes every child feel like they’re special and capable and just brings out the best in them,” Ford said before reading a line from a letter of recommendation she wrote a few years ago.
“The very best compliment I can give Mrs. Fitzgerald is that I would love to have her teach any of my 15 grandkids.”
Retired from teaching since 2015, Ford and her husband Bill continue to serve as pole vault coaches in Bertrand. She couldn’t be happier to have Fitzgerald back in the school district.
“She’s just an amazing young lady,” Ford said.
Putting Children First
A 4-H member and three-sport athlete during high school, Fitzgerald wanted to continue her education close to home. She chose UNK because of its reputation for preparing teachers, including her mother, a Kearney State College graduate.
“I knew I wanted to go into education, and I had heard amazing things about the teacher education department,” she said. “I absolutely fell in love with UNK when I toured.”
Fitzgerald quickly discovered the hands-on approach that sets the teacher education program apart. Students begin working in classrooms during their freshman year, giving them an early opportunity to decide whether teaching is the right fit while building confidence alongside experienced educators. Fitzgerald said those experiences confirmed she had found the career she was meant to pursue.
She credits associate professor Paula Thompson, now a Cille and Ron Williams Community Chair for Early Childhood Education, with helping shape both her college experience and future career.
“Paula Thompson was an amazing adviser and mentor, and I feel like she was the biggest reason why I stuck it out,” said Fitzgerald, who earned bachelor’s degrees in early childhood and family advocacy and early childhood inclusive education. “She was always so supportive of everything I wanted to do.”
Years after serving as Fitzgerald’s instructor and adviser, Thompson still remembers the qualities that set her apart.
“Cheyenne stood out as an active learner, someone who asked questions and participated in conversations, thinking deeply about teaching practices and their impact on young children’s learning,” Thompson said. “She was a natural teacher in practicum experiences, taking the initiative to assist in the classrooms wherever and whenever needed.”
The student Thompson once taught has become the educator she envisioned.
“Cheyenne is passionate about the value and importance of early childhood inclusive education,” Thompson said. “She inspires people not only through her knowledge and skills in working with young children but through her joy, energy and excitement.”
That enthusiasm is grounded in a teaching philosophy centered on care.
While pursuing her graduate degree, Fitzgerald studied educational philosophies and found herself drawn to the Theory of Care, which emphasizes trusting relationships and student well-being alongside academic growth.
“Putting children first, caring for them, giving them a loving environment where they feel seen, supported and valued,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s why we’re here, especially with preschool.”
That philosophy shapes everything from home visits with families to classroom activities built around each child’s interests.
“Sometimes I’m the first experience of school for these littles,” Fitzgerald said. “I love being able to see learning through their eyes – learning their interests and what they like. I love home visits for the same reason, to build rapport with their families and truly bring them into our classroom. I want home and school to be bridged together.”
Never Say ‘I Can’t’
For Fitzgerald, earning a master’s degree was another way to better serve the students and families who fill her classroom.
“I knew I wanted to do something to broaden my understanding of early childhood education and make me a better teacher,” she said. “As an educator, you’re never done learning. This is a way to stay up to date on new things and bring different strategies into the classroom.”
With support from her husband and others, she completed the program in just one year while balancing a full-time teaching job and raising two young children, becoming the first person in her immediate family to earn a master’s degree. Those same family members were in the audience at Friday’s commencement ceremony to celebrate the milestone.
“I grinded. I worked hard for this. And I want to smile and cheese and know I did it,” Fitzgerald said.
More importantly, she hopes the accomplishment sends the same message she shares with her preschool students every day.
“It’s just fun to show them that you can do hard things, especially when you set your mind to it,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s my preschool motto, too. I always tell them you can do hard things. We don’t say, ‘I can’t.’ It’s always, ‘We will try.’”
