Students may remember Sara Bigsby as an eighth-grade English teacher. Few would have guessed that she has been teaching for 32 years. As of 2023, she teaches special education at Fremont High School. Bigsby may retire after the 2025-26 school year, though the decision isn’t yet final. Reflecting on more than three decades in education, she shared her journey and the lessons she’s learned along the way.
Some teachers have a specific person in their lives who motivated them to pursue a career in education. Bigsby is not like most teachers. Before she graduated from high school, she watched a movie called “Children of a Lesser God,” which opened up dialogue from the deaf culture.
“I was fascinated with American Sign Language and loved seeing students’ worlds open up when they were given a way to communicate their wants, needs and desires to those around them,” Bigsby said. “I wanted to learn sign language.”
This fascination inspired her to become an educator.
“I also was very involved in music,” Bigsby said. “Someone told me I could combine both worlds and go into music therapy. Teaching and music combined. So I graduated from high school thinking I would become a music therapist.”
After graduating from high school, Bigsby went to Hastings College, studying both education and music. She loved her education classes so much that she changed her classes to focus solely on education.
Staying close to her family, she began her teaching career in Bridgeport, Nebraska, where she taught for three years. During that time, she started dating Justin Bigsby, an American literature teacher at the high school in Fremont. After leaving Bridgeport, she moved to Rockbrook Elementary in Omaha, where she taught for two years.
After marrying Bigsby, she left Westside’s Rockbrook Elementary to teach at CASE, a private school for students with learning disabilities in Elkhorn. She later taught at the middle school for 24 years. This is now her second year teaching at the high school.
Bigsby has taught at nearly every level of education — from elementary and middle school, including eighth-grade English, to high school. Throughout her career, she has taken the good with the bad.
The ever-changing requirements and demands placed on teachers are part of the challenge. These changes make it harder for teachers to simply focus on teaching. Bigsby chooses to focus on the enjoyment she finds in the classroom despite the difficulties.
“The best part about teaching is helping students learn to realize that hard work pays off,” Bigsby said. “Setting high expectations and watching students meet those expectations or go even beyond [them] and then see the sense of accomplishment wash over [their faces].”
Some of Bigsby’s most memorable moments came from teaching eighth-grade English. She enjoyed taking the class out to play kickball after they had finished their work, with both teachers and students joining in the fun. More meaningful still, she was able to teach her own children.
Looking ahead, Bigsby plans to retire in the next few years.
“I will enjoy sleeping in while Mr. Bigsby has to get up and go to school,” Bigsby said.
Without a set plan for how she’ll spend her time after retirement, Bigsby reflects on some of her interests. Her favorite class in high school was biology, which led her to take anatomy and physiology in college.
“I still enjoy biology,” Bigsby said. “If I could go back to school for a second career, I would love to study holistic or functional medicine.”
Her interests also include reading, spending time with family and participating in church activities. As she thinks about how she’ll fill her time in retirement, she also reflects on her students.
“I hope students remember that I truly care about the person they become,” Bigsby said. “Life is hard. We all carry our own invisible suitcase around with all of the joys of life and the sadness of life. No matter how heavy that suitcase may feel, each individual has a choice to decide what to do with what’s inside that suitcase and what path they will take in life.”
Her insight extends beyond her students. Offering advice to those who want to become teachers, Bigsby said, “Finding a balance between work and family is important. You’ll want to pour your energy into other people’s children, along with all the other demands, and that can lead to exhaustion and quick burnout. You have to learn to take care of yourself so you have enough of ‘you’ left to take care of your own family.”
As she enjoys the time she has left in the classroom, Bigsby reflects on the memorable moments from her 32 years of teaching.
“I am able to end my career in the same building as my husband,” Bigsby said. “I’ve benefited from being able to teach two things I enjoy — reading and writing.”
Bigsby continues to be part of the mosaic of educators shaping young adults. Even after they graduate, her students can look back fondly, remembering how deeply she cared for each of them.
