Students may remember Sara Bigsby as a teacher in 8th-grade English. Not many would have guessed that she has been teaching for 32 years. As of 2023, she has been teaching special education at Fremont High. Mrs. Bigsby may retire this 2025-2026 school year, but it is not definitive. Exploring her years of experience in the teaching field, Bigsby shares her journey and the lessons she has 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,” Bigsby said, “and loved seeing students’ worlds open up when they were given a way to communicate their wants, needs, and desires to those around them. 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 started her teaching career in Bridgeport, Nebraska, and stayed there for 3 years. At that time, she started dating Justin Bigsby (American Lit. teacher Mr. Bigsby), who lived in Fremont. Leaving Bridgeport, she moved to Rockbrook Elementary in Omaha and stayed there for 2 years.
After marrying Mr. Bigsby, she left Westside Rockbrook Elementary to teach at CASE, a private school for learning disabilities in Elkhorn. After that, she worked at the middle school for 24 years. Now, this is her second year teaching at the High School.
Mrs. Bigsby has experienced nearly every level of education: from elementary, middle school, including 8th-grade English, to high school. Throughout her journey, she takes both the good and the bad.
The ever-changing requirements and demands placed upon teachers are a part of the challenge. This makes it harder for teachers to simply do the job of teaching. Mrs. Bigsby focuses on the enjoyment she has found from teaching despite the difficulties.
“The best part about teaching,” Bigsby said, “is helping students learn to realize that hard work pays off. 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].”
Her most memorable moments came from teaching 8th-grade English. She enjoyed taking the class to play kickball after they all finished their work. Both teachers and students participated in the fun. More than that, she was able to have her kids as students.
Looking ahead, in the next few years, Mrs. Bigsby plans to retire.
“I will enjoy sleeping in while Mr. Bigsby has to get up and go to school,” Bigsby said.
Not having a set plan of what she will do with her time once she is retired, she reflects on some of her interests. Her favorite class in high school was biology, so she took 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 church activities.
Thinking about how she will fill her time, she also thinks about 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 does not stop at her students. Advising those who wish to become teachers, Bigsby said, “Finding balance between work and family is important. You will want to pour your energy into other people’s children, along with all of the other demands, [resulting in] exhaustion and quick burnout. You have to learn to take care of yourself so that you have enough left of ‘you’ to take care of your own family.”
Enjoying the time she has left, she reflects on the memorable moments in her 32 years of teaching.
“I am able to end my career in the same building as my husband,” Bigsby said. “I have benefited from being able to teach two things I enjoy: reading and writing.”
Mrs. Bigsby beautifully contributes to the mosaic of individuals responsible for shaping young adults. Even after they graduate, her students can look back fondly, remembering how she genuinely cared about each of them.
