Board honors three LPS counseling leaders with state awards

The Lincoln Board of Education recognized three school-counseling award recipients during its May 12 meeting.

The board presented a resolution congratulating Anne Sputanski, counselor at Clinton Elementary School, as the 2026 Nebraska Elementary School Counselor of the Year. Anne Sputanski accepted the recognition and thanked the board, colleagues and her Clinton school community, noting the district's commitment to ensuring an elementary counselor in every school and describing collaborative work on social-emotional learning lessons across elementary classrooms.

The board then presented a resolution congratulating Kate Piddick, counselor at Scott Middle School, as the 2026 Nebraska Middle School Counselor of the Year. In remarks Kate Piddick described school counseling's emphasis on connection, cross-agency partnerships and building safety nets so "no students fall through the cracks," and she thanked administrators, family and colleagues.

Finally the board recognized Lori Hemmett (Lincoln Public Schools counseling supervisor) as the Nebraska School Counselor Association Administrator of the Year. Hemmett said that at her core she is "a passionate and loud school counselor" and outlined the district's growth in providing school counseling services to every student K–12; she acknowledged the student services team and district leadership for their support.

All three recognitions were moved and seconded and the board recorded affirmative roll-call votes for the resolutions. Recipients emphasized district investments in counseling, collaboration across schools, and the role of counselors in helping students build social, emotional and academic skills.