(PENDER, NE) We've all had them, but they're not all the same: teachers. Some we'll never remember, others we'll never forget.
Some give us grades, others give us dreams that change our lives forever. Tonight, we reveal KMEG 14's Hometown Hero number four.
What is it that takes a teacher beyond the facts and inside the very hearts of students? Corky Malmberg began teaching students in the Thurston Pender area back in the bicentennial year of 1976 and was married two years later. "Well when you marry a farmer you end up where you're at," says Corky. And she's been blooming, where she was planted, using the word "fun" 15 times during our interview, and that's just when the camera was rolling. Clearly, fun is part of the secret. Retiring last spring, she came back this spring as a long-term sub, marking three-and-a-half decades of teaching here.
Shauna Kinning is a Kindergarten teacher here now, but once upon a time she was one of Corky's students. "I think the energy was very contagious in her classroom and that is part of the reason that I'm a teacher now is because of her energy and her love for the kids and the passion she always showed," says Kinning.
To Corky, the classroom is like an artist's canvas, drawing in students to life beyond the school walls.
Not stopping with Earth, but exploring space beyond, the high school science teacher at the time convinced her they should apply to be a NASA explorer school, and Pender Public was one of only 50 schools in the entire country chosen. "That's the one thing I cling to in my whole teaching career. It made such a difference," says Corky. Pender was chosen in 2003 and remains in the program to this day. She took two groups of students to Space Camp.
And when the school wanted to start a cross country team, she became the volunteer coach. Plus, she accompanied multiple school musicals.
The woman who nominated her is Betty Puckett. They attend the same church, and Corky's list of activities there is too long to list. According to Puckett, "There's not one person in town who does anymore for everybody than she does, and takes such a personal interest in their well being, in their families, in their livelihood."
Corky's grandmas were both teachers, her mom was a teacher, now her son is a teacher, too. It's a family business.
Leave it to a teacher to answer our question, doing what she loves not only touches hearts but changes lives and makes her a KMEG 14 Hometown Hero.
Corky guesses 20 or 25 of her former students have gone on to be teachers themselves.
If you'd like to nominate someone to be a Hometown Hero, click here to go to the Hometown Heroes section of our website.
