Before most students arrive at Scottsbluff High School, Shelby Aaberg (TLTE '04) is already there.
The lights are on. His classroom is ready. Outside, the Nebraska Panhandle is beginning another day. Inside, students gather in a space Aaberg has spent more than two decades building — an environment where they are challenged, supported and encouraged to believe they belong.
By the end of the day, Aaberg will have taught students ranging from seventh graders discovering geometry to high schoolers solving advanced mathematics. After school, the classroom transforms as students gather to practice, collaborate and prepare for competitions.
For Aaberg, mathematics instruction has always been about more than numbers.
It is about people.
"Education is really the act of trying to understand the other, trying to learn empathy," Aaberg said. "How do you adopt someone else's mindset and think about the life experiences and circumstances they're in?"
That belief has guided more than two decades in the classroom and helped Aaberg build a culture where students are encouraged to see possibilities beyond what others may expect.
It’s a journey Aaberg has lived.
He grew up across the North Platte River in Gering, just minutes from Scottsbluff, where teachers and mentors helped shape his own path.
In western Nebraska, distance can sometimes shape perception, creating assumptions that certain opportunities belong somewhere else. Aaberg has spent his career challenging that idea.
"You don't have to be from a place of significance to be significant," he said. "Our kids have a chip on their shoulder. A lot of people write them off because of where they're from, and we know from all the places we've been and competed in, you can be competitive against anybody from anywhere."
The confidence he builds in his students was shaped, in part, by his own experience as a University of Nebraska–Lincoln student.
When Aaberg arrived in Lincoln, he was searching for the right path.
Aaberg leads class in Scottsbluff.
Engineering seemed like a natural choice. He enjoyed math and chemistry. He liked solving problems.
But eventually, he realized the thing he enjoyed most was not simply finding solutions. It was helping others find them.
"I know I'm good at math and I'm good at chemistry," Aaberg said. "But I wasn't feeling it in engineering. Instead, what do I enjoy? Well, I like the math. I like solving problems. I like working with people."
That decision changed the direction of his life.
His time at the university became an education that extended beyond the classroom. Aaberg experienced campus from many perspectives — as a student, an employee and a future educator.
He worked multiple jobs, completed his student teaching at Lincoln High School and interacted with people from many different backgrounds.
One of those jobs began before sunrise at FedEx.
"I loved having that job because I never had to work out," Aaberg said with a laugh. "The morning sort was from 2:45 to 7 a.m., and so I would put on my boots and go sort packages."
After loading and unloading semitrailers before sunrise, he would return to campus, clean up and begin his day as a student teacher.
Looking back, Aaberg said those experiences gave him a deeper understanding of the many people who make a community successful.
"I got a very complete picture of not just student life, but also what's it like to be a professor, what's it like to work in an office, what's it like to be a support staff member on campus," he said. "That very complete experience formed a lot of what I do with students."
The lesson that stayed with him most was empathy.
As an educator, Aaberg said it is easy to connect with students who share similar backgrounds or experiences. The greater challenge is understanding students whose lives look completely different.
"Sometimes it's a challenge to identify with kids that maybe come from a very different type of life," he said. "But thinking back on my time as a Husker, one of the things that stands out was just being exposed to so many different types of people."
The lessons Aaberg learned at Nebraska did not stay in Lincoln. They followed him home.
In Scottsbluff, he began building the kind of community he experienced as a Husker — one where people from different backgrounds come together, challenge one another and grow.
What began as a small math club at Scottsbluff High School has grown into a program where students compete nationally, mentor younger learners and create STEM experiences for families throughout the region.
The growth, Aaberg said, happened one improvement at a time.
"It started out as, well, let's get this year right," he said. "Let's try to figure out what we can operate on and make sure that we offer the same good opportunity every year. And then, over time, it builds."
One of those opportunities has been UNL Math Day, where Aaberg has brought students to campus to compete against some of the strongest mathematics programs in the state.
When he first began taking students, the goal was simply to show up and learn.
"We would go down there and just assume, 'Oh, well, here we go again. Eastern schools are going to beat us,'" Aaberg said.
Over time, that changed. Students improved, expectations grew and they began to see themselves differently.
Aaberg demonstrates a concept for students.
"Watching those kids who thought this was like this insurmountable hurdle, watching them all of a sudden have the realization that anything's possible — that's pretty neat," he said.
That realization is one of Aaberg’s greatest accomplishments: helping students understand that where they come from does not determine how far they can go.
Tenth grader Amara Alcidas has experienced that culture firsthand.
Through Aaberg’s after-school programs, Alcidas has participated in math trips, engineering activities and mentorship opportunities where students learn from one another.
Before joining the program, math was simply a subject she completed. Aaberg helped her see something more.
"He makes it really fun," Alcidas said. "He's encouraged me to do things, and he's helped me better as a person."
Now, she is preparing to become part of that same tradition by helping younger students discover their own confidence.
That cycle — students becoming leaders who help others — continues to shape the culture Aaberg has built.
His work has earned national recognition, including being named Nebraska Teacher of the Year and receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
But Aaberg is quick to point first to the people who helped him reach those moments.
"I'm here because there are lots of people who supported me," he said. "Lots of adults who believed in me."
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln remains part of that story.
The people he met on campus, the experiences that broadened his perspective and the lessons he learned about community continue to shape the way he teaches and serves others.
"I was that kid," Aaberg said. "Being able to be in the community I grew up in, being able to serve the kids that I do — that's really what the University of Nebraska–Lincoln gave to me as a gift through my degree."
College of Education and Human Sciences
Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education
Strong Communities
AlumniNews
