A love of learning propelled Lisa Nath to the helm of Luverne Community Education, which views education as a lifelong activity.
Nath is the third director to head the program that began in 1978 with Gregg Gropel, who laid the groundwork for the then new program. Karen Willers filled the position from 1999, when Gropel retired, until she decided to retire this spring.
Nath embraces the scope that is community education.
“I have a genuine love for children, families and learning,” Nath said. “My goal is to encourage and motivate lifelong learning and help them reach their full potential.”
Community Education offers early childhood classes for infants to age 5 and their parents and continues learning by offering year-round youth and adult enrichment classes. Nath has been the Luverne ECFE educator for the past 12 years.
Family is what led Nath into an education career and ultimately to Luverne Community Education.
She grew up on a farm near Platte, South Dakota.
“My parents were very influential in my life,” she said. “My dad was a farmer and my mom was a teacher. Three important things they taught me were to work hard, help others and a love of learning. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a teacher.”
Early experiences in babysitting and teaching at church led Nath to complete a double major in elementary education and special education from Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa.
She began her teaching in the fall of 1996 in Marshall.
For three years she taught first- and second-graders. She married Tom Nath in 1997 and the couple moved to Luverne two years later. Nath taught preschoolers for two years in Sioux Falls until a desire to work in special education led her to Worthington, where she worked in the middle school special education program for six years.
Her dad’s ALS diagnosis in 2006 prompted her to teach closer to home.
“My dad passed away in 2007, and that same day our daughter Emma was born,” Nath said. “After seeing someone you love go through a terminal illness like that, you never look at life the same way. Having a 2-year-old (Ethan) and a newborn, I decided I wanted to look for something in my community that would keep me involved professionally but keep my focus on my family.”
She became the part-time ECFE parent educator beginning in the fall of 2008. She also coordinated early childhood screenings for Luverne schools.
As a teacher, Nath focused on bringing creativity and technology into her instruction with parents, a child’s first teacher, to build the foundation that learning can be fun.
“Being a parent is complex, and parents need programs, support services and resources offered to them to increase their confidence in raising healthy children,” she said.
A shared enthusiasm for learning was generated when parents passed lessons on to their children.
“When you see your students love learning as much as you do, you see that ‘aha’ moment, when it just clicks for them and they light up and you know they understand,” she said.
As she taught parents during the day, Nath earned an online parent education degree from St. Cloud State University. She later became a family support coordinator (2008-2013) for the Family Connections Collaborative, where she supervised home visitors and day care story-hour visitors between Luverne Public Schools and Rock-Nobles Public Health.
At the same time, Nath also coordinated the Rock County Big Buddies program (2013-2019).
For her community education director’s licensure, Nath will complete online classes from Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
“In a leadership role, I feel it is crucial to encourage, support and motivate your team,” she said.
Nath will have a team to work with in her new role as head of community education.
In addition to the early childhood family education program and the youth through adult enrichment classes, Nath will also oversee programming for Adult Basic Education, Discovery Time Preschool, and child care for the Family U program and English as a second language classes.
Nath’s various positions prepared her for juggling various responsibilities.
“Efficiency and prioritizing are strong skills for me,” she said. “Planning ahead allows me to enhance my productivity and initiate new ideas, which also maximizes learning for others.”
She said theCOVID-19 pandemic, however, is causing her to pause in how she plans to move the local community education programs forward, but she is on the lookout for new ideas for the youth and adult enrichment classes.
She begins her new position on Aug. 1.
“I am thinking that many people have had opportunities to revisit some hobbies and maybe start some new hobbies as well,” Nath said. “I bet we have a lot of hidden talent that we could encourage to teach classes through Community Education.”