CEDAR BLUFFS, Neb. – At the end of a busy day, Lynn Bowder is tired.
But she’s resolute when describing what she dreads most.
“Boredom is my worst fear,” said Bowder, the art teacher at Cedar Bluffs High School. “I can’t stand being bored.”
That shouldn’t happen anytime soon for Bowder, who each day teaches five art classes, plus photography and psychology, interchangeably. She also sponsors the junior high art program and yearbook and is assistant technology coordinator. Years ago, she coached as well.
When it comes to teaching, Bowder’s style – and that of other Cedar Bluffs teachers – may be an art form in itself. From a program in which the Platte River became the focus of study for art and other classes to an entrepreneurial venture called the Wildcat Shop, Bowder and her fellow instructors have worked to bring unique learning experiences to students in this small-town school.
Bowder, who has taught at Cedar Bluffs for 26 years, was a child when she discovered her love of art.
“I ruined a lot of my mother’s things,” she said, smiling. “I was always wanting to mess with paint.”
She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in education with art and coaching endorsements in 1982.
“I loved art and athletics, and teaching was the one thing I could do to combine those interests. As time’s gone by, I’ve developed a passion for teaching,” she said.
She taught for a year at Holy Name High School in Omaha, before getting the job at Cedar Bluffs where she’s been since.
“I didn’t mind teaching in a parochial school, but I wanted to be in a public setting and when an opening here came up, I applied and was fortunate enough to get it.”
Bowder lives in Lincoln with her husband, Dale. They have two children, a son, Dane, who’s 20 and a student at Doane College in Crete, and Kyleah, 18, a high school senior.
While some might wonder why she hasn’t taken a job in Lincoln, Bowder is quick to tout the benefits of teaching in Cedar Bluffs.
“I’ve been offered positions in Lincoln, but the kids here are just fantastic and the other teachers I work with are really quality people and I just really enjoy it here,” she said. “In Lincoln, I’d see kids for a semester and they’d be gone. Here, I grow up with them.”
Bowder teaches students in grades 7 through 12 and probably sees 96 kids throughout the year at Cedar Bluffs. Next year, students in grades 3 through 6 will be added to the rotation.
Her days are busy.
“I just teach and teach and teach,” she said. “I get here at 7:30 and just start sprinting.”
That sprinting has included some interesting projects. They include:
The Platte Attack where teachers related their lessons to the river. For instance, a science teacher had students test the water. The physical education class had a fishing lesson. The social studies teacher made a Native American recipe of sunflower soup over a fire on a sandbar.
“I teach Native American pottery, but I geared it toward the Pawnee who lived along in the Platte in this area,” Bowder said.
History grant; Bowder became part of the Teaching American History Grant program during which she and other northeast Nebraska instructors spent three years studying various topics including the Lewis and Clark expedition. Through that program, Bowder and other teachers canoed the Missouri River in Montana, following the expedition route. She photographed sites that Swiss artist-explorer Karl Bodmer saw during his travels. She showed students her photos and drawings of the same places featured in Bodmer’s art.
“That was really exciting for me to be able to do that,” she said. “Because of those Teaching American History Grants, I’ve been able to bring tons of things back for the kids that I never would have had the opportunity to otherwise.”
Bowder said she plans to continue teaching as long as she can.
“It takes a lot of energy,” she said.
Someday, she might dabble in a little of her own artwork.
“I never wanted to become a famous artist,” she said. “I’d rather own a gallery that was a place where unknown artists came for the first time to show, to give them an opportunity to get started.”
And she might try something else.
“When I’m real old, I think I’m going to Hollywood to become a character actress as an old lady,” she said. “I think that would be kind of fun.”