Volunteer Spotlight
“Really cool!” “I’m having so much fun.” “Best job ever!”
Danny Dantzler beams when he talks about teaching at Neighborhood House. A successful executive, who in 1997 sold the 3500-employee company he co-owned, he describes himself as “self-unemployed” since 1999.
“I’ve had a lot of great jobs but this is the best one by far, except for the pay.” Danny’s experience makes him an ideal board c andidate, but he would rather teach. He started teaching Civics last year, and has “worked his way down” to teaching Beginning English. “I taught at the University of Nebraska for three semesters. It was much easier than this, but this is so much more rewarding.”
Danny’s favorite story is of an Ethiopian student who came to Neighborhood House with little formal education. “Langre had been quiet for weeks in class. She was obviously struggling with the material. Then one day, Brenda Anfinson asked for someone to write the date on the board. Langre strode up with a confidence we had not seen in her before and wrote Monday, August 24, 2009 on the whiteboard. She has been making impressive progress ever since.”
Danny now teaches his own classes two days a week. “He’s one in a million,” says Kara Schommer, who leads the English Language Learner program. “His enthusiasm, empathy and skill can’t be beat.”
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