Las Vegas City Wire

Nevada's superintendent of Public Instruction is reflecting on her University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) tenure, where she was inspired to become an educator.

After obtaining a mathematics undergraduate degree from Fresno State University, Jhone Ebert finished her master's degree in 1996 in Instructional and Curricular Studies from UNLV's College of Education and embarked on a fulfilling educational career; a UNLV news release said recently.

She has been named the 2022 College of Education Alumna of the Year.

“I loved math,” Ebert said in the release. “So much so that I used to ask my sister if I could do her math homework.”

During her time at UNLV, she took odd jobs such as maid at a hotel, restaurant waitress, and ultimately a ski instructor.

“Being a ski instructor, I learned how much I enjoyed teaching,” Ebert said. “And even more, how much I enjoyed helping people learn what they already had inside of them the capacity to do anything. Beyond the fear of falling, there is a joy in swishing down a mountain.”

Ebert’s tenacity to make an impact with her degree came from finding purpose through the hardships of being poor, in which teachers saw past her situation and nurtured her potential.

“That experience convinced me that school can and should work for all students, especially those facing the steepest climb,” she said. “So the agenda is unfinished until every single child is thriving and each has a clear pathway to success in both school and life.”