New teacher excited to be welcomed at Wauneta-Palisade

Joni Bowman, husband Jiles, and children Logan and Laramie, have become a part of the community of the Wauneta-Palisade school district where Bowman is new to the teaching staff as a 3rd grade teacher.
“I am so excited to be a part of this wonderful school district. All the staff and families have been so welcoming. I can’t count how many times people have told me, ‘we are so glad you are here’,” said Bowman.
She shared that ever since she was a young girl it has been a career goal to be a teacher. She said she has always wanted to be a mother, teacher and a barrel racer. “Two out of three isn’t bad,” she added.
“I care a whole lot about my students. They are family, and I want nothing but the best for them. I truly enjoy inspiring the love of learning in our youth,” Bowman said.
She seeks to create a learning environment that promotes positivity toward students by meeting them where they are academically and developmentally, therefore getting results through a solid foundation of positive relationships with students and families. Bowman uses research-based tools and data to help pave a path of success for her students, she said.
She graduated high school in McCook in 2000, pursuing her studies at Mid-Plains Community College receiving an Associate of Arts in 2003.
From 2010-2013, Bowman worked at Peace Lutheran Preschool while pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, achieving that goal in 2013.
That summer following graduation, she taught summer classes in Kearney and 3rd grade at McCook Elementary School beginning in the fall.
From 2014 through 2021, she taught Pre-K in Hitchcock County. Bowman then took two years off from teaching full-time to be at home with her daughter. During that time, she substitute taught at several school districts in southwest Nebraska as well as performing contract work for the University of Nebraska Medical Center conducting observations in daycare centers and preschools across western and central Nebraska.
“I’ve volunteered as a leader for the Hitchcock County horse 4-H club since 2016. I have been a Trail Class judge at Hitchcock County, Hayes County and Dundy County horse shows. In addition, I offered my services as a Prairie Plains CASA Volunteer from 2013-2018,” she said.
This busy wife, mom, teacher and volunteer is now excited to be part of the WP school system family.
Photography has always been a hobby of hers, so to add to the list of activities in her life, she has started a photography business—in her spare time.
“I love my family and the great outdoors. There is nothing that says home like a Nebraska sunset,” said Bowman. “When I was a teenager, I swore I was going to leave this place. Well, I never did, and I couldn’t be happier. There’s something to be said about these wide-open spaces.”