Lifelong Learner Award: An educator who loves to teach, Dr. Jannie Sharee Eggleston serves in her church, in the classroom, in the community and beyond

During Homecoming weekend, the Concordia Alumni Association honors alumni and friends for their outstanding service and accomplishments. 

The Concordia Nebraska Lifelong Learner Award is presented to a graduate alumnus of Concordia who has demonstrated a commitment to service through volunteerism or significant vocational achievement. 

Dr. Jannie Sharee Eggleston GR ‘11 currently serves as an instructor at Austin Community College, providing English language and GED instruction. She is certified by the Center for Applied Linguistics as a Best Plus Test Administrator, provides GED preparation instruction in math and language arts and is also a TABE test administrator. 

“Because I am an educator and I love to teach, I maintain a faculty position at my local community college where I teach English to immigrants and GED courses,” she said. “My personal mission is to have as much impact as I can in helping students achieve their higher education goals. My work from day to day supports this mission, and I find that to be the most fulfilling. I love my jobs, and I experience what it means to never work a day in my life every day.” 

Eggleston has a bachelor of arts in Spanish and secondary education from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a master of education in secondary school administration and elementary school administration with ESL endorsement from Concordia University, Nebraska. She also has a doctor of education in leadership and higher education with concentration in leadership and change from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. 

Prior to her work at Austin Community College, she served as associate director state and district partnerships at College Board, providing consultation in the use of test data to inform classroom instruction. She also lead professional development sessions in person and virtually, performed data analysis and execution of data-based strategies, served as a customer service product expert, anticipated customer concerns, tracked and processed Requests for Proposals (RFP) intake, planned events, managed collaboration between assistant and associate directors, facilitated a conference of more than 200 university professors for development of new Advanced Placement course, aggregated and disseminated K-12 district test data, sold and managed more than $1 million in contract sales, and managed accounts and contracts of school district partners to ensure the college and career readiness of their students. 

My personal mission is to have as much impact as I can in helping students achieve their higher education goals. My work from day to day supports this mission, and I find that to be the most fulfilling. I love my jobs, and I experience what it means to never work a day in my life every day.

She said her Concordia Nebraska master’s degree experience taught her so much about the inner workings of K-12 school leadership. 

“I felt better informed about the legal aspects of every role in the school house,” she said. “Even as I continue to teach, my understanding of the big picture had improved so much that I could make day-to-day decisions with the bigger picture in mind. As I continued on with local leadership training, things just made sense and clicked into place in a way that they might not have without the quality education I received from Concordia Nebraska. The thread of faith-based work was woven into every course, and I appreciated having it reaffirmed for me that my faith walk and my work were not mutually exclusive. Teaching and being an educator is indeed a calling and work that I find myself doing regardless of the role in which I work.” 

She has also served as a teacher in the Klein Independent School District, Humble Independent School District and Omaha Public Schools providing bilingual, differentiated, multi-disciplinary Spanish instruction at levels beginning through advanced, and providing Spanish instruction in line with the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program. She also designed and implemented project-based assessment curriculum, developed and implemented curriculum for advanced Spanish and ACT/SAT preparatory courses, wrote, edited and implemented district-wide assessment, wrote district-wide rubrics for world languages and oversaw the district survey process for a school of 2,000 participants. She modeled lesson planning, classroom management and implementation of objectives for new and struggling teachers and represented schools as Liaison for Building Bright Futures. She also coordinated mentoring programs, chaired and participated on various committees including prom, textbook selection and school improvement, was appointed Dean of Students, mentored new teachers, provided ESL instruction and tutoring, planned and implemented lessons according to state and district standards, guided students to teach Spanish to elementary students, submitted articles to school newsletter, lead students on international excursion, submitted bilingual articles to Nuestro Mundo newspaper, sponsored various clubs including DREAM Mentoring sponsored by Union Pacific and served as the building interpreter. 

She said her decision to pursue an advanced degree at Concordia Nebraska came after two less-than-satisfying experiences at other institutions. 

“It started with a nudge from the Holy Spirit,” she said. “When I learned of Concordia’s ‘satellite’ program and that I could earn my masters by attending courses at Omaha Public Schools campuses and that the professors would come to those campuses, it felt like a win-win. I was teaching in Omaha Public Schools at the time, and my students encouraged me the whole way. While I did not have the experience of the undergraduate community or living on campus, I received Concordia’s intention of bringing in the outer circle in the spirit of discipleship with which it was given.” 

An accomplished speaker, she has given numerous conference presentations to K-12 educators regarding scholarship opportunities, college list building, career planning and other resources for K-12 students at conferences presented by educational associations in Texas and education service centers. At A Dream Deferred 2024, she presented “Why Students Don’t Apply for Financial Aid: Research on Students’ Perspectives” derived from her own doctoral dissertation research.  

She is an AmeriCorps Service Learning Educator and is a member of Christian Educators Association International, Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society and Tri-Alpha Co-ed Honor Fraternity. She has also served as chapter sponsor of the National Society of Black Engineers, Jr.  

At Life Changers Church, she recently assumed the role of superintendent of the church’s education arm. She also manages ecclesiastical communications to parishioners as executive communications director, oversees ecclesiastical finances and budgeting, maintains a database of new members and visitors, provides orientation to new members and writes curriculum for church auxiliary-based internship program. 

She participates in FAFSA mentoring as a means of getting financial aid to those most in need and also serves as a RideShare2Vote dispatcher, interpreter and driver of voters without transportation to the polls during early voting and on election days. She also helps mail postcards to low-propensity voters to encourage their participation in upcoming elections. 

Eggleston said volunteerism is also extremely important to her. 

“It is how I practice selflessness,” she explained. “I was raised an only child, and I am unmarried without children. My life could be consumed by self-seeking, but I find the most fulfillment in my gift of singleness as I am able to share my time and energy with others in a way that enhances their lives. A fringe benefit of volunteerism is that it also enhances my own. I take time to pray for and consider the struggles of people I don't even know which ensures that I am focused on what is important to God; His people and His creation. I am also very close to and involved with my family. I gained siblings as a young adult and my focus has been on making the best contributions I can to their lives and futures.” 

Her philanthropic involvement also includes service to Vote.org, Save the Children, BreakFree Education, Red Cross, Voice of the Martyrs, Mississippi Abbey, Creighton University, Concordia University, Day 1 Bags, Buffalo Mass Shooting Help the Families Fund, Texas Elementary School Shooting Victims Fund and Drillers Youth Basketball, Bakersfield, California. She has also served as a civilian volunteer with Omaha Police Department, Harris County Sheriffs and Pflugerville Police Department. She also volunteers with CASA of Travis County (Court Appointed Special Advocates) to advocate for children in foster care during court proceedings, helping to find family for children in foster care for appropriate cultural placements and familial interactions. 

She said that aside from the university’s Christ-centered focus, the best thing about her Concordia Nebraska experience was the people. 

“I had great instructors who made sure I was successful, provided actionable feedback, and made it a point to encourage me along the way,” she said. “Because I was a master’s student, I knew my purpose very well upon enrolling at Concordia. I also had it on great Authority that the university would be pivotal in my achievement of next steps. My professors helped me make my goals a reality.” 

Eggleson was born on welfare, her father was a Vietnam veteran who passed away when she was seven, and she grew up economically disadvantaged. She said that throughout her life, her faith in God has been invaluable to her through hard and challenging times. 

“I did not know how I would pay for my last two years of undergrad, but God came through as usual! I dropped out of two master’s programs before I found Concordia Nebraska, and I worked so hard not to become one type of statistic that I inadvertently became another type. I did not get to become the wife and mother I aspired to be, I recently lost a job I loved, and only last year did I earn my doctorate. But God has been with me from the beginning, even when I was unaware of and uninterested in His presence.” 

She said her pastor encouraged her to do something every day in working toward her goals. That message has stayed with her.  

“I discovered a fire deep within my gut that would not let me quit,” she said. “I believe I found a new manifestation of the Holy Spirit during that time. When Jeremiah thought of quitting his proclamation of the Gospel, he described the Holy Spirit as fire shut up in his bones and I imagine this is what he meant. Jeremiah was sunk in a pit of mud up to his shoulders as punishment for proclaiming the Gospel. He had every reason to quit, but he could not shut up, and he was rescued in a miraculous turn of events. I am no prophet, but I am familiar with this fire that burns so hot I can’t quit doing the vocation, the work, to which I am called by the same Spirit who called Jeremiah.” 

Students in Concordia University, Nebraska’s Educational Administration for Christian Schools program gain the skills needed to positively impact the lives of young children. Concordia's online master’s degree in Educational Administration conforms to the standards prescribed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Concordia is also accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.