Nebraska
Family fights for continued awareness of dyslexia, grateful for eight years of Nebraska legislation • Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Norah Schmidt loves reading, particularly dystopia and romance novels, but the high school senior recalls when that wasn’t always the case because of a learning disability: dyslexia.
Norah, 17, remembers being pulled out of class for timed readings where staff would hold a stopwatch and track how quickly she could read and if she was close to her peers.
“The first six years of school, K through 5, were hard,” Norah told the Nebraska Examiner this summer. “I didn’t know what I was doing, reading in fifth grade at a third grade level, reading my first book in fifth grade. It’s improved since but still hard.”
Close to graduation and looking ahead to college, Norah said she reads whenever she gets the chance now, after years of an uphill climb of interventions in part aided by legislation and advocacy from Norah’s parents in Lincoln Public Schools.
Legislation back to 2017
State lawmakers have passed multiple bills since 2017 to improve services for students with dyslexia and require intensive reading interventions in each of Nebraska’s 244 school districts.
“I do hope that with all this going through, students who are coming into schools don’t have to go through things I did,” Norah said of the legislation.
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn has been heavily involved in legislative efforts regarding dyslexia, including her support this year for Fremont State Sen. Lynne Walz’s Legislative Bill 1284. That package contained two reading proposals from Linehan, which she said was her last “rah rah” before being term-limited out of the Legislature:
- LB 1253, to award up to $500,000 in grants to Nebraska companies researching artificial-intelligence-based writing assistance models for students with dyslexia.
- LB 1254, to set aside $2 million over three years for reading improvement mentorship programs and to employ regional coaches to train teachers in K-3 how to teach reading.
Linehan, who has dyslexia, introduced LB 651 in 2017 during her first year as a state senator to provide accelerated reading interventions for students in grades K-3.
Known as the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act, any student who exhibited a reading deficiency would have received an individual reading improvement plan. Students would have needed to show sufficient reading skills to move on to fourth grade or be held back for a year.
Linehan said that extra support is critical, partially to prevent behavioral issues for students who will “hate school because they don’t want to be embarrassed.”
“They don’t want to have to stand up and be asked to read a book, and they can’t, so they throw the book because ‘I’d rather be in trouble than be embarrassed and have my friends make fun of me,’” Linehan said.
School tour informed legislation
At LB 651’s hearing, superintendents, teachers and school members from various school districts expressed concern, particularly with retaining students in the third grade.
Then-State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, who sat on the Education Committee along with Linehan, also opposed the measure, which later stalled during floor debate for the year.
But a separate bill, LB 645 from Pansing Brooks, did pass in 2017 to define dyslexia in state law. Linehan supported the change.
Pansing Brooks brought the bill on behalf of her brother and cousin, who have dyslexia, and her mother, a former Lincoln Board of Education member who pushed for dyslexia-related services.
Linehan and Pansing Brooks have opposing political ideologies, but they sought to find a path forward in the fall of 2017 by touring more than a dozen schools together statewide to gather additional perspectives from educators and students, which informed new legislation to improve literacy.
“The education community could blow me off because I was not a supporter of the teachers union. I was a very conservative member. They could have run me over,” Linehan said. “They could not run over Patty — her willingness, my determination, and just keep going back.”
Pansing Brooks returned in 2018 with LB 1052, to update a dyslexia-focused guide for educators and require teacher training. And Linehan amended a revised version of her previous bill into LB 1081, which didn’t include holding students back. Both passed overwhelmingly.
Linehan’s proposal established three reading assessments for all students in grades K-3 each academic year, as well as supplemental interventions for those young students who have a reading deficiency.
“I felt like we could really work stronger together, and she’s a force, there’s no question,” Pansing Brooks said this summer.
In 2023, Linehan proposed LB 298, which also passed. It requires schools to track how many students have been tested for a specific learning disability and how many have a reading issue.
Districts must report that information annually by July 1 to the Nebraska Department of Education, which must compile the information and send a public report to the Legislature each year no later than Sept. 1.
I do hope that with all this going through, students who are coming into schools don’t have to go through things I did.
– Norah Schmidt of Lincoln, a high school senior who has dyslexia
‘I felt like Alice in Wonderland’
Heather Schmidt, Norah’s mother, recalled some of her own frustrations prior to that legislation, when Norah was in elementary school. School staff would show Norah’s parents charts “of why everything’s fine.” When Heather told them that everything wasn’t fine and that Norah was struggling, she said she was told to look at the chart in a different way.
“When we first started down this path, I honestly, in the meetings, felt like Alice in Wonderland just trying to figure out how to get home, and everybody was telling me about eight, nine other things that didn’t make sense,” Heather Schmidt recalled.
For some of Norah’s classes, she would have a sheet to track how many books she read each week. Though she spent hours reading, she couldn’t reach the goal, yet her mom would still sign the assignment, knowing the effort that Norah had put in.
Norah said she is still learning to cope with dyslexia and how to study, but an AI-focused tool created by local university students, Dyslexico, is helping to cut her study time in half.
“Instead of getting frustrated and shutting her Chromebook and pushing it away, she just kept going and writing, kept studying,” Heather Schmidt said. “You’d see her just kind of wilt as if she was defeated [before].”
Support with artificial intelligence
Dyslexico started in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Raikes School. Key team members Bridget Peterkin and Tristan Curd, who graduated in May, testified at a legislative hearing in February in support of Linehan’s grant program in LB 1253.
The online program is powered through AI but finds what its creators have described as a middle ground compared to other grammar check software.
Peterkin said when Dyslexico began, it all felt very theoretical, but support and excitement from Linehan and others left the team “blown away.”
Curd said this summer that Dyslexico was looking to start new pilot programs with schools. He said getting a grant could help the team improve its services for the community.
“It’s super exciting because at its core, it will help us keep Dyslexico going,” Curd said.
Linehan said the student team amazed her because they understood dyslexia and that people who have it are capable and intelligent, but just struggle to read or write.
The grant applications are due to the Nebraska Department of Education by Sept. 6.
‘We need to be proactive’
Elizabeth Tegtmeier, president of the State Board of Education, which oversees the Education Department, said that all students need to be supported. She said the State Board should expect struggling students to receive interventions but doesn’t need to wait for legislation.
“We’re in harmony as far as student literacy, and I just think that this particular facet of literacy needs to rise to the surface,” Tegtmeier said of the State Board.
Tegtmeier said she also has a child who struggles to read and found herself, like Heather Schmidt, supplementing the assistance her school provided and seeking additional resources.
“We need to be proactive, not wait until students have failed,” Tegtmeier said. “That affects their self-esteem. It affects their ability to work in the classroom if we wait for them to fail before we offer them assistance.”
‘Swimming upstream’
Heather and Norah Schmidt haven’t always been successful in finding advocates within Lincoln Public Schools, they said, but they recently found support in Sara Jones, LPS’ student services supervisor, and Adriana Martinez, Lincoln Southeast High School’s English Department chair, who was one of Norah’s teachers last year.
Norah said Martinez gave her as much time as she needed on assignments and would break lessons down in a way she could understand, tailored to her learning style.
Martinez said that she regularly tailors support to her students’ needs and that the “bare minimum” for teachers is to read and understand a student’s learning accommodations as part of their Section 504 plan or individualized education plan.
“Once I have a good understanding of my kids, we have pretty open conversations with what they need to feel successful,” Martinez said.
Jones said that everyone at LPS wants students to succeed and that accommodations are available to students, but she acknowledged it’s a “tough avenue to fight, like swimming upstream,” at times.
“When you find that one little gem that might work, it’s such a good feeling,” Jones said.
Throughout her 12 years in special education, Jones said, it’s almost hard to describe how students change once the right tool is put in front of them. She said she sometimes runs into former students in the community and is able to see how the interventions have paid off.
“It’s just so heartwarming,” Jones said. “Even if it’s just one kid.”
Martinez said teachers should “walk with humility” and understand that they don’t know everything and need to be lifelong learners.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have seen that policies don’t always catch students’ needs, Martinez explained. She said many teachers are adapting and being more accessible.
“I think the more that students see teachers as collaborators for their learning,” Martinez said, “the better that we can make their education.”
‘We need to keep pushing harder’
Norah said more education for teachers on dyslexia will be helpful, as some don’t know what it is. She hopes future students don’t have to wait for help as long as her family did.
“I’m glad it’s happening now rather than 10 years down the line,” Norah said.
Her mother worries that momentum surrounding dyslexia needs could slow down with Linehan leaving the Legislature after this year.
“I hope we’re not going to be left without moving forward,” Heather Schmidt said. “I feel like they’ve made a lot of inroads, just even with the awareness level, but we need to keep pushing harder.”
Linehan said that with the accountability measures in place and a bigger focus on phonics and reading comprehension, she sees the work continuing.
“I may no longer be in the Legislature, but I will still pay attention. It is too important,” Linehan said. “We can’t let bright, capable people not get an education because they struggle to read at an early age.”
A legislative history on dyslexia and reading
At least five new laws have taken effect related to dyslexia since 2017, led by former State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln and State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn.
- 2018: LB 1081 (Education Committee, with LB 651 from Linehan) — Established the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act, which encouraged school boards to develop reading instruction and intervention policies and required approved reading assessments to be given to students three times each school year plus supplemental interventions for students who have a reading deficiency. Passed 46-1.
- 2023: LB 298 (Linehan) — Required school districts to report how many students have been tested for a specific learning disability (including characteristics of dyslexia), are identified as having a reading issue and who have shown improvement. Passed 44-0.
- 2024: LB 1284 (State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, with LB 1253 and LB 1254 from Linehan) — Established the $500,000 Dyslexia Research Grant Program for Nebraska companies researching the use of artificial-intelligence-based writing assistance for students with dyslexia. The Nebraska Department of Education is also required to develop and implement a professional learning system for evidence-based reading instruction for teachers who teach children up to third grade how to read. Passed 42-0.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – The Coffee Bin has been selected as one of 70 stops on this year’s Nebraska Passport program, an annual challenge that highlights attractions and promotes local businesses across the state.
An incredible Honor
The owner of The Coffee Bin said the selection was meaningful for her team.
“It’s a huge honor. I mean, to be selected, I don’t know how many applications they get every year for this, but it’s like, so, it’s a big honor. It’s just, you know, we’re just really, really excited to be a part of it,” Penny Billingsley, said.
Tourism and local growth
The owner said participation in the Nebraska Passport program plays a role in helping businesses like hers grow.
“Tourism is a big, big part of, I think, for any city, tourism is important. North Platte has a lot of really unique places to go, and we’re also just in the middle of the state. So there’s, you know, you can get to a lot of different, different destinations from here. So I think it’s very important,” she added.
The Coffee Bin is one of two Lincoln County stops on this year’s Nebraska Passport program. Crystal Cave & Falls Adventure Mini Golf is the other Lincoln County location included in the program.
A full list of attractions is available on the KNOP News 2 app and website.
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Copyright 2026 KNOP. All rights reserved.
Nebraska All-American running back Emmett Johnson is waiting for the NFL Draft next month. In his wake, his legacy in Lincoln influences the Huskers’ running back room.
The current guys wouldn’t mind being like Emmett.
And why not?
Johnson ran for 1,451 yards in 2025, and is expected to be drafted. Johnson played four years at Nebraska and his development across that time became a textbook for younger players to follow.
“It’s interesting,” Huskers running backs coach E.J. Barthel told reporters after practice Wednesday. “It’s one thing to talk about development and one thing as a coach you want to say here’s what we believe and here’s the opportunities that are on the horizon if you do this, do that. All the kids watched him {Emmett] do it. It makes my job a lot easier.
“Emmett’s just been an example … talking about where he needs to improve to the next spring [practice] and he’s continued to battle and fight and compete. Emmett’s second year as a full-time player he had to compete with Rahmir [Johnson] and Dante [Dowdell] …
“That turned him into the player you saw last season. Learning to compete brings out the best out of everybody … And then for Emmett to compete with him [Rahmir] in camp and throughout the season, that’s going to make you the player you’re going to be.
“That’s what’s most impressive about Emmett, that the ability to compete and want to compete. If you look at him at the [NFL] Combine, I think he’s one of the only running backs to do all the drills. I think it’s been told to me by some NFL people that they’re impressed that he’s not afraid of competition. I think that makes you a great player.”
The next generation
Barthel, who is in his fourth season at Nebraska, has enormous numbers on the stat sheet to fill without Johnson. His running back room is well stocked but inexperienced. The Huskers are coming off back-to-back 7-6 seasons.
Kwinten Ives, Isaiah Mozee and Mekhi Nelson each have limited experience. Each wants to be the main ball carrier in 2026. Combined, these three carried the ball 73 times for 295 yards. Johnson had 251 carries last season
“The one thing we pride ourselves here is honesty and transparency with our players,” Barthel said about Ives, a junior from Beverly, N.J. “And letting guys know exactly where they stand. And we challenge Kwinten.
“He’s going to have to maximize his role and show myself, show himself, show the staff that there’s a void here. And can you fill that void?
“That’s the reality. Not only did he do it in practice, he stepped up and he did it in the game [34 yards vs. Akron; 85 yards vs. Houston Christian; 14 yards on four carries in the Las Vegas Bowl].
“That’s a huge jump for him. His question had never been about ability. Last year it was the soft tissue injuries. So, he’s going to be challenged this spring to continue to focus on his body, keeping himself healthy, but he’s accelerating.
“He’s having his best spring that I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Barthel on Mekhi Nelson
“Off the field, he’s really maturing,” Barthel said about the sophomore from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. “When we’re on the road recruiting this cycle, he did a great job of getting the group together, making sure guys were meeting on their own voluntarily and coordinating all the things that we talk about during the season, as far as what we should be covering during their workouts.
“He did a great job as far as being a leader of that group in that sense. Right now, the challenge for him is going to see if he can take his body to the next level just like Emmett had to do.
“There’s no doubt he has breakaway speed and he has a competitive edge when he plays. The big challenge for him is focusing on his body. That’s going to be the big factor for him.
“As far as his skill set, as far as route efficiency, as far as his protection, as far as his rush skills, his ability to outrun the defense, his toughness, he’s very impressive.
“He’s going to continue to climb that ladder.”
Nelson was the Huskers’ second-leading rusher with 147 yards on 27 carries. He had 88 yards on 12 carries in the Las Vegas Bowl loss to Utah.
Barthel on Isaiah Mozee
“I look at him now as a real running back,” Barthel said about Mozee, a sophomore from Kansas City. “Last year, he was really transitioning and now his movements pre-snap, how he gets aligned, his eyes, all those things, he’s really truly bought into the position.
“The big thing for him right now will continue to be staying on that path and running the ball inside. That’s going to be the thing he needs to do to really grasp. Everyone knows what he can do in space. We know what he can do on the perimeter.
“His focus this spring is running behind his weight and becoming a really dynamic inside runner.”
The wild card freshman
The unknown factor is true freshman Jamal Rule from Salisbury, N.C. Rule was considered a three-star player who Barthel said was not recruited out of Charlotte Christian High.
“One of the reasons why we loved Jamal coming out of high school was because of his physicality and competitive edge, the way he ran the football in high school,” Barthel said. “It was evident in tape. It was evident when I went to go watch him play.
“The kid has a chip on his shoulder. He was the leading rusher at North Carolina his junior year … and then to run over 200 yards against Providence Day [School] in a championship game and to really not get recruited was a slap in the face to that kid. And so an opportunity for us to believe in him and everyone on the staff, everyone on our team seeing why we believed in him …
“That’s part of his attitude. Right now he needs to learn football. It’s one thing he’s got to transition from being a high school football player to really learning the cycle of the snap, development of his eyes in the run game and in the protection game.
“Those are the big things for him right now is just the details of football, is what he needs to learn.
“I think you could probably spot-play a young freshman, as far as their ability, but in order for us to rely on him, he’s got to be really diving into the details. And so that just takes repetition and experience … He’s going to gradually grow and so it’s really the meeting rooms, it’s the quizzing, it’s all the things off the field that are going to help him mentally play faster.”
Barthel has a challenging job this offseason — as do all of the Huskers.
“I’ve been their coach. I know where they need to improve,” Barthel said about his running back room.
With Emmett Johnson gone, there is a void to be filled, an opportunity for someone to step up.
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
They say all roads lead home, and for Daniel Kaelin, that remains true as he returns to Lincoln after a year away from the program in 2025.
The former four-star Belleview West (NE) star heads into his sophomore season in his second stint as a Husker, ready to compete for an impactful role. Though he’ll likely be on the outside looking in, in terms of earning the starting job, after gaining starting experience at his previous school, he won’t go down without a fight.
Now, after roughly a week and a half of spring football practices in the books, Kaelin met with the media Wednesday. During his time at the mic, the Nebraska native touched on a variety of topics, including his decision to come home, an ego-less quarterback room in Lincoln, and much more.
It didn’t take long for the will-be sophomore to get asked about his decision to return to Nebraska. After explaining the values he got out of his time away, Kaelin described it as something he’s as excited about as he is thankful for.
“It’s been really good,” said Kaelin. “Nebraska’s my home, and there are so many people on this team that I have a good relationship with. So, the transition has been really smooth. I’ve been enjoying being back, for sure”.
Leaving after the end of the 2024 season, Kaelin’s path towards competing for a starting job appeared to be full of obstacles. But a little over a year after he transferred to Virginia, the situation has changed dramatically. Back in the scarlet and cream, a year older and with more experience, the soon-to-be third-year player is enjoying his return, to say the least.
In his time as a Cavalier, the then-redshirt freshman saw action in seven games. Despite a sparing role, he still managed to throw for the first 339 yards of his career, while also scoring his first collegiate touchdown. Kaelin also proved to be a threat on the ground, with 12 carries for 72 yards.
In total, he amassed 400 all-purpose yards at Virginia and comes to Nebraska more battle-tested than before. Here, the 6-foot-3, 218-pounder will look to grow even more, but was asked to reflect on what he gained during his stay on the East Coast.
“It was my first time being away from home,” he said. “I think that year- doing things on my own- was probably big for me becoming an adult. I think I learned a lot about myself that way”.
Between personal development and his time on the field, Kaelin’s lone season at Virginia was not for nothing. Instead, a more mature version of the young quarterback is what the Huskers are getting back amongst their ranks. He also provides them with the third quarterback to have started a Power Four game in their career.
After discussing what he gained in his time away, Kaelin was then asked to explain how he landed back in Lincoln ahead of the 2026 season. To somewhat of a surprise, the Nebraska native suggested it wasn’t initially planned. Rather, the opportunity presented itself, and both sides agreed.
“I didn’t really even expect to be leaving the last school I was at,” Kaelin said. “Things kind of happened pretty quickly. When I got in the portal, I was able to get in touch with Coach Rhule, and when I knew that this was a possibility, it just made a lot of sense for me. It is really comfortable for me coming back home and being around people that I know”.
Using his past relationships with coaches and players such as Carter Nelson and Bode Soukup, the former in-state signal-caller is what you’d call back home. Confident, comfortable, and with a lot more to prove, he’ll look to make an impact on the field for the first time as a Husker this fall.
Kaelin was then asked to shed light on the dynamic within the quarterbacks’ room, and his response sounded similar to that of quarterback coach Glenn Thomas earlier in the day. Instead of pushing each other away due to competition, the position group is looking to help each other grow. In fact, Kaelin suggested it may be the most unified position group he’s ever been a part of, and something he views as a positive change.
“There’s egos,” he said. There’s money involved. I think that can create some tension or problems sometimes. There haven’t been any type of issues like that with the room that we have right now; it’s been great.”
While some suggest that his comment may be a back-handed dig at former signal-callers within the room, it’s clear that the Huskers no longer have an issue with competition in 2026. Instead, the group is pushing eachother to improve. And when spring ball and fall camp come to a close, the best man for the job will emerge with the others’ full support.
A big change since Kaelin was on campus in 2024 is NU’s retooled wide receiver room. After welcoming in a new position coach, the Huskers have been able to recruit, retain, and add several high-level players to the unit. When asked to offer his thoughts on the room, the will-be sophomore didn’t hold back his early praise.
“A big thing that we’ve noticed so far is we have guys that make plays,” Kaelin said. “We’ve been challenging them to- when the ball is in the air, it has got to be theirs. We don’t want 50/50 balls. They’ve got to go make plays. And so far, they’ve definitely been doing that. It’s been really impressive to watch”.
Not only are the Big Red’s pass catchers bigger, deeper, and faster than before, but it’s beginning to pay off for the offense this spring. There’s still plenty of time for the quarterbacks and wideouts to develop chemistry, but early reports suggest the relationship has started well.
For Kaelin, it was positive to see the metaphorical boy return as a man. Not only has he gained experience and found success on the field, but he’s also come back with a deeper understanding of what it takes to lead a team. By all accounts, it appears his teammates have taken a liking to him, so don’t be surprised if he sees the field in some role this upcoming fall.
Again, he’s far from guaranteed the starting job here in Lincoln and will have to beat out two players with more experience than he has. Still, it is more than likely that he will take his first snaps as a Husker at some point in 2026. Were he to take meaningful reps, the third-year sophomore has already been tested before, and that gives Nebraska reason for optimism about the room.
Overall, he sounded as if he was preparing to be more than ready when his opportunity comes. Returning home did not come without a price, but don’t expect Kaelin to remain silent his second time around. The Huskers are looking for a player who can reliably make plays, and it’s hard to argue that there would be another player in his position group who cares more about the program than he does.
Still, he’ll have to prove his skill is worthy of deserving that chance. Spring should tell a lot about where he stands.
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