A career centered on students: Pam Teel reflects on 29 years in education

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series. Next week’s issue will introduce new district superintendent Matt Cameron.

After 29 years of service to the Lincoln County School District — the last nine as superintendent — Pam Teel turned in her keys on July 1. 

As she prepared for retirement, Teel reflected on a career defined by a student-centered focus, a willingness to innovate and a commitment to preparing children for a rapidly changing world.

“We’ve got to prepare students for a future that I can’t even imagine at this point,” Teel said.

From cleaning houses to leading classrooms

A graduate of Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico, Teel was the first generation in her family to be expected to attend college. After two years at a community college, she transferred to New Mexico State, where she met her husband, Kyle, and soon moved to his hometown of Caliente.

She re-enrolled at Southern Utah University (SUU) but withdrew for a time, filling her days with odd jobs. “I did home health fill-in … I cleaned houses a couple of years, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s time to go back,’” she recalled.

After finishing her degree at SUU, she landed her first job with the school district in the 1995-96 school year. “Education was always a piece of me,” she said.

She spent 12 years teaching pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, a role that perfectly suited her personality. “I could have done away with my desk, because I never sat,” she laughed. “In kindergarten, you move in 15-minute increments, and that’s my personality, too. You just keep things moving.”

It was in those early years that her passion for witnessing student growth was forged. She described the first few months of kindergarten as foundational, teaching the basics of how to operate in a school environment. “About three months in, you can just see a huge difference,” she explained. “Those ‘aha’ moments when a kid succeeds and does something, and they’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I can do it.’ Those things are just the best.”

Data, not guesswork

That passion for tangible progress followed her into administration, first as principal at Caliente and Pioche Elementary schools, and finally as superintendent. Mentored by former principal and superintendent Nykki Holton, Teel embraced a data-driven approach to school improvement. It always bothered her when student progress was discussed in vague terms. She wanted specifics.

“Where’s the data?” she would ask. She championed the use of NWEA MAPS testing, a formative assessment given three times a year to benchmark and track individual student growth. Unlike the state’s “one-and-done” summative tests, MAPS provides teachers with actionable data to target instruction where it’s needed most.

This focus on data was part of a larger quest to bring clarity and consistency to education, challenging subjective measures like traditional grades. “What does an A mean?” she posed. “Does an A for one teacher mean the same thing for an A for another teacher? I would prefer to know that they learned something, not just get an A.”

This conviction put her at the forefront of state-level advocacy, pushing back against what she calls the “summative federal hold that is killing us.” For years, she has argued for a more holistic model where students are seen as “more than a test,” a battle she is now handing off to her successor, Matt Cameron.

For Teel, success doesn’t have a single definition. In a stance that sometimes challenges tradition, she acknowledges the broadening scope of post-high school success beyond a four-year university degree.

“I’ve taken some grief a little bit for saying college is not the only way,” she admitted. “I do agree that a college education for some really does benefit. But there’s also some career [paths] that don’t require a four-year degree that can certainly aid and benefit students in a very productive life.”

She points to the reality many graduates face: expensive degrees that don’t always lead to employment in their field of study. In her view, trade jobs are not just viable alternatives but are often more immediately employable. This belief fueled her push to offer students more options and to broaden their horizons through travel, helping them see that “the world is a bigger place,” with more opportunities than they might realize.

Getting off the mat

Leadership also brought its share of challenges. Teel identified two moments that felt like being knocked to the mat. The first came when her suggestion to restructure Meadow Valley Middle School was not well-communicated, leading to rumors and backlash. “My intent was, how do we improve what we’re doing?” she said. She remembers enduring some difficult board meetings, but doesn’t regret the effort. 

“No, because I learned a lot,” she reflected.

The process made it clear that most people support the middle school structure as is. Teel added that current principal Dr. Michael Roth has led in developing a positive culture at the school. She still would like to see sixth grade in MVMS, like it is in Pahranagat Valley, but funding to build the necessary facilities is elusive. 

A second struggle was the push to implement a standards-based, four-point grading scale coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The district had to scale back the initiative when it became clear it wasn’t fully prepared. For Teel, it was another lesson in the “right hard work,” choosing to try and learn rather than wait for a perfect moment that might never come. She hopes that, ultimately, schools will fully implement such a tool to measure student learning more effectively.

This push toward standards-based practices was further informed by the district’s experience with the Summit Learning platform, which was a key part of Teel’s student-centered approach, though she notes it was an evolving effort for everyone involved. 

“Summit, we learned a lot from,” she said, explaining that the platform’s developers were learning and adapting at the same pace as the district. The initiative, which was implemented in some schools but not others, was eventually discontinued nationally and replaced by other systems. Teel feels that “some of the best things about Summit kind of fell away” in the transition. Still, she believes the core philosophy will endure. “If it’s the right thing, it will continue to move forth,” she stated, expressing confidence in her successor. “Matt’s committed to the right thing for students.”

A new chapter

The Nevada Association of School Superintendents (NASS) named Teel as the 2025 Nevada Superintendent of the Year. 

“Pam Teel is compassionate yet tough, caring yet firm, reflective yet visionary, and inclusive yet ready to leave behind those who are not ready to move. She helps all of us around her be better,” said Adam Young, 2025 NASS president. 

As she looks to the future, Teel worries about the national trend of privatization and school vouchers, which she believes devalues public education’s mission to serve every child. However, she remains optimistic that leaders can steer education toward the future rather than clinging to the past.

Now, after nearly three decades, she says simply, “It’s time.” Two years cancer-free but still dealing with the lingering effects of treatment, she faced an ACL repair to kick off her retirement.

“It truly feels like nine years with not a day off,” she said. “I just need time to be tired. I’m tired.”

While she may eventually look to assist other small school districts as a consultant, for now, the plan is to recover, rest and enjoy some other things in life, leaving behind a legacy of advocacy for the students of Lincoln County.