Case High School Theater Group teacher Nancy Gibson has dedicated her life to building leaders through team building and over the years has changed hundreds of lives.

By challenging her students to tell their own stories, Gibson develops a deep connection with her students. But she starts with the basics and doesn’t take anything for granted with her students.

She often teaches her students to eat better and asks them to take charge of their emotional well being. Yoga and mediation, interpretive dance, and team building skills are staples in her tool box. And her dedication to her students — even the students who have been marginalized and suffer from traumatic experiences — is unyielding, which is why they find solace in the demands she places on them. Now, Gibson has been nominated for the LifeChanger of the Year award, which is sponsored by National Life Group and the National Life Group Foundation.

The nomination comes on the heels of the Case Eagle Theater group winning a state-wide theater competition for the group’s self-written play #DarkSideOfTheRainbow, the play tackled issues around being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. The issues around coming out became extremely personal to this group after three students committed suicide after coming out as transgender at Horlick High School over the last two years.

“Nancy Gibson has been a guiding light for me for the past 14 years,” wrote on the nomination page. “As a high school student, she provided me with an outlet where I could express my thoughts and emotions in a safe space. Her unique methods of theater instruction brings her students together like family creating lasting bonds to one another. This brings a sense of community that many youth need so badly during these years.”

If Gibson is chosen as one of the Top 15 LifeChangers of the Year, she could earn cash prizes of up to $10,000 for her school. And if she wins, she’ll be able to take her students to a national competition.

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