Meet the Executive Director
Dr. Terry Haack is the Executive Director of the MOEC Collective Impact Initiative, a role designed to guide the improvement of education P-16 in the Omaha metro area. Dr. Haack was most recently Superintendent of Bennington Public Schools from 2004 - 2023.
Prior to becoming Superintendent, Dr. Haack was an high school Principal for Elkhorn Public Schools in Elkhorn, NE. Other work includes: Assistant Principal and Secondary Teacher at Beatrice, Nebraska, and Secondary Science Teacher and Coach in South Page Community Schools in Iowa.
MOEC is directed by an executive steering committee comprised of:
- Superintendents of the Omaha-area public school districts;
- Administrators of two educational service units;
- the Presidents of Iowa Western Community College and Metropolitan Community College;
- Dean Emerita of UNO's College of Education, Dr. Nancy Edick; and Interim Dean of UNO's College of Education, Dr. Neal Grandgenett.
Task Forces and Work Groups are created to work on high priority issues common to member organizations. They include:
- Attendance Work Group
- Curriculum and Assessment Task Force
- Data Work Group
- Dual Enrollment Work Group
- Early Literacy Work Group
- FAFSA Work Group
- Mathematics Work Group
- Mental Health Work Group
- Human Resources Task Force
- Professional Development Task Force
- Professional Learning Task Force
- Safety Task Force
- Student Services Task Force
- Technology Task Force
- Transportation Task Force
MOEC is the Backbone Organization and founder of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading initiative Metro-Omaha Raise Me to Read. The collective impact focus is to engage community in the following areas:
- Early Literacy (Support MOEC Work Group and Encourage Parent-Child Engagement)
- Out of School Learning (Develop Learning Rich Spaces - "Omaha Urban Thinkscapes")
- Attendance Awareness (Support MOEC Work Group and Community Based Attendance Coalition)
- Mental Health (Support MOEC Work Group, Serve on Community Boards, Host Screenings of the Documentary Resilience-The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope)
Our Rules of Engagement/Norms
- We will approach our work diligently since the future of public education depends on our success.
- Our work will be relevant and meaningful to all we serve.
- We will come to each meeting ready to discuss progress and results.
- We will embrace vulnerability and take risks to build and maintain trust.
- We will be curious before critical.
- Our goal will be progress, not perfection.
- We will expect, collect, and react to ongoing feedback related to our work.
- We will commit resources to accomplish our goals.
- When we reach conflict, we will strive for progress rather than impasse.
- We will value the past and focus on the future.