20 under 40: Lindsey Dowell
Lindsey is a teacher in the Auburn-Washburn School District and serves in the role of gifted facilitator at Washburn Rural Middle School. Her job is to provide special education services to approximately 50 gifted 7th and 8th grade students each school year. In 2019, Lindsey was named the Kansas Council for History Education Teacher of the Year, which is an award given to one of the top history teachers in the state of Kansas.
Lindsey is also involved at Western Hills Church, where she has volunteered in activities like coaching UPWARD sports, participating in Sharefest, leading connect groups, and being involved in the planning and leading of mission trips. In fact, mission trips have been a very big part of Lindsey’s life. She has served on mission trips to Honduras and Rwanda, Africa. Lindsey wants to make Topeka a better place by investing in the people that live in this community. Her number one goal is to bring others along on her experiences and hope they get as much out of it as she does.
What is the proudest moment in your educational career?
When we started the service project to send basketball jerseys and backpacks to Rwandan refugees, I knew it was going to be tough. At the end of the year, we did not have enough money to send the jerseys, and the pandemic had set in, giving us few options for fundraising. I decided to wait until the following school year and hoped things would look better, but they didn’t. At that point, I gave the students three options: use the money we have to send a few boxes, donate the money we have, or try another fundraiser. I was sincerely hoping they would choose to donate the money, but of course, they wanted to get every one of the boxes we had promised to Rwanda. Their determination paid off when, after two years of work, they raised enough money. I was so incredibly proud of their grit, perseverance, and desire to see through on our commitment to the refugee camp.
What’s been your most valuable lesson?
Never let the fear of failure keep you from trying something new. Your greatest growth will come when you are in situations that stretch you and make you uncomfortable.
Should zombies be slow or fast?
My students just completed a mock simulation of the United Nations using a Zombie Apocalypse as the problem they were trying to solve, so I feel like I have some great insight into this question. Slow-moving zombies would be much preferred over fast-moving zombies. Zombies have a 100% infection rate, so being able to get away from them quickly is imperative. It would also give the living more time to develop warning systems and safe places in the event that there is a zombie outbreak. Also, a slow-moving zombie would be easier to catch in order for testing purposes to create a vaccine.
