RONI HUERTA

Contributor Award
​Inducted in 2018

Dr. Veronica "Roni" Huerta was honored with the Contributor Award during the 2018 Packer Sports Greats.

Roni has worked for OPS for 27 years; all but two of those years have been at South High.  Upon graduating from the University at Iowa, she began her career with OPS as a physical education teacher in 1992.  She immediately became involved with OPS athletics, serving on a committee to get softball sanctioned in the state of Nebraska.  She went on to become the first head softball coach at South.  During her tenure as coach the team was ranked 8th in the state, which was the highest- ranking girls athletic team at South in 24 years.  She also coached girls’ basketball and tennis. 
 
Roni received her Master’s in Technology in Education from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.   This degree allowed Roni to transition into the Curriculum Specialist of Business Marketing Information Technology.  She was instrumental in the first stages of wiring South for technology, having students participate in every step of the process.  She also helped two programs get off the ground  –The  Academy of Information Technology and the Cox Connects Kids Program. 
 
After a short 2-year stint as the supervisor at the TAC building for Business Marketing Information Technology, Roni returned to South and became the Athletic Director.  This is when she began to grow the athletic department.  Her passion for her current and future athletes was infectious.  During her 8-year tenure as the AD, she saw Collin Field renovated, and the boys’ cross-country team, boys basketball and boys soccer teams were all state qualifying teams.  The 2013 boys’ soccer team won the State Championship, which was the first state championship in any sport for South in 23 years.  This team was ranked the #1 team in the Nation and one of the players was named the Gatorade Player of the Year. 
 
In 2002, Roni received her Doctorate in Educational Administration.  Other awards received were the Rotary Club/Vocational Service Award in 2002, the Technology Educator of the Year in 2005, the Excellence in Education Award for the betterment of students in the South Omaha Community in 2012, and the Certified Masters in Athletic Administration in 2013. 
 
For the past three years, she has taken on the role as the Data Processing Vice-Principal.  She is responsible for the master schedule, student gradebooks and working with counselors regarding students’ credits.   
 
Roni has been married to her husband Tony for 21 years. They have two children, Vincent who is a senior at South this year, and Leah, who is a sophomore at UNL. 
 
Roni’s commitment and passion for her students, co-workers and the South Omaha community is extraordinary.  Her mission and vision of success for Omaha South High is very simple – it’s all about the kids, always has been, and always will be.