Last modified: September 15, 2020
Evidence of Personal Growth, Teaching Skills, and Leadership Skills
“Something that makes Lisa particularly outstanding is her willingness to learn and be reflective. Despite the stress of changing her teaching practices, she models resilience as she remains always pleasant, hopeful, and constructive in her approach. Lisa has been willing to take on leadership roles in this work and facilitate the collaboration of all the school’s stakeholders. Many of her colleagues are lifted by her optimism and professional example. Most importantly, children and families are greatly benefited from her devoted work to high-quality teaching using an exemplary model of Arts integration.”
Quote from Letter of Recommendation by Dr. Gaye Gibbs, Principal:
“I promptly became aware of the importance of STEAM integration at Edgemont and Lisa was the one who was constantly bringing me on board to understand the intricacies of the STEAM and Beverly Taylor Sorenson Grant. Lisa is a leader in our school and extremely dedicated. She always wants the best for her students even if it means more work for her….Lisa…magically turned these students on to learning, especially with her integrated units. This is a case where these students would disengage in most classes, but because of Lisa’s ability to integrate science, reading, math, drama, art, and music, these students are growing and thriving.”
Quote from Letter of Recommendation by Emily Soderborg former colleague and presently Arts Professional Development Partner at BYU:
“Lisa has continually sought out ways that she could learn and grow her own skills in the arts. In the 2011-12 school year, Edgemont was offered a few spots within BYU’s Arts Academy and Lisa was one of the first to ask if she could participate. She and I attended these in-service days together and she suggested that we collaborate doing action research together to determine if using percussion instruments in first grade math would increase students’ comprehension. The following year, Lisa applied for an Arts Bridge Scholar to come to her classroom. Because there were already visual art and music specialists in the school, Lisa requested a dance scholar so she could discover fresh and creative ways of integratingthe core subjects and daily curriculum with movement. The ideas that Lisa gained from these experiences were not shelved for later use, but were immediately put into practice with her students. This past fall, to continue her own pursuit of learning, she enrolled in the first arts integration endorsement cohort offered through BYU. She spends several hours each week in class and shares what she has already learned with others and soaks in others’ ideas that she can implement in her classroom.”
Quote from Letter of Recommendation by Jeff Cornwall former colleague and Visual Arts Specialist at Edgemont:
“Lisa volunteered to become one of the first teachers at Edgemont to explore and experiment with integration and inquiry in her classroom….with this paradigm shift, Lisa, in way, hung up her position as teacher and became a learner alongside her students.”
Quote from Letter of Recommendation by Sara McAfee former colleague and presently STEM Instructional Coach for Provo School District:
“Her teaching and life illustrate the type of dispositions and skills we want our students to develop. She is observant, thoughtful, and creative…She finds talents inside of her students that they didn’t even know they had and helps them to grow.”
Quote from Letter of Recommendation by Heidi Foss parent of former students:
“Her classes have had such a quality of excellence because of how she implements creative lessons while applying intellectual lessons for the growth of the whole child.”
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