Elementary school teacher Lisa Mackey has been named one of three educators from her state who have been named as 2023 Texas State Teacher of the Year finalists. Photo credit: Texas Association of School Administrators
It is always my pleasure to recognize exceptional educators who have been honored for their work with students. One of these is Lisa Mackey, an art teacher from Klein, Texas. She has been named one of three educators from her state who have been named as 2023 Texas State Teacher of the Year finalists.
Lisa teaches at Fox Elementary School in the Klein Independent School District. In a career that began in 2010 in the Fort Bend Independent School District, she has taught at Fox since 2022, when she became a member of the inaugural staff at that school. Before transitioning to art, she taught as a regular classroom teacher. But she declares that the move has been a good one for her. “As an art teacher, I have a unique opportunity to pull out creativity in every way possible,” Lisa says. “However, having been a classroom teacher before transitioning to art has made me appreciate and integrate cross-curricular activities into many of my lessons.”
In addition to her work as an art instructor, Lisa is an advocate for advanced academics as a Gifted and Talented coordinator. In this role, she works with students to help them thrive in problem-solving and self-driven learning. She also does volunteer work as a Destination Imagination coach. Destination Imagination students work together in teams to solve open-ended STEAM challenges designed to teach the creative process.
This outstanding educator has been named one of three teachers from across Texas who have been chosen as Texas State Teacher of the Year finalists for the 2023 Elementary Texas Teacher of the Year program. But she has garnered other accolades as well. In 2022, Lisa was named her district’s Teacher of the Year, and she was selected in both 2020 and 2015 as the Metzler Elementary School Teacher of the Year, also located in the Klein ISD. Metzler is an internationally recognized Visible Learning campus. Visible Learning is the result of work by John Hattie who conducted research focusing on the influences that impact student achievement. Hattie was able to identify more than 250 influences on positive student achievement. Visible Learners set learning goals, are reflective, and know when to seek help from peers. Teachers provide success criteria so learners understand what it means to be successful in their learning.
Lisa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Texas State University in 2009, graduating magna cum laude.
