Via press release
Lisa Teixeira, Library/Media Specialist at Kennett High School, has won the National Liberty Museum’s Teacher as Hero Award. Ms. Teixeira will receive her award at a reception at the museum in Philadelphia on April 30.
KHS’ Lisa Teixeira
The National Liberty Museum’s Teacher as Hero Award, a program sponsored in conjunction with the museum by State Farm®, each year recognizes dedicated teachers in the Delaware Valley who “inspire, motivate and educate young people.” Teachers who have been recognized in prior years have “stood up for students’ rights… advocated on behalf of a troubled student … provided incredible enrichment opportunities for their students.” The award is presented to fewer than twenty teachers throughout the tri-state area.
According to the museum’s web site “the National Liberty Museum is dedicated to preserving America’s heritage of freedom by encouraging people to find their own place in the story of liberty. Our core themes for young people and adults include leadership and good character; diversity and inclusion; peaceful conflict resolution; and civic engagement. Our primary art form is glass art, as it makes the point that freedom is as fragile as glass.”
Each year the museum asks for nominations and encourages people to look for qualities that include an appreciation for diversity, an ability to teach students how to resolve conflicts respectfully and to give students a deeper understanding of the relationship between rights and responsibilities. Teachers who honor the student voice, who take a risk to remove obstacles to a student’s liberty, and who incorporate all of these qualities into their daily relationships qualify for this award. This year 14 teachers will be honored.
Ms. Teixeira was nominated for this award by guidance counselor Fran Ryan who stated in his letter of nomination, “Ms. Lisa Teixeira is one of those rare individuals whose energy and humanitarian efforts far exceeds that of even the most dedicated educators and community service leaders. Lisa is a fierce proponent of human rights, whether she is working in our small town of Kennett Square or whether she is serving halfway around the world. Lisa demonstrates all of the characteristics of a Teacher As Hero Award winner.”
Mr. Ryan also wrote, “Because she is our school’s librarian, she has the opportunity to interact with all of our students in grades 9-12. She is active in teaching literacy and research skills to our entire student body. She teaches lessons on a daily basis and uses her teaching as a platform to promote human rights, citizenship, and literacy skills. She also uses her sponsorship of our school’s Humanitarian Club, our literature club, Better than Oprah, and for many previous years, our Student Council, to greatly enrich the education of our students in many ways.”
Mr. Ryan continued throughout his four-page nomination letter to enumerating ways in which Lisa personifies each of the qualities the award honors including saying “Lisa frequently encourages students to ‘take a stand’ and ‘use their voices’; and promotes these ideals in her teaching and in her work with the Humanitarian Club and previously as sponsor of our Student Council. She teaches students that they have a, responsibility as American citizens to make a difference in the world. She encourages students to work to make changes if they see something that is unjust. She encourages students and members of our community to take part in the political process. Lisa recently hosted a gathering of coworkers and other friends at in which the group made telephone calls to other citizens encouraging them to vote in the 2014 elections. She sees participation in the American political process as a right and a responsibility.”
Lisa Teixeira has been the librarian at Kennett High School since 1997, serves as Chairperson and is the senior librarian in the Kennett Consolidated School District. Ms. Teixeira holds a Master of Science Degree in Information Studies from Drexel University. Prior to coming to Kennett High School, she was Children’s Librarian at the Bayard Taylor Library in Kennett Square, she worked at Widener University in Informational Studies, and she did grant work at Drexel University and was a teaching assistant there.
Responding to her notification of the Teacher As Hero Award, Lisa humbly said, “I am very grateful for the recognition, but we know it takes a village, and I’m just one member of the school community!”
Contact: Anne M. Carroll, Publicity Director – Kennett High School; 100 E. South Street, Kennett Square, PA acarroll@kcsd.org, 610-721-6258 (cell)
