"A 'calling' is defined as 'a strong impulse toward a course of action.' It is my personal belief that teaching lends itself to that definition. I believe that teaching is what occurs when one has a strong impulse and a sound plan towards transferring ideas and information from one to another. A teacher is 'called' to touch lives, to generate a love for learning, and to constantly be a student of life themselves."


Lisa P. Langston
Art, Strawbridge Elementary
2005 Virginia Beach City Public Schools Teacher of the Year


Lisa Langston has been teaching art in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools for six years. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree from Old Dominion University in 1998, she began teaching at Windsor Oaks Elementary, where she was nominated for the National Sallie Mae First Year Teacher Award. In 2001, she continued her career at Strawbridge Elementary where she is currently teaching art to students in grades one through five.

Mrs. Langston has presented for the Virginia Art Education Association, the Virginia School Board Conference, and at New Teacher Training. She has served as a member of the Fine Arts, Social Studies, Elementary Art Curriculum Development, and the New Teacher Mentor Program Committees. She is a member of the Virginia, Tidewater, and National Art Education Associations, as well as the Virginia Beach, Virginia, and National Education Associations. Mrs. Langston has served as Chairperson for VBCPS Youth Art Month and the VBCPS Teaching Artisits Exhibit. She was illustrator for Sister Angel, an exhibitor for the Education Foundation's "Taste of Art" exhibit, and has published "Teaching Voices, A Lesson in Power: Studying the Art of Whitfield Lovell" in the newsletter of the United States Society for Education Through Art. She has also been an instructor for the VBCPS Secondary Arts Enrichment Program and for The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia.