LEE COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) - A Lee County High School art teacher was surprised with recognition as this month’s A+ Educator.

Megan Lisenby’s classroom is full of color, creativity and compassion.

“I tell my kids, you know, you can’t exist in the world without art, whether you are artistic or not,” Lisenby said. “So it is definitely a way that I’m able to connect emotionally to my students, communicate with them.”

Building connections

Savanna Kellett, a colleague who has known Lisenby since they were kids, said she hit the ground running when she started as a teacher seven years ago.

“I was really excited that we were getting a new art teacher because the one we had had, you know, retired from here and had been here for a really long time,” Kellett said. “So it was exciting to get someone new and fresh. And I, having known her for a long time, I was really excited to see her get this opportunity.”

Kellett said Lisenby jumped right in during her first year, helping with prom preparations.

“That first year, it was my first year of sponsoring the prom, and I very desperately needed help painting something,” Kellett said. “And she was just like, yeah, come on down, I’ll teach you. And she just very quickly jumped right in and, you know, and helped.”

Lisenby goes far beyond teaching art history, painting or drawing. She takes on every project and has become part of the backbone of the school.

“So I think everybody loves Lisenby. I think that’s universal. Her students love her. She’s obviously really fun. They enjoy being in art with her,” said Melissa Edwards, Lee County High School principal. “Her colleagues love her because she’s kind and she’s a team player. And again, she’s just so full of life and she just makes everything fun and better.”

Going the extra mile

During COVID, Lisenby delivered art supplies directly to students.

“I drove with gloves and mask on to every single house and put them in the mailbox and made sure that kids with Lysol wipes and Lysol had everything they needed safely so that they could create,” Lisenby said. “Being able to create, being able to communicate in some manner, you know, sometimes it wasn’t even necessarily about art. It was more about seeing each other’s faces and saying, ” Hey, we’re all here for each other, and we can show up even when things are hard was really important to me at the time."

She also shows up for her co-workers. A few times a year, she leads after-school art sessions for fellow teachers, especially around the holidays, where they can paint themed spirit items like canvases. This year, she ran a workshop on painting jeans and jean jackets, giving colleagues time to create together and connect.

“I learned more and more every day from everybody else in the building, which is just as valuable and important as teaching my own subject,” Lisenby said. “So really building those connections with everybody in the building is important to me.”

Lisenby said her love for her hometown and students keeps her coming back year after year.

“Growing young artists, growing young creative minds, and kids who care and think about things outside themselves is what’s so very important to me,” Lisenby said. “And what keeps me coming back year after year is, you know, continuing to make those connections, continuing to build those young minds into creative individuals is what’s really important to me.”

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