EDWARDSVILLE - Over the last 18 years of her career, Liberty Middle School seventh grade teacher Mrs. Diana Lockwood has been a massive influence in the lives of each and every one of her students.
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With her classroom decorated with a theme of The Wizard of Oz, Lockwood shared how watching her son grow influenced her to go back to school and get a degree in English. With a passion for literature and an affinity for teaching middle school-aged children, teaching seventh grade was a perfect fit.
“I was itching to get in my own room, get my own program, and my own kids,” she said. “Eventually, that did happen and 18 years later, here I am!”
Lockwood says that her work at Liberty Middle School has given her the opportunity to work with some of the finest educators in the district,.
“From the custodian staff that keeps the building clean to the kitchen staff that serves us tasty dishes, we’re a family.”
Sharing their love for educating young minds, Lockwood and her colleagues are extremely passionate about what they do.
Lockwood is enthusiastic about teaching the upcoming curriculum, including literature about the Titanic. She plans to incorporate costumes, recreated tickets, food from 1912 and actual footage from the original wreckage into her lessons, creating the most interactive educational experience for her students.
“School is not just about curriculums,” she said. “It is learning all the other things that go with it; accountability, responsibility, organization, common sense and simple manners. When my kids leave my classroom and move on with their educational lifestyles and adulthoods, I want them to learn and implement things as they go. If you know how to publicly speak or conduct yourself at an interview or social setting, its going make you shine just a little bit brighter.”
“That’s the greatest thing that they giving me as a legacy,” she said. “Once you get them through and you know they have skills, it doesn’t make you worry.”
Even after retirement, Lockwood plans to come back and substitute teach to fulfill her love of education.
“Education is not a destination,” she said, “It’s a journey.”
Madelaine Gerard also contributed to this story.
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