Cool teachers you should know: Lori Murphy, South Newton High School

Lori Murphy is a 15th year high school art teacher at South Newton High School in Kentland, Indiana. Ms. Murphy grew up in Rensselaer, Indiana and then studied art education at Ball State University. She has been teaching at South Newton ever since.

Her nominator, colleague Karen Molter, reports that Ms. Murphy has a classroom full of energy, and so much demand for her courses that she has to turn students away! Her courses are diverse, ranging from Photoshop and website production to 3-D art. Ms. Murphy is well-known for using e-learning in her classes and for supporting her colleagues in integrating technology (you can find her syllabi and a really neat virtual art gallery of her students' work here).

In her spare time, Ms. Murphy is an active artist, selling ceramics and photographs and working on professional website creation - check out some of her own work here (great holiday gift ideas). Her colleague sums up by saying, "Most importantly, however, Ms. Murphy does all these things with a smile and genuine concern for others."

Keep up the good work, Ms. Murphy!

Give us all the weekly dose of educational anti-depressants we need by nominating a great teacher today - send me an email at eduwonkette (at) gmail (dot) com including their name, school, subject/grade, and a few sentences explaining why you were moved to nominate them.