MARK BRODIE: The Arizona Educational Foundation has named its 2027 Arizona Teacher of the Year: Lisa Scott, an eighth-grade science and social studies teacher at Esmond Station K-8 school in the Vail School District.
Scott has been teaching for more than two decades. But during her school’s winter break in 2022, she was diagnosed with sepsis and ultimately had her hands and feet amputated. Being a quadruple amputee, though, did not keep her from returning to the classroom.
The Show caught up with Scott during a break in her class schedule to talk about the grade she teaches. She says not everyone remembers middle school that fondly, and I asked what is it that she enjoys about teaching eighth-graders.
Full conversation
LISA SCOTT: I hated middle school myself as a student. It was probably the hardest time in my entire schooling career. So when I figured out that I wanted to be a teacher, I actually started in elementary school, and my husband and I had moved back East and kind of fell into a middle school position, was pretty scared in the beginning.
And pretty quickly within, I would say, the first week of school, I just knew that it was the place for me. I really, really enjoyed it. And interestingly enough, I think some of the things that I hated about it as a student are are some of the reasons that I love teaching it.
It is a really tough time in in adolescents' lives. You know, they're changing and they're figuring out who they are and kind of leaving that that little kid world and getting into that teenage world. And, you know, being able to kind of be there for them and help guide them through that and and talk them through some of the challenges they're having with peers and, you know, academically and with, you know, their parents because they're starting to want more independence.
So I really enjoy being able to kind of help them and and be that guide for them and, you know, build their trust and then maybe be able to guide them in ways when I know they won't listen to their parents about some of the lessons that that are really important. Sometimes they'll listen to somebody who's not a parent.
MARK BRODIE: How do you go about trying to gain the trust of, you know, 14-year-olds?
LISA SCOTT: That's a, you know, that's a, that's a really important part of what we do. And when I when I work with new teachers, especially to middle school, that that's one of the first things that that I work with them on and that I tell them is those first few weeks, it's it is that. It's building the relationships and letting them know that you are invested in them and that you see them as people and where they are.
So it a lot of it is just initiating those conversations with them, getting them to open up about what what they like. And when when you know that that child's favorite thing to do in the world is soccer, you can start having some of those, you know, more pointed conversations with them.
And when they see that you see them and that you value them, they really start to open up, and then they start to trust you. And once that trust is built, they will, as I say, they'll run for run through a wall for you.
MARK BRODIE: Did you find that that was in your mind as you were contemplating whether and how to come back to the classroom after you became a quadruple amputee?
LISA SCOTT: Yeah. In fact, when something like that happens, you know, something life-changing like that and and finding out what my future was going to look like in the hospital as information was kind of relayed to me about what had happened and, and what I was looking looking at in my future with amputations, my in my mind immediately went to that classroom. It wasn't, it wasn't the instructional piece. I love teaching science. I think that science literacy is important, but that wasn't the thing that popped in my mind.
It was, it was the relationship with those students and that thought that they were going to come back from winter break, and I wasn't going to be there. And, you know, those kids that were were coming to me before and after lunch, "Oh, I have this I have this problem. So and so's, you know, they're not inviting me to their get-together on the weekend. I feel left out." And those students that you had kind of been there for, that's what I thought about is, "I'm not going to be there."
It's that relationship piece and the the people that you're working with, both my students and my colleagues, my friends, it's the that human factor that that makes you want to come back. And that that was the first thing in my mind about returning to my job. It was, "I got to get back to my people."
MARK BRODIE: Did it help you at all as you were kind of thinking about who you were at that point and maybe how your life had changed, to think about, you know, some of the lessons that you'd been talking to other newer teachers about in terms of building trust, and maybe thinking, "OK, I maybe I can trust my students to be OK with this and to sort of make any accommodations that need to be made so that I can continue to do this?"
LISA SCOTT: Definitely. When I was in the hospital talking to nurses and doctors and all the different amazing medical professionals that were taking care of me and helping me bounce back, that was a the takeaway for a lot of people that, that don't work with middle schoolers, it was, "Well, I hope you're ready."
You know, I had a, I had a doctor that I worked with that was kind of trying to get me prepared and and said, you know, you have to prepare for that first moment that a kid kind of makes fun of your disability or points it out, you know? That that student that student's mad at you for some reason, and, and now they're going to retaliate, and they're going to say something about you, or, you know, they're going to send a text message to their friends.
And I remember in that moment mentally preparing a little bit, but also thinking, "I don't think that's going to be that big of an issue." And it goes back to what what I said before with once you build that trust for them, they they've got your back.
And I feel like in the beginning my my students were a little cautious around me as far as like, "Do you need help with that?" You know, if I dropped something, they they'd all want to rush and pick it up. And then as we spent more time together and they kind of figured out what I was capable of, even that dropped off, and it was they weren't treating me any differently than they had the year before I got sick.
That was unexpected for me. I figured they would probably be accepting. I didn't realize how much their acceptance would do for me just across across the, you know, the board. You know, I was thinking of the lessons I could still bring to my students. I didn't anticipate the depth of the lessons that they would give back to me.
MARK BRODIE: All right, that is Lisa Scott, an eighth grade social studies and science teacher at Esmond Station K-8 School in the Vail Unified School District. She's also the new Arizona Teacher of the Year.
Lisa, thank you so much and congratulations on the award.
LISA SCOTT: Thank you.
-
As AI makes its way into the classroom, schools across the country are moving to put in restrictions and AI use. The Show spoke with one Arizona education expert to learn find out what these new rules could mean for the future of K-12 learning. -
The Tucson Unified School District is looking for ways to combat a near-40% chronic absence rate across grade levels. -
A group that distributes money for Arizona early childhood development programs says it needs to find new sources of revenue. And one area it’s identified: vaping. -
The Peoria Unified School District governing board is reevaluating its "No DEI" policy. Board President Jeff Tobey is proposing changes that he says will allow the district to protect equal treatment while continuing to teach “honest, age-appropriate history.” -
This message is only a minute and 43 seconds long — but it means a lot to Indigenous Parent Committee co-president Monique John, who is Navajo and Jemez. She was among a few dozen citizens backing the proposal amid the Wednesday night public comment window — just moments before the roll call.
