Teacher of the Month - April 2024
In cooperation with the Mayor's office and City Council, the Rotary Club of Okla. City recognizes an outstanding teacher in our community.
Lisa Ummel-Ingram was named Teacher of the Month for April 2024. She serves as an Instructional Coach at Wheeler Middle School and has, through her 30 years of teaching, evolved to the ever-changing educational environment.
Prior to teaching, she served in the United States Air Force and began her military career in personnel management. Her most rewarding duties involved training “new troops”. She loved the feeling of accomplishment as new personnel progressed in their on-the-job training. As a result, she was inspired to teach and began to take education classes as electives as she neared completion of a bachelor’s degree in business and management while in the Air Force. Upon leaving the Air Force, she completed a master’s degree in elementary education at Oklahoma City University.
Lisa has a strong history of being a leader in her school, encouraging and mentoring her fellow teachers because she recognizes the need to support both students and teachers to achieve a healthy, successful school community.
Lisa strives to establish strong relationships with her students and provide classroom lessons that extend into their current and future lives. She practices empathy and kindness and believes that strong social-emotional skills are essential for the well-being of staff and students.
Lisa is a twice renewed National Board Certified teacher. She shares a love of reading and writing with her students, and has built much of her teaching toolbox on the tenants of the National Writing Project’s and the Oklahoma State University Writing Project’s goal of improving the teaching and learning of writing in classrooms. She serves as the sixth grade team leader, English Language Arts department chair, new teacher mentor, and as an adjunct professor where she mentors aspiring English education majors through their Methods of Teaching English course at Oklahoma City University.
Lisa Ummel-Ingram was presented with a certificate of recognition as well as a $500 gift from the Rotary Club 29 Foundation and a $500 gift from the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation in partnership with the American Fidelity Foundation.
