Main Campus Teacher: Liana Massengale
Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: “I have been a teacher for 25 years. I taught for 1 year at Marcus High School and 1 year at Ponder High School. I have been at Lewisville High School for 23 years.”
Q: What grade and what subject do you teach?
A: “I teach Speech and Debate. I have students from grades 9-12. I have taught Debate 1, 2, and 3, Professional Communications, Oral Interpretation, Public Speaking, and Teen Leadership.”
Q: What is your favorite memory as a teacher?
A: “I have a lot of wonderful memories. It has been my honor to teach at the same school that I graduated from. As a Speech and Debate coach, I have been to many competitions and watched as our students achieved great results at the Local, State, and National level. Perhaps my greatest memories are of both my daughters graduating from LHS.”
Q: Tell me what you enjoyed most about teaching.
A: “My favorite thing is teaching kids constructive ways to use their voices. It is rewarding to watch students who are so afraid to stand in front of an audience progress into confident and articulate speakers. I also enjoy the laughter and energy that young people bring to my classroom. Each day was something different and unique.”
Q: Why are you retiring?
A: “After 23 years of coaching and traveling, I am ready to get my weekends back. I love being in the classroom, so you will probably see me subbing.”
Q: Tell me the steps you took to begin your teaching career.
A: “I was not always a teacher. I graduated from University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. I worked in Accounts Receivable for a hospital. Even though I enjoyed my job, I always wanted to be a teacher and because of my love of public speaking, specifically a speech and debate teacher, I received my Alternative Certification in Special Education which I taught my first year and then became certified in speech so that I could be a speech teacher.”
Q: What are your plans for after retirement?
A: “I plan to work part-time, most likely as a substitute teacher. I would also like to start a podcast or a blog with my longtime teaching colleague and high school speech coach, Sally Squibb. She and I have a lot of stories to tell!”
Q: How do you hope students will remember you?
A: “I would hope that they will remember me as someone who cared and who always believed that they are capable of great things. I also hope they look back and remember my classroom as a place where everyone was welcome and that all voices mattered.”