Lawrence High honors art teacher Angelia Perkins with Master Teacher award

After 32 years in Lawrence High School art rooms and photography labs, Angelia Perkins expected to slip out quietly on her last day. Instead, colleagues made sure the teacher who shaped generations of students left with Lawrence Public Schools’ annual Master Teacher award.

Perkins’ career tracked the sweep of modern visual arts education at Lawrence High, from darkroom-era photography to a digital world where students learn both technical craft and visual storytelling. That long run in one building gave her an outsized place in the school’s culture, not just as an instructor, but as a mentor whose lessons reached far beyond a single assignment or class period.

Her name now appears on Lawrence High’s fine arts department staff list alongside Emily Markoulatos and Todd Poteet in visual arts and media, a reminder that Perkins was part of a larger arts faculty helping define the school’s identity. In Lawrence, that work connects to a broader public arts ecosystem. The Lawrence Arts Center’s annual USD 497 exhibition features student work selected by K-12 art teachers in Lawrence Public Schools, and its Vanguard Awards highlight the value of arts learning and the importance of fine arts programs in public education.

The Master Teacher honor is part of a district tradition. Lawrence Public Schools selects one Lawrence Master Teacher each spring for local recognition and as its nominee to the Kansas Master Teacher program sponsored by Emporia State University. Staff award nominations go to the superintendent through the Communications Office, giving the district a formal way to elevate educators whose influence reaches across classrooms and school years.

Past examples show the award carries weight. In 2022, the honor included a $2,500 check, and district staff awards have sometimes been presented during school assemblies, turning an individual recognition into a public celebration in front of students and colleagues. For Perkins, the timing made the moment even more resonant, arriving in the same week Lawrence Public Schools was also celebrating the Lawrence High School Class of 2026.

That pairing of graduation season and a retirement sendoff fit Perkins’ career in Lawrence. Her final day closed a 32-year chapter in one school, but the work she did there will keep showing up in student portfolios, in public exhibitions and in the memories of the many Lawrence graduates who passed through her classroom.