Eight Liberty education students named Virginia Teachers of Promise

Eight students from Liberty University’s School of Education were recognized as 2025 Virginia Teachers of Promise last month for their exceptional work in the field of education.

The students were honored during the annual Virginia Teachers of Promise (TOP) Conference, held March 7-8 in the Thomas R. Fulghum Conference Center in Midlothian, Va., and facilitated by the Teachers of Promise Institute. In addition to the opening induction ceremony, the event provided the students an opportunity to be mentored by nationally recognized educators through workshops and breakout sessions.

Students received training on various issues affecting current teachers, such as adjusting to the classroom as a first-year teacher and managing difficult students. Presenters and mentors included winners of prestigious Milken and McGlothin awards and state Teacher of the Year honorees. Former New Jersey middle school and high school Principal Baruti Kafele, who has received over 150 educational, professional and community awards including the prestigious Milken Educator Award, delivered the keynote address.

Liberty’s 2025 TOP honor recipients were seniors Peyton Brown, Makayla Crowder, Rachel Jones, Zachary Lingenfelter, Skylar Loterzo, Benjamin Newman, Ella Otto, and Madison Thomas. The students were selected by faculty members from their respective schools, who examined the students’ service to the department, school club participation, collaboration amongst classmates, and other factors.

School of Education Associate Dean for Licensure and Residential Programs Dr. Michelle Goodwin, who serves as one of Liberty’s two faculty sponsors for TOP, emphasized the incredible honor.

“We are so proud of these students,” she said. “We think they will be exemplary teachers. They have that spark, pizzazz, and grit. Teacher grit is a necessary requirement for success in this profession. When times get tough, you know you are doing this for a purpose. It’s a calling, and they really take that calling seriously. They have that grit to be life-changers in what they do.”

Jones, a senior studying elementary education, said she valued the knowledge she gleaned from top industry professionals.

“I felt like a sponge the entire conference absorbing these words of wisdom from so many different people coming from so many different educational backgrounds,” she said. “Being able to hear these different experiences really, truly helped me feel like I was more prepared to be a good educator. I felt so prepared and honored to hear from them. Most people don’t get to, and I got this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Jones serves as president of the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society at Liberty and also represents the School of Education as a senator for the Student Government Association. She plans to complete her student-teaching in her hometown of Danville, Va., before pursuing a career in urban education.

“The School of Education has prepared me so much. … It was so great to gain all these different experiences and perspectives by being (heavily) involved in the school. I’ve really felt poured into by our faculty,” she said. “They genuinely care about their students so much as teachers. This isn’t a traditional college. They strive towards the purpose of helping us become the best educators we can be and guiding and leading us in that way. I have so much love and respect for the people here because they truly, genuinely shaped me into an educator that can train people up for Christ but also be a light in the world teaching.”

Otto, an elementary education senior who is currently student teaching at Heritage Elementary School in Lynchburg, said she continues to hear from her TOP mentor and has contact information for other students she met at the conference for future networking opportunities.

Although she wasn’t positive in high school she wanted to pursue a career in education, Otto’s time at Liberty has confirmed this calling for her life.

“Every class I went to (at Liberty), I loved. I knew this is where I wanted to be. I’ve loved all my professors so much,” she said. “They give us so much wisdom in class, but they also give us ‘life wisdom.’ That is what I want to be for my future students — not only giving them the classroom knowledge that they need but also the important life skills. Liberty has really prepared me to be a teacher in many ways.”

The TOP institute was founded in 2004 by Wade Whitehead, a recipient of the Milken Educator Award and McGlothlin Award for Teaching Excellence and a member of the National Teacher Hall of Fame. Whitehead created the institute to provide mentorship of promising, passionate teacher candidates in Virginia by veteran teachers who have won distinguished awards in teaching.

Liberty has partnered with TOP every year since the organization’s inception and has participated in the conference each year with the exception of 2020, when the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liberty’s Teachers of Promise students will receive medallions commemorating their awards during a School of Education ceremony on April 28 and will wear them during the 2025 Commencement ceremonies.