LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Christopher Lock

Position: Sixth Grade GATE Teacher
School: Stoddard Elementary School
School District: Anaheim Elementary School District
City, State: Anaheim, CA

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Christopher Lock was nominated by his vice principal, Kevin Moore.

Mr. Lock started at Stoddard Elementary School in 2016. He made an immediate impact on the lives of students, staff and families in his school community. Mr. Lock is well known in his district for implementing musical productions with upper grade students.

Last year, under Mr. Lock's direction, Stoddard Elementary put on the musical Annie. This year, they put on The Sound of Music. He enlists teachers, instructional aides, and parents to get involved in choreography, costuming and set design for these productions. Approximately sixty students practice for months after school to prepare for these productions. For the past two years, they have sold out at each performance. Students have an amazing experience learning their lines and being involved in a full scale musical production.

Mr. Lock is also a cutting-edge teacher with technology. His enthusiasm for engaging students in various applications to demonstrate their understanding of subject matter has influenced several other teachers at his school. Many of the teachers are currently using applications demonstrated by Mr. Lock to support student learning and showcase their work. During Professional Learning Community time, he demonstrates his leadership, collaborating with his grade level team to plan challenging and engaging units of instruction. He is always happy to support teachers in their professional growth.

Mr. Lock holds high expectations for his students' learning, regularly communicating progress and assignments with parents through electronic applications. Approximately 1/3 of his class has been accepted to Oxford Academy, a rigorous and highly competitive high school. Mr. Lock engages students in thought provoking and challenging experiences that will prepare them for their journey into junior high.

In his personal life, Mr. Lock is a leader in his child's Boy Scout troop. They go on camping trips and work through projects, preparing for their Eagle Scout certification. He is an avid photographer and has been recognized for his skill. Pictures he took during sixth grade camp have been used by the camp for their promotional pamphlet. One of his photographs was even used as the muse to create a mural as a welcome sign to the city of Dana Point.

"Chris Lock is passionate about his work with students and demonstrates a solid, professional work ethic," Moore said. "Although he's very humble and freely gives credit to others, Chris is well deserving of this recognition."

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Comments (5)

George Felix Posted over a year ago

Mr. Lock is such an inspiration to me and our community . His creativity, passion for the arts is very admirable. He engages our students their families and our staff to participate in our amazing theater productions. He is a great leader someone we all look up to and want to be like. The impact he has made in such a short time in our school community is admirable.

Somer Hatori Posted over a year ago

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Lock's nomination. Mr. Lock and I have taught the same grade level this year. He is also my daughter's teacher. I know from first hand experience he has made a difference in her life and mine. He has helped me to engage my students with rigor and technology. He has created standard based units that our entire grade level uses. He collaborates will with the staff members and parents. As a mother, I have seen my daughter rise to met his expectations. He is constantly communicating with me about her progress. He has challenged her to think more and taken her out of her comfort zone academically. He has pushed her to excel in all academic areas. He has taught her to think in a more complex way. I look forward to working with him in the years to come and am delight and honored to have my other children taught by him. He is hands down, one amazing educator I am honored to call my friend and colleague.

Grace Kwon Posted over a year ago

Chris Lock is a superb teacher and leader. Working with him as a collaborating teacher on our school's musical production has been an honor these last two years. What he does behind the scenes to make the production come together is incredible; including working diligently with parents and other staff members to craft staging elements like costumes, sets, props, and technical support. As a director, he motivates students to think deeply about the role they play as a character and the role they play as a member of a team. He begins the production with an overarching theme and spends time throughout rehearsals having students reflect on this theme, carefully and methodically bringing students to the understanding that all of our stories intertwine. He has earned the respect and admiration of his students and colleagues alike, and I am also grateful to call him a friend.

Torie Posted over a year ago

If I can describe Mr. Lock in one word, that would be SUPERMAN! Since, he began teaching at Stoddard he’s rised so many talented students and helped them all to shine bright like a diamond. Not, just only that but he’s also taught me that US together we can work successfully as a TEAM and be great as a whole when we just try. I’ve had the pleasure this year to have worked with him on the Sound of Music and that was epic! He is such a caring, helpful and firm but yet easy going that out of his busyness with teaching GATE 6th graders, he’s still willing to help you. I hope that Mr. Lock will continue leaving stronger students for tomorrow.

Dale Hillyer Posted over a year ago

Mr. Lock is an amazing teacher. He has joined Stoddard and he has taken our school to another level. He immediately partnered with several teacher to put on our very first theatrical performance. These performance rival any high school performance that I have seen. So far he has overseen 2 plays with the help of staff. However, I am certain this would not be happening without his leadership. Mr. Lock is also an amazing teacher. Many students have returned this year and last to tell me that Mr. Lock really prepared them for Junior High and that they are having an easy transition.