The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Meet Your Neighbor

Meet your neighbor, West Central Middle School teacher, Lisa Lox. Lisa was born in Burlington, IA and was raised in rural Gladstone. She and husband Jeff live outside of Oquawka.

Lisa's parents are Bob and Barb Gray of Gladstone. Both are retired. Bob was a farmer his whole life while Barb worked several jobs over the years/ Possibly her mother's favorite job was working at the school driving the bus and helping students.

Lisa's five siblings are:

Tim and Cathy Gray who live in Bluffdale;

Steve and Paula Gray who live outside West Burlington, IA;

Matt Gray who lives near Mesa AZ;

Pat Gray of Georgia; and

Becky Gerst who lives outside Gladstone.

Lisa graduated from Monmouth College in 1991 with a K-9 Elementary Education degree. In 2000 she graduated from WIU with a Master's Degree in Reading.

She has always enjoyed working with the kids with speech and the plays.

She currently teaches 6th and 7th grade social studies. She also coaches the Middle School Speech Team and co-directs the Middle School plays with Mrs. Lisa Miller. Besides working at the school Lisa also is a waitress at Petey's Pub and Grill in Monmouth.

Lisa married Jeff Lox in 1980. He works as maintenance man at West Central North Campus. They have 4 children:

Landon, 34, who lives in Florida with his wife Stephanie;

Logan, 32, works in a nursing home in Des Moines, IA;

Lene 28 works as a waitress in Des Moines, IA and is starting classes to be a vet technician; and

Luci 23 also is living in Des Moines, IA and is a waitress.

Lisa is a member of the United Presbyterian Church in Biggsville.

She also enjoys taking students on educational tours.

Some of the overseas locations she has taken students to include: London, Paris, Normandy Beach, Rome, Athens, Beijing, China.

Lisa is currently working on a trip for 2017 to New Zealand and Australia.

This past June she led a group of students with Mrs. Kayty Wilson to the East Coast of the United States where they visited Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D. C., and Colonial Williamsburg.

Lisa believes that life is short, so try not to dwell too much on negatives. She tries very hard to be positive.

When asked what she likes about West Central Lisa replied,

"I really like the fact that here at the Middle School we are like family. I can count on anyone on staff to help me out if I need it.

"I also enjoy the students. They challenge me in so many ways with their questions and thinking processes, I have to really try staying on my toes. I wouldn't want to work with anyone else, Middle School is the best!"