UT Tyler Alumni Earn Regional Arts in Education Awards

April 2, 2025 | Hannah Buchanan

Jessica Parsons and Elizabeth Lade, alumni from The University of Texas at Tyler, have been recognized by the Young Audiences of Northeast Texas with 2025 Arts in Education Awards.

A College of Arts and Sciences alum, Parsons received the “Rising Star” award, which recognizes an arts educator demonstrating excellence within their first three years of teaching. Lade, a College of Education and Psychology alum, received the “Arts in Teaching Excellence – High School” award. This award recognizes a high school arts teacher who has gone above and beyond in their field.

They both will be recognized Tuesday, April 8, during an awards ceremony in Tyler.

Parsons holds a UT Tyler Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art degree, having graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2023. She teaches visual arts at Crockett Elementary School in the Marshall Independent School District.

Lade serves as the fine arts teacher at Frankston High School. She obtained teaching certification in 2002 from the university.

Since 1997, Young Audiences of Northeast Texas has supported arts in education and partnered with educators to bring unique fine arts experiences to students, teachers and schools across the Region 7 Education Service Center. To learn more, visit: Arts4allkids.com.

With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 10,000 students. Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.