(I have the amazing opportunity to work with Dr. Julia Stevens throughout my fellowship. She is a wonderful, patient teacher!)
My name is Grace Derstine and I am entering my 3rd year of teaching at Ligon GT Magnet Middle School in Raleigh.
My passion is writing lesson plans. I love the creativity and the ability to develop something out of nothing (Of course with the help of a few cups of coffee). And, over the past few years, I’ve found myself the most excited when a new idea emerges. It might be the caffeine that makes me excited, but it’s also thrilling to try a new idea that has the potential for success but also the possibility of failure. 
The Kenan Fellowship was immediately appealing to me because I would have the opportunity to merge my love for curriculum development with tangible learning experiences. I am so privileged to be working as part of the Students Discover Citizen Science project and to be working in the microbiology lab in the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences! My goal is to capture all of the relevant, hands-on experiences I possibly can and bring them into my own classroom. I’ve been surround by so much “new” over the past few weeks and I want to give my students the freedom and confidence to try “new” in my classroom this next year.