I decided to pursue teaching as a profession because I desired a career with opportunities to work with youth and advance equity in science.”

Destinee’s Story

Teaching Discipline

Chemistry

Why Chemistry

“I was attracted to chemistry because of its interdisciplinary nature. I truly loved all subjects in school and by studying chemistry I still have the opportunity to do an extensive amount of critical thinking, reading, writing, and mathematics to solve interesting problems and make sense of how the world works.”

Professional Experience

Destinee is a doctoral student in engineering and science education at Clemson University. Before pursuing her PhD, she taught high school chemistry for seven years in Anderson School District Five (SC) and Prince George’s County Public Schools (MD). In 2018, she was recognized as the Westside High School Teacher of the Year and an Anderson School District Five District Teacher of the Year Finalist. 

Destinee’s doctoral research broadly focuses on equitable and inclusive chemistry instruction. She is a graduate researcher on a project funded by the National Science Foundation, where she examines how college chemistry faculty understand and implement culturally relevant practices to support STEM transfer students. Destinee is also a 2024 Fellow of the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE).

As a Knowles Senior Fellow, Destinee is involved in the Coaching Network as a coach and facilitator for the Knowles Academy course, Implementing Teacher Coaching to Improve Classroom Practice and Student Learning. 

Publications

Voigt, M., Bolick, M. A., Cooper, D., Otterbeck, S., Smith, A., Wright, C., & Holloman, C. (2023). Building a model of navigational strategies for Queer undergraduate students in STEM. Frontiers in Sociology. 8, 1293917.

Johnson, D. K., Stevenson, M. J., Almadidy, Z. A., Jenkins, S. E., Wilcox, D. E., & Grossoehme, N. E. (2015). Stabilization of Cu(I) for binding and calorimetric measurements in aqueous solution. Dalton Transactions. 44, 16494–16505.

Philipp, S. B., Johnson, D. K., & Yezierski, E. (2014). Development of a protocol to evaluate the use of representations in secondary chemistry instruction. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 15(4), 777–786.

Hobbies

Destinee enjoys attending sporting events, taking group fitness classes, and playing the piano.

Academic Background

  • Stanford University (Master of Arts in Education)
  • Winthrop University (Bachelor of Science in Chemistry)