Denecia K. Grant

I have been in education for 9 years, beginning my career as a middle school science teacher. After 4 years in the classroom, I transitioned into a Dean of Students role at an alternative education high school, which was a change of pace that I truly enjoyed. When that school began seeing changes with regards to administration and the overall operations of the building, I moved back into the classroom at an alternative education high school, where I have been since. Currently, I am in my current role for approximately 9 months to be exact, though I have been in similar roles throughout my career. I also play a dual role as a director at an early childhood education facility in Saginaw. In my teaching role, students learn in an online platform system, however my goal is to intervene, provide additional understanding where needed, differentiate assignments where needed, and ensure that students are on pace to graduation, which is the ultimate goal. I serve a population that's disengaged youth and dropouts in the city, so it's a challenging population, but it's very rewarding. I do love hands-on learning, so even in the digital setting with my students, I stop and we do quite a bit of hands-on learning. My most notable professional achievement would have to be implementing place-based science programming. I am a huge advocate for being in the outdoors, and I spend as much time outside as I can, both personally and in my teaching practice.