Kelly Daescu Uses Ciena Teacher Grant To Boost Excitement for Chemistry
To celebrate National STEM Day and National Education Month, we would like to highlight one of our teacher grant recipients who is helping boost enrollment for advanced academics in STEM fields. Kelly Daescu teaches AP chemistry at McKinney High School in McKinney, Texas, and received grant funding for her project titled: “How Sweet It Is! The Chemistry of Candy Making.” To engage her students in STEM, she created a candy lab, designed to review chemistry concepts while reinforcing the scientific process. Students were tasked with diving deep into the chemistry of candy-making and creating video projects and slide decks to describe chemical changes. They also participated in hands-on labs where they got to create their own fudge and butterscotch.
The teacher grant funds also helped Daescu increase her STEMist Club budget, allowing her to invite guest speakers who specialize in STEM fields to talk to the students. Additionally, she was able to implement two extra projects for her AP chemistry students: a Mole Day celebration where students conducted various chemistry-related activities and labs, and a “Deck the Halls” initiative that helped garner interest for advanced chemistry classes.
Donate to support STEM teacher grant projects like Daescu’s in honor of National Education Month! The AFCEA Educational Foundation, in conjunction with AFCEA chapters worldwide, gives more than $2 million a year to support STEM education programs in K-12 schools and scholarships for university and higher education STEM students.
