lystn

Donna Gradel is the 2019 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the National Teacher of the Year award. Host Rose Else-Mitchell first met Donna in Washington, D.C., earlier this year at a reception for all of the state Teachers of the Year. Today’s episode was recorded via phone.

Donna teaches environmental science and innovative research at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Along with her students, Donna created the Aqua for Tharaka campaign, which provides clean water and protein for orphans in Kenya. Under her leadership, Broken Arrow High School was the first Oklahoma school to receive a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant. Donna also co-founded the Together Project, a collaboration between the city and the public schools, dedicated to finding environmentally friendly ways to restore and enhance the city’s waterways. In addition to being an award-winning educator, Donna is an Oklahoma girls’ basketball state championship coach, a Survivor Co-Chair for Tulsa’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and she holds a bachelor’s and master’s of science from West Virginia University.

The Teachers in America series profiles K–12 teachers across the country. Hear firsthand from the people who are shaping young lives in the classroom every day.

Read more: https://www.hmhco.com/blog/hmh-learning-moments-teachers-in-america-donna-gradel-broken-arrow-oklahoma