"I am a certificated high school teacher who leveraged my personal experience with biotechnology to teach AP Biology as well as a STEM research class at a highly regarded Silicon Valley public school for 17 years. In addition to teaching in a classroom setting, I worked with many students one on one to routinely achieve class average scores on College Board's AP Biology exam above 4 (on a 5 point scale). My students' average scores regularly exceeded the school average for all AP Biology students at my school. I also mentored many student research projects. My research students did very well at our competitive Silicon Valley science fair with many advancing to the state science fair every year. Over the period that I mentored research my mentees were extremely successful at science competitions up to and including the California State science fair winner and several Regeneron STS finalists.

Prior to teaching I spent 15 years in biotechnology research positions so I have significant personal experience working as a professional scientist. I have 7 patents (note that several of them are under my maiden name of Tenzel). This enables me to effectively mentor students independent research projects. Most students underestimate how much can be accomplished with the tools they have available in a public school setting. I have a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Stanford University, a Masters in Business from Santa Clara University and a Masters in Education from University of Phoenix.

Finally I believe that along with my teaching experience, being a parent to two young adults both of whom have advanced degrees in STEM fields has helped me understand how to motivate high school students and enable their success." less...