C.A. Johnson High School Teacher Named 2014 Outstanding Biology Teacher in South Carolina
June 3, 2014
COLUMBIA, SC – Going above and beyond to teach her students is a passion for Chanda Jefferson and this trendsetter’s excellence in the classroom is getting rave reviews and a prestigious honor.
Jefferson, a biology/life science teacher at C.A. Johnson High School, has been named the 2014 Outstanding Biology Teacher in South Carolina by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT).
Each year the NABT selects a teacher from each state who has made valuable contributions to the profession and to his/her students. Honorees’ teaching ability, experience, inventiveness, initiative, inherent teaching strengths and cooperativeness in the school and community are evaluated.
Last summer Jefferson was one of only 20 educators worldwide selected to attend a molecular biology institute at Princeton University. That “once-in-a-lifetime” experience with leading researchers from around the world gave her the resources and techniques to do DNA analysis and other real-world applications of molecular biology with her students at C.A. Johnson.
Jefferson has been teaching and inspiring students in Richland One for the last three years and feels truly blessed and honored to receive this award. “I will continue to go above and beyond to impact the lives of my students while instilling a love and appreciation for science in each of them.”
In addition to teaching at C.A. Johnson, Jefferson has served as the school’s wellness coordinator, the transformation teacher for Students First, the science department’s representative for the Palmetto Health Aim-Hi Grant, a biology tutorial instructor and the South Carolina Siemens STAR Fellow for 2014.
Jefferson will be formally recognized at a special presentation by the NABT at its national conference November 12-15 in Cleveland, Ohio. She also will receive a gift certificate from Carolina Biological Supply Company and a microscope from Leica Microsystems, Inc.
