A native of South Carolina, Alyson Nelson ’13, has been impacting high school students in the science classroom for ten years. She completed her undergraduate work at Clemson University, followed by a teaching position at Mauldin High School in South Carolina teaching biology, environmental science, and human anatomy and physiology. During her time at Mauldin, she completed a Masters of Educational Technology degree and a graduate certificate in School Technology Coordination in the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State.
In 2013, Alyson was hired to develop a signature STEM Lab at the newly opened Nikola Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, WA. Over the past few years, students in the program have won numerous awards, collaborated and interned with industry professionals, achieved entry into prestigious universities, and began their pursuits of careers in the medical field.
Alyson was recently named a Paul Allen Distinguished Educator and was awarded $25,000 by the program in recognition for her pioneering work in education. Through the ADE program, Alyson created a DIY guide and two Roadmaps with practical advice and guidance for educators on how to bring more innovative education practices to the classroom:
- Tissue Engineering
- Teaching Biomedical Engineering to High School Students
- Facilitating Instead of Instructing
She was subsequently featured in a microdocumentary about her work (see video below).
