Kelly Blais
Kelly Blais is a seventh-grade science teacher and summer STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) coordinator at David R. Cawley Middle School in Hooksett, New Hampshire. She is pursuing a doctorate in education at Northeastern University in Boston, which she hopes to put to use working in a teacher preparation program as a mentor to new teachers. In the classroom, Kelly is passionate about creating authentic learning opportunities for her students. She strives to help her students make connections between what they’re learning in class and what they’re experiencing in their own lives. She believes that by helping students make that personal connection to the curriculum, they will develop a sense of ownership of their education. Prior to working as a science teacher, Kelly worked as a research scuba diver based out of the Isles of Shoals in New Hampshire, a chemical oceanographic researcher, and a researcher at the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station in St. John studying Diadema antillarum, the long-spined black sea urchin. Kelly has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology and oceanography and a master’s in secondary education from the University of New Hampshire.