Alumni Testimonials

“As a teacher who prepares students for future healthcare careers, I knew that I needed to incorporate more public health activities to meet the national standards for Health and Wellness topics. I had no idea that I would discover HUNDREDS of careers that I could include in the career exploration portion of my class. During my week at the CDC, I talked to so many content experts from diverse career fields who were passionate about sharing their expertise and resources with educators and students. I plan to share these resources at both a state and national conference in November 2019. ”

Katrina Haynes, RN, BSN, NBCT
Teacher, High School Health Science and Department Chair
White Knoll High School
Lexington, South Carolina
2019 CDC Science Ambassador

“Throughout the whole experience, the CDC Science Ambassador fellows were treated as experts in our field of teaching. We even worked with the incoming class of CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officers on an outbreak scenario that was part of their official training. I am so thankful for this opportunity and for all those who work to make it amazing!”

Tamara Goller, MA
Teacher, Math and Science
Yorktown Middle School
Yorktown, Indiana
2019 CDC Science Ambassador

“It was a pleasure to come together with other teachers who teach the same courses that I do and to get new ideas and new perspectives on courses that I’ve been teaching for quite a long time. It has revitalized me, refreshed me, and I can’t wait to go home and start re-writing my curriculum.”

Bobbi Bremmer, MA
Teacher, High School Biology and Infectious Diseases
Livingston High School
Livingston, New Jersey
2018 CDC Science Ambassador

“I appreciate the willingness of everybody who works here at the CDC to embrace us as teachers and their openness. Knowing that those relationships continue beyond this week really inspires me to continue adding more to my lessons.”

Carla Chavez
Teacher, High School Biology
Taos High School
Taos, New Mexico
2018 CDC Science Ambassador

“The CDC Science Ambassador program was one of the best professional development programs I have ever been a part of. It provided me with epidemiology and public health content knowledge and the opportunity to work alongside CDC experts and fellow educators to develop relevant and engaging lessons. I am most excited about how these lessons can be incorporated into my courses to increase active learning and drive student-centered content acquisition and critical thinking.”

Sarah Sletten, PhD, MS
Associate Professor, Biology
Mayville State University
Mayville, North Dakota
2017 CDC Science Ambassador

“Arriving in Atlanta, I was eager to better understand the role of CDC in disease outbreaks and how my role as an ambassador supports these concepts within the classroom. The fellowship experience went beyond my expectations. The teamwork, professionalism and collegiality displayed by the CDC staff encouraged all of us as Science Ambassadors to help inspire students to consider public health careers. I look forward to my next year in the fellowship, piloting Science Ambassador lesson plans in my classroom, and promoting the concepts I learned at the CDC on a national and international level.”

Susannah Miller, MA
Teacher, High School Biology
International School of Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
2017 CDC Science Ambassador

“Little did I know how much I would get out of my experience. Not only did I get amazing professional development, the ability to network with educators and industry professionals, and the opportunity to work collaboratively for the next year, but I got the chance to act like a kid in a candy store as we spent the week at the CDC. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”

Ryan Lacson, MS
Teacher, High School Medicine & Health Care
Greater Ozarks Center for Advanced Professional
Springfield, Missouri
2017 CDC Science Ambassador

“I had my first 3 weeks of school planned out before spending a week at the CDC, and I ended up changing everything because I was so excited! I knew that my school is very limited as to the classes it can provide for each student, so I decided that I would use the material found in an epidemiology class to support the standards I teach in biology class. This school year I am going to support my entire curriculum with the theme of epidemiology throughout each of my units using case studies, emergency response plans, as well as data, articles, and lesson plans found on the CDC website.”

Jess Popescu
Teacher, High School Biology
Seaman High School
Topeka, Kansas
2016 CDC Science Ambassador

“The program has been very inspirational and motivational. This is a great opportunity to network with others and also scientists from the CDC- and to be able to get more valuable information that you can carry back to your school.”

Kurt Jones, PhD
Teacher, High School Biology
West Greene High School
Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
2015 CDC Science Ambassador

“We as teachers are in isolation, but this brings us to the forefront of what education should be.

Now that there is a talk about STEM, there is a human component in science and that is where public health comes in.

We have to weave that fabric of educators coming in touch with scientists in real time so that we can take that into the classroom.”

Sumi Jayaraman, MA
Teacher, Middle School Science
Dekalb County School District
Atlanta, Georgia
2014 CDC Science Ambassador

“CDC’s Science Ambassador Workshop gives a different point of view — you’re thinking outside of the box. At my school, we are completely STEM and everything at the workshop can be applied. It is such a great program, I think everyone should do it.”

Lisa Earehart
Teacher, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
STARBASE Program, Department of Defense
Humble, Texas
2014 CDC Science Ambassador

“I would recommend CDC’s Science Ambassador Workshop to other teachers, especially science teachers that might not necessarily be in the health sciences field, because they have so much opportunity to use this process to engage their students in investigations and to teach their students data analysis.”

Kristen Engle, MA
Teacher, High School Health
University of Illinois Chicago College Prep
Teach for America
Chicago, Illinois
2014 CDC Science Ambassador