Aimee Kennedy
Battelle Memorial Institute
Columbus, OH USA
"Starting from scratch is the best because you can be whatever you want to be."
Career Roadmap
Aimee's work combines: Education, Science, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
The most important thing you can do is do really well in the job that you have. Don't be bitter about what you think you deserve or what you haven't been able to achieve yet. You can still want those things but focus on being the best you can be at the moment.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Speech Communication and Rhetoric
Malone University
Bachelor's Degree
Education, General
Malone University
Graduate Degree
Education, General
University of Akron Main Campus
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Wanted to go into teaching because she wanted to show kids that a good education could lead them down any path they chose.
2.
Says that the best schools in the nation right now are not the schools who follow traditional educational routes.
3.
Was formerly the Chief Academic Officer of Metro Early College High School, which focuses on STEM fields.
4.
Only once her students started outperforming others on the state tests did people start believing in Metro's vision.
5.
Says her goal is to reach the kids who aren't good at "playing school."
6.
Believes every kid needs someone who says to them, "Of course you can get an A. Of course you can go to college!"
7.
Says the best part of a teacher's day can't be the planning or the grading-it has to be the hours in the classroom with the kids.
8.
Now works for Battelle, where she fosters the development of more STEM-centred schools like Metro.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
No way can every kid get an A. What if this doesn't work?
How I responded:
You have to push through and be determined. All you need is the right person to validate what you are doing, and then you are on your way.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
My mom was a teen mom and I grew up watching her struggle as she put herself through school. This definitely made me be more self-motivated.