Daphne McMenemy is an educator, author, and speaker. She was recently awarded the Canadian Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence for her work with coding and robotics and STEM integration. Daphne has always been focused on being a change maker with purpose, to improve the lives of her students and make an impact on their educational journey. Her first book, Gracie, is based on her personal experiences in the classroom. Gracie is a young girl whose learning is brought to life when her teacher introduces her to coding and a new way of thinking.
As an educator for the past two decades, she has created opportunities for children in her care to explore learning in innovative ways. Using STEAM to engage children as young as kindergarten age in discovering learning through computer science, she develops numeracy, literacy, and computational thinking skills through creative exploration. Her message, “as educators it is our responsibility to give our youngest learners experiences and opportunities to step outside their comfort zone and take those risks that allow them to discover their passion,” is at the forefront of all she does. Whether speaking to large audiences across the education spectrum or working hands on with our youngest learners on the floors of classrooms across the continent, her passion for leadership, education, and student well-being is inspirational and evident in all she does.
EDUCATOR | Osage community schools, IA