Adrienne Degroat

Before joining the Park community in 2007, Adrienne DeGroat taught Living Environment at Starpoint High School in Lockport, NY, middle school science at The Good Hope School in the United States Virgin Islands, and was a substitute teacher at Bliss Carmen Senior Public School in Toronto, Ontario. At Park, Adrienne teaches 9th-grade Environmental Science, 10th-grade Biology and electives such as The Science Behind Food, Science Seminar and Advanced Science Explorations. She also serves as a class advisor, the Environmental Stewardship club advisor and the Science Department Coordinator.

In the classroom, Adrienne believes that students learn best by doing and you can see this daily in her classes. One week you may find her students down by the pond measuring water quality parameters to determine the health of the pond, investigating possible sources of pollution and later creating and carrying out action plans to improve the water quality. The next week you may find them collecting air quality data on campus, analyzing the data and launching a no idling campaign so they can all breathe better and reduce their carbon footprint. This allows Adrienne’s students to be more engaged and establish deep, lasting connections to the material, which is true to her philosophy of education.

Adrienne has an Honors Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto with a double major in Biology and Anthropology, a Master’s of Science from D’Youville College with a focus in Science Education, and certification for 7th through 12th-grade Biology in New York State. Outside teaching Adrienne enjoys reading, cooking, spending time with her family, taking care of her vegetable garden, traveling, and anything related to science.