Kristin Kelly is a Philadelphia-based elementary teacher bringing an eclectic perspective gained from teaching multiple grades and subjects from early childhood education to upper elementary science-based instruction. She has been teaching in Philadelphia for ten years. Kristin graduated with a degree in English from Bloomsburg University. While there, she participated in numerous conferences at the local and national level where she presented her research on topics ranging from the feminization of poverty to a psychoanalysis of modernist writers. In 2019 she received her Master of Education from Arcadia University. Her culminating project focused on environmental justice specifically on the lack of green spaces in predominantly Black neighborhoods. To improve student’s access to and relationship with healthy food, Kristin started a school garden this past school year. As a participant in the Nature-based STEM program with the Riverbend Environmental Education Center, Kristin created a student-led curriculum where children identified an issue related to the Delaware River Watershed. Students determined the school needed more trees to help absorb the excess runoff water leading into the Schuylkill River. Kristin connected with Tree Philly, and in the Fall of this year, trees will be planted on school grounds. As a cofounder of Crown, her work focuses on visual storytelling, writing, and photography, all woven through the theme of positive affirmations. The belief that anyone can learn anything is at the center of Kristin’s teaching philosophy. She also believes in the necessity of strengthening community for the survival of our neighborhood schools.