The Conservatory School, Palm Beach County

Shanna Lillis is a middle school science teacher at The Conservatory School in North Palm Beach (TCS), and a PhD student at FAU in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She began teaching at The Community for Learning, a bilingual private school in Santo Domingo, after completing her Peace Corps Service in the Dominican Republic. She then worked for ten years at Lantana Community Middle School (LCMS) as a seventh grade science teacher, and the pioneer and director of their dance choice program. Mrs. Lillis is currently entering her sixth year at TCS where she teaches eighth grade science, project-based learning, and Spanish 1.

Throughout her time at TCS, Mrs. Lillis has participated in multiple partnerships in the community with her students, including ongoing mangrove restoration with Palm Beach County’s Environmental Resource Management Department, participation in Fairchild Tropical Garden and NASA’s Growing Beyond Earth Project, and most recently the Everglades Champions in Action Program where she engaged in invasive species removal with her students and was a grateful recipient of the Everglades Foundation’s teacher scholarship to attend the 4th Annual Hike2o Challenge.

This summer, Mrs. Lillis participated in integrated civics and computer science curriculum writing for CPalms, and joined UF’s second cohort of AI Learning in K12 with Shark Fossils for Middle School Teachers. Her research interests as a PhD student include: project-based learning, culturally responsive teaching, and authentic assessments for deeper learning. Mrs. Lillis is thrilled to share her experiences partnering with The Everglades Foundation with you at the Everglades Symposium.