Ariadne Prior-Grosch

Ariadne manages the communication with the Junta Directiva (Executive Board) members in the Comarca Ngäbe and other Panama-based volunteers including all of the logistics involving the scholarship application process, annual ceremony, disbursement of funds, and scholar support. Ariadne is the STEM Department Lead at the Academy for Software Engineering, a public high school in New York City where she has taught science courses for a decade and serves as a student advisor.

Ariadne joined the board of Few for Change in 2009 during which time she moved to Panama to work for a conservation NGO she had volunteered for following her study abroad experience in 2007. Ariadne lived in a rural village working with local farmers to develop organic agriculture projects and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with Panama City. She taught English and environmental education in the local village primary school and led experiential research trips around Panama for American high school students. This experience solidified her belief that providing access to education will give promising students in the Comarca access to new opportunities to pursue a career and support their families.

Ariadne graduated from Bard Center for Environmental Policy with a MS in Environmental Policy and from the Bard Master of Arts in Teaching Program with a MA in Teaching for Biology. She also holds a BS degree in Environmental Science from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She is the recipient of a prestigious 2020 Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship, a 2018 Fund for Teacher Fellowship, and a 2020 Regeneron STEM Teaching Fellowship. Her work has been published in The Science Teacher. Ariadne lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband Tom and toddler Kai.