Celebrating Our Amped Angel, Ms. Destiny Cooper!

Anyone who knows Destiny Cooper knows that she gives her whole heart to her students. Destiny is continuously improving her teaching practice, her students’ academic and social emotional capacities, and her community partnerships. This October, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation is recognizing Humanities Amped co-founder Destiny Cooper’s love and dedication with an Angel Award®. Each year the foundation awards nine everyday Louisianians doing extraordinary good for the state’s children. Destiny was chosen from nearly 200 nominees submitted across Louisiana. As an Angel Award recipient, Destiny will receive a $25,000 grant for Humanities Amped.

Destiny has been teaching for 17 years, primarily as a national board certified ELA teacher and instructional specialist at McKinley High School. Destiny has long mentored student teachers and early career teachers. This year, Destiny has been promoted to being a district-wide Humanities Amped Curriculum Coordinator. Destiny’s new position allows Humanities Amped to now work across 5 schools with over 15 educators, impacting over 1,000 students. The new cohort of teachers is called the Amped Educators Network and receives monthly professional development, coaching, and additional supports. Destiny is at the forefront of facilitating teachers and their students in creating classrooms which center community, culture, and relationships to restore life and collective joy to learning.

I am so grateful that our community recognizes and values the hard work and dedication we pour into Humanities Amped.​ Even though I am the recipient, this honor would not be possible without our many collaborators, contributors, students and their families. Thank you, East Baton Rouge Parish School Systems, for partnering with Humanities Amped to create the innovative and humanized school system that our students and teachers deserve, and thank you to Blue Cross Blue Shield for spotlighting our program's and our students' value. I tell my students all the time that their voice, their education, and their lives matter; thank you for telling them the same by recognizing and funding this work. I can only imagine what we can achieve in partnership with EBRPSS now that we are workng with 14 teachers and five schools with an impact on about 1,000 students!                                                - Destiny Cooper

Join us in celebrating the Amped angel we have among us, who inspires her students, coworkers, and community to live out the Humanities Amped maxim of “transforming ourselves to transform our world."

Learn more about Destiny and the work of Humanities Amped in the video below.