Danielle Whittington is a 2022-2023 Teach Plus Mississippi Policy Fellow and is a 4th grade ELA teacher leader, 21st Century after-school site director, and occupational therapy doctoral capstone mentor at Columbia Elementary School in Columbia. Danielle has been a member of the Superintendent’s District Advisory Council, was chosen as a National Board Certified Teacher ambassador for Mississippi, is a teacher consultant for South MS Writing Project, and currently serves on Lt. Gov. Hosemann’s Teacher Advisory Council. In 2021, Danielle was chosen for the Thad Cochran Distinguished Arts Educator Award for Arts Integration for MS, Columbia School District’s Teacher of the Year (2019), and Marion County’s Distinguished Young Woman Committee Volunteer of the Year (2020). She is a National Board Certified Teacher in literacy. She earned her BS in Psychology with Pre-Med emphasis from Mississippi State University and an OT/M degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of MS Medical Center. She received her teaching license from William Carey University.