Dr. Selena DeHaney, PhD, is Robinson’s new Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) instructor.
Originally from Brooklyn, N. Y., DeHaney is a former nuclear and chemical weapons specialist for the United States Air Force. After graduation from high school, she attended Westminster College, in Co., for her bachelor’s degree, and later the University of Central Michigan for her master’s, and Austin Peay University for her doctorate.
“I’ve taught all subjects before,” DeHaney said. “I’ve taught elementary, middle school and high—but the one thing I’ve noticed is that lots of the content, it doesn’t really register to a lot of the children.”
This, she said, was part of what drove her to teach AVID.
“AVID is college and career readiness, and what better place to teach it than high school?” she said. “Because you’re getting ready for college and careers, right? So, it makes a difference. And I like that the stuff that I teach makes a difference.”
Before Robinson, she taught across the country, and to an extent, the world: she’s taught in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Korea, Hawaii, Georgia and now Florida This is her 25th year teaching.
“I’ve been teaching language arts for a while,” she said. “19 years. It’s made a difference. But it can be a bit challenging.”
Outside of the classroom, she enjoys motorcycling and golfing; she is also an avid wine collector and a monster truck fan.
“I have one of the guys that drives a truck in my neighborhood,” she said. “So, I’m trying to see if one day he’ll take me for a ride.”
As far as what she hopes to obtain this year, DeHaney just wants her students to do their best—and have a portion of them in the AICE program.
“I love her teaching style,” Napier Nasien (’28) said. “I love how she interacts with the students. I love how she actually breaks down the assignments, and when you can’t understand it, she helps you.”
So far, she’s on the right track.
“This year is going in the right direction,” she said. “But, yeah, I think this year is going to be awesome. It’s going to be phenomenal. It’s going to be a new beginning.”
Robinson principal David Brown is equally excited to have her.
“The thing that stood out is that she has a great personality,” he said. “She connects very, very well with students. She definitely wants to make sure that they’re successful…there’s some people I feel who are born teachers. She’s one of those people. She just has that mentality, and she has that personality.”
