She learned through massage therapy school that science matters and has real-world applications. Now, Launa White shares those ideas with her honors and AP biology students through her teaching.

“Born and raised” in Arizona,  White’s journey in education started when she graduated from massage school and furthered her career by attending Arizona State University to get her master’s in biology. Now, White leads AP Biology, Honors Biology, and the Science UIL program at Prosper High School. 

“Honestly, if you told me in high school I’d be doing something with science, I would’ve laughed because I didn’t like science until I went to massage therapy school and saw how it applied in the real world,” White said. “I had volunteered with youth groups for a long time, so I knew I had a passion to work with students in general. It was basically how I can tie all of that into one thing, which is teaching.”

White said this realization set her passion for kids to connect with science, especially the more than 1,200 freshmen who go through the science department.

 “I found my love of science in general when I went to massage therapy school,” White said. “I did massage therapy for a long time and then kind of got burned out on it, but still loved science and wanted a career that I could impact youth and teach people to love science like I did.”

This passion led her to pursue a degree in teaching, and she has worked in this field ever since. 

“I went back for a master’s in secondary education,” White said. “This was so I could teach at high school.” 

White said she likes staying connected with students, and this year is her sixth at Prosper.

 “I literally was at Disneyland a couple years ago and ran into a former student,” White said. “She had come from Arizona and I came from Texas, but we just happened to run into each other at the same time. She was so excited to see me, telling me about all the things she has been doing ever since I had her as a student.”

Before moving to Texas, White earned her bachelor’s degree in Social Behavioral Sciences from Arizona State University. In 2019, White and her son moved from Arizona to Texas. Since then, she’s been in the PHS Science Department, where she teaches Honors Biology and AP Biology and coaches the Science UIL team.

“It’s a challenge, honestly, trying to show that I have an interest in this stuff and then how it can be applied in real world situations,” White said. “I try to get you guys to be able to do things that are hands-on when I can.” 

White coaches Science UIL once a week. Her students meet in her room, and they discuss a different topic weekly.

“We meet every week just to nerd-out on science,” White said. “For Science UIL, we take practice tests with 20 questions each in biology, chemistry and physics. We also have students run mini-lessons.”

As department head, White said she remains fully committed to her students. As the Science UIL coach, she prepares her team for competitions by doing various practice tests and mini–lessons. 

“We’ve come a long way, so this is my fifth year as a UIL coach and I’ve had kids go on to regionals,” White said. “We’ve done well this year, and we are determined this year because I have a group really wanting to get to regionals. That’s what inspires me to keep going is because they want to fight for it and do really well.”

Competitions start in January that include both virtual and in-person events.