DIFFERENT is not just a curriculum. It’s a platform where STEM meets SEL and allows the teacher and students to find common ground in science before moving into more reflective, personal learning goals. Using the biology of arthropods (and how we feel about them) as a touchstone, this curriculum challenges students’ perceptions of themselves, others and the natural world. This mental shift is something that students will take with them into whatever path their future takes. Our school is transitioning into Academies and Pathways in the next two years towards career readiness and this is well suited for that change. Implementing this curriculum in the science classrooms here at Burke High School will help my students better navigate change, examine behaviors and habits and see their differences as assets instead of impediments.