In this session, I will demonstrate how I use personal stories to teach the curricular outcomes. Cooking bananas foster, using household cleaners and pharmaceuticals, building Saturn V model rockets, quinzees, and mousetrap cars are all stories I use to help my students learn about science and chemistry in everyday life. I weave these authentic experiences and examples into my teaching to increase student engagement and connection. Participants will collaborate by sharing their own personal stories and strategies to design lessons, create activities or share demos on how to teach the more difficult outcomes. My ultimate goal is to grow a community of collaborative educators who work together to design educational materials that increase student engagement.