New scholastic partners introduced to Stan-X programs through Discover Now
This past week, instructors from multiple new partner programs began orienting to the theory and practice of Stan-X programs and curricula. This included partners and instructors from the Albuquerque Academy (New Mexico), Greenwich Academy (Connecticut), Latin School (Chicago, Illinois), Loyola Marymount University (California) and Rutgers University (New Jersey). The week of sessions opened with a greeting by Seung Kim (Stanford).
Hosted by Discover Now faculty, Nicole Lantz, Elizabeth Fox, Anne Rankin, and Lutz Kockel, instructors met daily via teleconference to review written and video materials provided by Discover Now, including daily ‘homework’ for discussion in class the following day. Topics covered included fruit fly genetics and genotyping/naming conventions, molecular biology and antibody staining approaches, discussion of gene regulation and binary gene expression systems in flies, balancer chromosome use, and use of Flybase and other data analysis tools in the classroom.
In addition, materials, discussion and advice were provided on lab set up, husbandry, curriculum material preparation and implementation, food preparation and procurement, productive networking interactions between Stan-X partners, and mentoring during the school year by Discover Now instructors.
Sahar Ross-Wiley of the Greenwich Academy reflected on the first week: “I learned so much and feel that I am starting to have a better understanding of what this path looks like…Again, thank you for all you shared with us, it was really worth it.”
Following this initial instruction, eight participants from these schools traveled to the beautiful Lawrenceville School campus in central New Jersey to spend this week at the bench with Discover Now instructors. They will be learning, through an immersive week of lab activities and exercises, all the practical skills needed to run the Stan-X course back at their school during term time.
For information about Discover Now in 2022, please contact Nicole Lantz at the Lawrenceville School, nlantz@lawrenceville.edu