School’s reward for putting theory to a practical test
You might say it’s quality, not quantity, that separates Tyngsboro High School from the public high school pack.
As proof, we submit the $5,000 award THS recently received in acknowledgment of its superior science curriculum.
Representatives from the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation, a regional nonprofit that supports the development of life sciences through K-12 programs, traveled to the school Monday afternoon to present students and faculty with the annual Joshua Boger Innovative School of the Year Award.
The grant will be used for equipment and supplies in the school’s life sciences classrooms and projects, specifically for its Biobuilder Club, in which students experiment with living organisms to solve the issues that arise in our daily lives.
Sunny Schwartz, CEO of Massbioed, said the award aims to highlight high schools in New England that have impressive life sciences programming, and to “inspire students’ interest in the life sciences.”
The school was also named Massbioed’s Champion for Biotechnology Education this year.
“We firmly believe that teaching science requires students to do science,” said michelle Mischke, vice president of biotechnology education programs at Massbioed., “and we know how hard you all work to make sure that the students are engaged in life science labs and activities … So, teachers, Tyngsboro, thank you so much for mentoring this next generation of life scientists…”
This funding makes all the difference for STEM students, who will see their scientific inquiries and projects come to fruition. The Biobuilder Club is currently working with mosquitoes — grown in the school — to understand if some organic, natural smells repel the pesky, sometime disease-carrying insects.
By engineering E. coli to produce a specific compound found in lavender oil, students test that essential ingredient on mosquitoes to ascertain if such a scent has an effect. Yesenia Collins, a senior and member of the club, said it looks like it does.
“We designed a plasmid (a circular strand of DNA in a cell) that, if inserted into E. coli, should make them produce that scent,” Collins said.
But the base of that plasmid would cost at least $300, Collins said, and with all the other parts — their original plasmid draft had 8,000 base pairs — it could get expensive. The group also occasionally travels to a lab in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood, which allows them access to resources they don’t have at their school, said senior Nathaniel Marino.
This isn’t the first grant the school has received from Massbioed; when biology teacher and club adviser Rebekah Ravgiala visited the nonprofit’s summer program, the company provided a grant for reagents — a substance ormixture used in chemical analysis — and equipment for the club and her classrooms.
Ravgiala praised MassBioed’s programming and professional development workshops, which transition well into classroom settings.
State Rep. Colleen Garry, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, praised the school’s performance, as well as the life sciences industry, one of the state’s emerging industries and significant employer.
“So many times, money goes to the bigger communities when there’s such wonderful things going on in the smaller ones,” Garry said. “Thank you verymuch for paying attention to Rebekah (Ravgiala) and what’s going on here in Tyngsboro.”
A sentiment we’re sure is shared by many of 425-strong THS student body.
Encouraging and pursuing an education based on a STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — foundation has never been more important or vital in this interconnected world.
Teaching high-school students to think critically in order to solve complex problems helps develop valuable skills that prepare them for higher education degrees and lucrative careers.
The creativity and problemsolving skills honed through STEM have value beyond scientific disciplines. They’ll prove to be an asset in any field a student may eventually pursue.
We applaud the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation for recognizing and encouraging this academic endeavor, and congratulate Tyngsboro High’s students and staff for applying scientific theory to real-world problems.