Have you ever wondered how you can be part of the life-changing progress students are making through BioBuilder? We would be thrilled to have you, so this month we’re highlighting four easy ways you can do just that!
Become a BioBuilderClub Mentor
As highlighted regularly here on the blog, BioBuilderClub student teams are asked what real-world challenge they want to address through biotechnology, and BioBuilderClub teachers and mentors help them learn the tools to investigate and design a potential solution. Some returning teams go on to build and test their solution!
Mentors commit to 10 hours of virtual guidance between November and March for a team of up to 10 high school students. Teams join from across the United States and around the world, so all mentorship is expected to be virtual.
Check out this Information Page to learn more details of what mentors do, how BioBuilder supports our mentors, and what we’re looking for in mentors.
BioBuilderClub Mentors are scientists who are excited to support high school students exploring synthetic biology. The mentors are in turn supported by BioBuilder – you are not expected to “go it alone”!
Helping Students See Themselves in Science
One important aspect of mentoring is sharing your own educational and professional journey with students. This helps open their eyes and minds to the opportunities that are available to them. What a way to inspire this next generation of bioscientists!
As one mentor reflects:
“It’s really rewarding to work with the high school students. We are able to learn from each other, and the students always amaze me with their outside-of-the-box thinking. They’re always really clever, and they’re really trying to help people.”
Check out this video to hear more from mentors and students about the impact BioBuilderClub is making in their lives.
Ready to talk about the possibility of becoming a mentor? Reach out to Chloe Franklin, Director of National Programs, at chloe@biobuilder.org and she will answer your questions and walk you through how you can get involved. You won’t be disappointed!
Test Run the Biotech Decision Tree
BioBuilder has developed a “Find Your Reason for Biotech” tool to help schools and educators pinpoint the biotech education pathway that best meets their specific needs.
We are looking for beta testers to put the tool through its paces and provide us with feedback. We would be thankful for any assistance you can provide as we continue to break down barriers to biotech education. It only takes a few minutes to complete.
Reach out to Chloe Franklin, Director of National Programs, at chloe@biobuilder.org to volunteer to test run this tool for us. Thank you in advance for your help!
Be a Road Show Stop
Starting in January, BioBuilder and Transfyr will be running a road show to pilot their new Observatory tool, an AI-enabled hands-on biotechnology training and credentialing system for Massachusetts high school students.
Check out this podcast to hear more about the Observatory tool and what it can mean for advancing biotech education and credentialing:
The Observatory was developed as a partnership between BioBuilder and Transfyr, a Boston-based AI and life science technology company. The capabilities of this AI-enabled tool have the potential to bring microcredentialing opportunities to students nationwide!
Read more about the partnership and its important goals here.
The goal of the road show is to have teachers evaluate the Observatory system and provide feedback on its workflow and utility. The test run results and teacher feedback will be used in a journal article to be developed following the road show.
Interested in getting an inside peek at the Observatory and giving it a whirl? Reach out to rachael@biobuilder.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
Pilot New Teacher Professional Development
BioBuilder has developed a new teacher professional development course that focuses on the BioManufacturing module of the BioTechBuilder program.
BioTechBuilder is a skills-based curriculum that prepares students for entry into the bioscience workforce upon graduation from high school. It uses a learn-then-do approach and includes the opportunity for students to earn industry-aligned microcredentials for specific bioscience lab skills.
The teacher training helps educators prepare to teach the module content by helping them work through it themselves and adapt it to their specific classroom needs.
We’re looking for schools and teachers to pilot test the new BioManufacturing teacher workshop. If you are interested in helping with this important step, reach out to Chloe Franklin, Director of National Programs, at chloe@biobuilder.org. Thank you in advance for helping us with this!
Catch Up with BioBuilder!
Explore more of what’s happening at BioBuilder on our social media channels:
Facebook: BioBuilderFoundation
Instagram: BioBuilder
YouTube: @BioBuilder
LinkedIn:
Introducing the “Science Starts Here” Newsletter
BioBuilder is excited to announce the launch of our LinkedIn newsletter, Science Starts Here!
Each month, LinkedIn subscribers now get in on BioBuilder news, events, teacher and student accomplishments, and much more, including a roundup of the BioBuilder blog, podcast, and career conversations.
A helpful (and fun!) section that rounds out each issue is the Worth A Read/Watch/Listen list, with links to interesting and fun items from the bioscience industry, science education, and beyond.
Check out August’s list of worthies:
- BioBuilder Free Training Video to Teach Downstream Processing
- Measuring What Matters: Science Standards and Strategic Competition
- Opinion piece from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: AI is About to Disrupt Millions of Jobs. A Century Ago, America’s Response was to Build a New High School
- 6 STEM Research Conferences for High School Students
- Why Talent is Still the Biggest Bioprocessing Bottleneck
- Just for fun: Ann Patchett discussing her newest novel, Whistler
So, head on over to LinkedIn and subscribe to the BioBuilder Educational Foundation newsletter. You’ll be glad you did!