Malinda Dixon, a biology teacher at Westview High School in Poway, was so inspired by what she learned about biotechnology at a summer training program for teachers that she has spearheaded a new program for students.
Dixon said she is starting a two-week, hands-on biotech program for 10th through 12th graders when school gets underway next week. In a classroom that “looks like a biotech lab,” complete with $47,000 worth of new equipment, students will learn to manipulate DNA and make proteins from bacteria, a process similar to making insulin. Dixon said.
Dixon attended the Life Science Summer Institute Program, a program that introduces upper-level high school and college students, as well as high school teachers, to the biotech industry and gives them a chance to gain laboratory experience. The institute is sponsored by Biocom, a local life sciences organization, and the San Diego Workforce Partnership.
No one was available at the Poway school district to offer additional details on the program, but I’ll keep you posted.