VISITING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STAN-X PARTNER SCHOOLS

Harvard Westlake

Seung & Melody selfie

Seung visited the Harvard Westlake School, hosted by Ms. Melody Lee, instructor and head of the science department. H-W is in the first year of their Stan-X curriculum and there was energy and excitement during Seung's visit. He instructed students in reading original science papers, including the Park et al, 2014 study in PLoS Genetics.

He then separately met with school leadership to discuss the trajectory of implementation and planned classroom renovations for the course.  Later, he and Ms. Lee discussed next steps including collaborations with Cory Evans and students across town at Loyola.

Loyola Marymount University

     Seung next visited Dr. Cory Evans at Loyola Marymount on March 24th, and presented a lecture to current and prospective students in the Stan-X course there: "Stan-X: a global network for experiential science instruction". Dr. Evans has been on the faculty at Loyola Marymount for several years, and is one of our partners who runs a course at a university. Cory is highly skilled in the pedagogy related to Drosophila lab-based courses: for many years he helped to run the famous fruit fly genetics course for undergraduates at UCLA, founded by (among others) Dr. Utpal Banerjee.  In addition, Dr. Evans has his own fly lab at LMU. After Seung's lecture, he had a tour of the magnificent campus (it was a windy, sunny day in the greater-LA area) then met with school leadership to discuss mechanisms to enhance this growing collaboration around practice-based science instruction. He hopes to return soon.

VISITING STAN-X PARTNER SCHOOLS IN 2022

A summary of visits by Stan-X instructors to partnering schools in the US and UK

Lawrenceville School (March and December 2022)

Steve Murray

Seung visited the Lawrenceville School in 2022 and met with Nicole Lantz, Elizabeth Fox and Steve Murray. He worked with the students in the Research Molecular Genetics (RMG) course. He presented Nicole, Elizabeth and Steve with 'bobblehead' dolls he and his daughter Ella Kim had fashioned. These were small tokens of well-deserved appreciation from the Stan-X team.

In March 2022 Seung gave a presentation on experimental science to about one hundred 'second formers' (9th graders in Lawrenceville parlance), and taught students from the two sections of the RMG course. He used the Park et al, 2014 study in PLoS Genetics to instruct students on how to read a primary scientific paper.

In December 2022, Seung took a short trip to Lawrenceville to coordinate development of the summer Discover Now program and the Harvard Summer School course with Ms. Lantz.

Phillips Exeter Academy (May and October 2022)

Live demonstration in class

Seung and Lutz visited for several days in May to meet with members of the BIO670 course, and the instructors Anne Rankin and Townley Chisholm. Seung participated in fly genomic DNA preparations one evening and then hosted a pie party, graced by the presence of the principal, William Rawson. Mr. Rawson was presented with his own bobblehead, in thanks for his help and dedication to Stan-X.  In October, Seung visited briefly around family weekend, and had the honor of presenting a 'meditation' in the Phillips Church. Afterwards, he spent time instructing students in reading original science papers, including Park et al, 2014.

Harvard University (May and June-August 2022)

Seung and Lutz visited the Harvard Biolabs in May 2022 to meet with Clark Magnan and his support staff. Clark runs the science support group at Harvard and showed Seung and Lutz the rooms they would occupy during their DCE course that summer. From June to August, Seung, Lutz and Nicole Lantz led SBIO-S15, with TA's Ellie Griffin and Lauren Fidelak. The course instructed 12 students from around the world for 7 weeks. The course evaluations were stellar, and the team will teach the course again in the summer of 2023.

Haileybury School (May and December 2022)  

Haileybury students

Seung and Nicole Lantz (Lawrenceville) met with teachers Vicky Turner (also School Proctor) and Gareth Lewis (also head of science department), staff member Lloyd Stark, and leadership at the Haileybury School over several days in May, and taught in classes there. This teaching included students from Haileybury and from Haileybury-Turnford (a local state school). He used the Park et al 2014 study to instruct students on how to read a paper. He and Nicole met with Martin Collier (head of school) and Stephen Campbell (deputy head, academic) to discuss strategies for developing Stan-X programs at Haileybury, to hear about the new science complex under construction (with space dedicated for Stan-X instruction) and summertime internships for students in his group at Stanford (this past summer, his group hosted one student, Ms. Lotte Beard: see also Instagram posting). Seung gathered with students and faculty for a fine farewell meal at a local pub.

Seung returned briefly in December to meet and instruct students and discuss ESN and Stan-X with Martin Collier. He also met with Stephan Campbell to outline steps to deepen Stan-X ties including development of a Discover Now program for European/U.K. schools, summer 2023 student internships, mosquito DNA sequencing, and retraining Haileybury instructors/staff on using CRISPR-based course designs. They also discussed ways to develop interactions with Haileybury-Turnford, and the possibility of a site visit to Stanford in the spring of 2023.

Cambridge, U.K. (November-December 2022)

Seung met with Cambridge University faculty to discuss inception of Stan-X programs. This included meeting with Dr. Tim Weil, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge University, and Deputy head of the Dept. of Zoology (Undergraduate), and with Prof. Matthias Landgrad, Deputy Head of the Dept. of Zoology postgraduate studies programs, and Wellcome Trust Investigator. There were productive discussions and a farewell high table dinner, punctuated by Christmas carols in the Pembroke College Chapel.

 Seung has planned travel to teach and lecture at Stan-X partners in southern California, Harvard-Westlake School and Loyola Marymount University, in March 2023.

STAN-X at HARVARD SUMMER SCHOOL

We ran a summer course at Harvard (BIOS-S15) based on our STAN-X curriculum. This course ran over an exciting 7 weeks with 12 high school-aged students from all parts of the globe, including students from Turkey, Switzerland, Singapore, and the US. Students performed fly intercrosses, molecular biology to map novel transposon enhancer trap lines, dissected larvae to isolate organs for immunostaining, and performed fluorescence microscopy. Afterwards they presented their findings in oral presentations to their fellow students and the course directors.

These activities were led by instructors Kockel, Lantz and Kim, ably assisted by teaching assistants Lauren Fidelak and Ellie Griffin. Professors Scott Edwards and Terrence Capellini from Harvard University, and Professor Cathy Wu from Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute led discussions for students in the "Career Pathways" segment of our class (where practicing scientists talk about their own professional and personal development).

The course reviews were outstanding and we have been invited to teach this class again in the summer of 2023!

DISCOVER NOW: TRAINING NEW STAN-X PARTNERS

The fourth annual DISCOVER NOW teaching academy ran in 2022 from June 27-July 1 and July 11-15. As in recent years, instruction in the first week was conducted online, and in the second - thanks to the Head of School, Steve Murray, and the Lawrenceville Science Department - was 'in person' on the beautiful campus of the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. Instructors for this course included Lutz Kockel, Anne Rankin (Exeter), and Elizabeth Fox and Nicole Lantz (Lawrenceville). The first week covered curricular elements, and content for the participants to develop and teach the 'core' Stan-X course involving transposon mutagenesis and 'enhancer trap' genetic modification to generate novel fruit fly stains. During the week, Discover Now participants networked and learned about teaching practices at other Stan-X partner schools.

In the second week, practical elements of running a Stan-X course were taught in lab space at Lawrenceville. This second week was punctuated by outings to local sites, including the working farm on the Lawrenceville campus, and nearby eating establishments. Participants included instructors from several schools, including Westtown (Malvern, PA), Mercy School (Rochester, NY), Chapin School (NY, NY), Commack High School (Long Island, NY) Harvard-Westlake (Los Angeles, CA) and The Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, CT).

STAN-X SUMMER SCHOLARS at STANFORD

As in prior summers, the Kim lab at Stanford was graced by visits from students who performed fruit fly research in the prior year, and were selected to continue their work in the summer. This includes Stella from the Dalton School in NY, Peter from Gund High School in Palo Alto, Eva, Clara and Ella from Phillips Exeter Academy, and Lotte from the Haileybury School in Hertford, UK. They were joined by Stanford undergraduate Emily and our Stan-X communications coordinator Iris-Mae (who studies at Oxford, UK).

The portrait in profile shows the ferocious experimental focus of summer-time scholars Eva and Clara. Along with a third scholar, Ella, they completed the Stan-X course (Bio670) at Exeter led by Ms. Rankin and Mr. Chisholm last spring. This summer they worked with Dr. Kockel to characterize new enhancer trap fly lines. These studies are in a manuscript now wending its way through the publication workflow.

STAN-X and CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

This summer, six Hutchins Scholars from Lawrenceville School in NJ spent time in the Kim lab working on CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing in flies.  They spent time relaxing too, at the beach near Half Moon Bay, CA and enjoying meals around the fire pit at their rental. Work hard, play hard.

They were accompanied by Ms. Lantz, who worked on developing curricular materials during the visit with Sangbin Park and Lutz Kockel. These activities were supported by the Lawrenceville School and the Hutchins Scholars program.

New transgenic fruit flies described at the Stan-X Interscholastic Conferences

The Stan-X program hosted two interscholastic science conferences in April and May that celebrated completed coursework and research for students and teachers. The first symposium was an ‘in-person’ conference held on the Stanford University campus April 30th that convened 47 students and teachers from four Stan-X partner schools, including the Lowell High School (San Francisco, California), Albuquerque Academy (New Mexico), Harvard Westlake (Los Angeles, California) and Stanford University School of Medicine. The second was a virtual international symposium held on May 23rd that gathered 37 students and teachers from Haileybury (U.K.),  Lawrenceville (New Jersey), Commack High School (New York), the Chapin School (New York), Mercy (Rochester, New York) and Stanford. The meeting was hosted by Drs. Lutz Kockel and Seung Kim.

Group photograph from the in-person April meeting.

During the all-day April meeting, which was the first ‘live’ Stan-X student conference ever held, students from Albuquerque Academy and Lowell High School presented research findings from their Stan-X course. This included a morning poster session, followed by oral presentations, in the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine on the campus of the Stanford University School of Medicine. Students presented data and conclusions from their experiments characterizing fruit fly strains generated over the past year. These included presentations about genomic insertion location of the SX-4 enhancer trap element, neighboring gene characterization, and unique patterns of LexA-dependent gene expression in multiple new fruit fly strains. Student speakers shared data from productive collaborations between schools, including molecular studies of the genomic location of enhancer trap elements. For most students this was an index experience in public presentation of science data. The energy and verve during the poster sessions and oral presentations was exciting.

Teachers from Albuquerque Academy at the April meeting.

After an al fresco lunch in the warm California sun, students gathered in ‘breakout sessions’ with Stanford-based researchers. These lively, candid discussions allowed visiting students to meet staff, doctoral and undergraduate students working in the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford, and to discuss a variety of topics including scholastic and career development in science. After lab tours in the Beckman Center, participating students presented their findings and data in the afternoon poster and oral presentation sessions. The symposium was closed with remarks from Dr. Kim on new curricular offerings from Stan-X and updates on progress in the development and growth of the Stan-X network of schools.

Anjana Amirapu, the Stan-X teacher at Lowell High School, stated: “Attending the Stan-X Conference was the highlight of my students' learning this year. They really appreciated getting to meet other students from another state and bond over their shared experiences going through the Stan-X course along with their love for science. They especially appreciated being able to tour the lab spaces and get feedback from Dr. Kim and Dr. Kockel on their research. Many students told me after the conference that they felt less intimidated to consider science research as a career and they felt more confident in their abilities to do science. It was an incredible experience that my students will never forget.”

A subset of the May symposium participants

To accommodate school schedules and the growth of the Stan-X network, an additional Stan-X science conference was held on May 23rd, 2022. Research work was presented by twenty-five student speakers at Lawrenceville, Chapin, Commack and Haileybury, and showcased beautiful molecular, cellular and genetic findings. In many cases these were collaborative studies produced by partnering students and schools. In addition, students, teachers and leadership from recently-added Stan-X partner schools in Rochester (Mercy) and New York City (Dalton School) attended. The afternoon ended with lively discussions of further studies to be performed in summertime internships and collaborations, and planning for in-person meetings next year at Lawrenceville.

Lawrenceville student Layla Shaffer said, “The Stan-X International Conference this May was an incredible experience that allowed us, as high school students, to share our work with fellow students and researchers from around the world. In just nine months, I not only learned the intricacies of Drosophila genetics and transposon biology, but also experienced an entire research process–from creating unique fly lines to DNA sequencing to dissecting and imaging. The conference allowed us to showcase all of our work and, most importantly, provided a platform for students to see the collaborative process and meaningful results of the research done with Stan-X.  I feel so fortunate to have been a part of something this innovative and unique.”

For information about Stan-X and the 2023 Stan-X Interscholastic Science Conferences, please contact Dr. Lutz Kockel, lkockel@stanford.edu

PUBLICATION IN SCIENTIFIC REPORTS FROM OUR OXFORD STAN-X PARTNERSHIP

Students and teachers in the Stan-X program published their study, “A LexAop > UAS > QUAS trimeric plasmid to generate inducible and interconvertible Drosophila overexpression transgenes” in Scientific Reports, a Nature journal. This is the fourth original research article published by members of the Stan-X network since 2016. The article can be accessed here.

Students and instructors at the Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford, summer 2019 Stan-X course.

Co-authors on this study include undergraduate students Imam Awan, Sichen Liu, Yulia Sudarikova and Ethan Sung – all from the University of Oxford, Gabrielle Asia Bonoko from Maastricht University (Netherlands), and Mar Bustamante-Sequeiros from the Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), along with Stan-X partnering teachers and teaching assistants from the Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford and Stanford University. This study was led by Professors L. Alberto Baena-Lopez (Dunn School and Oriel College) and Seung Kim (Stanford), and is the first from the Stan-X partnership with the Dunn School and supported by the Stanford Bing Overseas Program at Oxford, led by Director Stephanie Solywoda.

Students engaged in ‘Gibson assembly’ DNA cloning.

The study describes several advances in the field of Drosophila genetics, including creation of a genetic tool to generate ‘interconvertable’ fruit fruit fly lines that can flexibly respond to transgenic regulators. Baena-Lopez and his trainees, including co-first author Franz Wendler and co-authors Claire Hill and Alessia Galasso, along with Dr. Sangbin Park (Stanford) generated a ‘modular DNA cloning vector’ that allows single

transgene or combinatorial transgene expression in fruit flies using the budding yeast GAL4 activator, the Neurospora Q activator, or the bacterial LexA activator. In addition, it contains elements that facilitate the termination of such induced gene expression with temporal precision. Together these features are highly valuable to create interconvertible transgenic flies with flexible capability to express any gene of interest.The foundation of this study were developed in a summertime Oxford-based course created by Baena-Lopez, Hill, Galasso, Kim, Park and Kathleen R. Chang, who was a Stanford undergraduate in 2019, and who served as a teaching assistant at Oxford. The discovery-oriented experimental science course (temporarily interrupted in 2020-21 by the global COVID-19 pandemic) eventually led to data and new fruit fly strains described in the Scientific Reports article.

Close instruction of Oxford Stan-X summer course students.

As part of this course, undergraduate students including Chang had the opportunity to work and live at Oxford, housed in the Stanford House on High Street. This course and output highlights ongoing collaborations between Stan-X and university-based instructors and students. Since its inception in 2012, Stan-X has partnered with Stanford University, Oxford, Loyola Marymount College (U.S.) and Harvard Summer School. The ongoing vision is that unscripted science performed and learned through these partnerships will allow students and teachers to generate new, valuable Drosophila resources and phenotypic data for the scientific community, while providing students with a sense of scientific discovery and ownership.

Lawrenceville School instructor Nicole Lantz, who assisted with the inception of this course at Oxford, and visited the Dunn School during the summer of 2019 said, “This was such a joyful experience to watch and participate in; like with our students at Lawrenceville, I saw a tremendously lively engagement by students in real-world science – with all its ups and downs and uncertainty and occasional successes. The challenge of developing a summertime course with a shorter duration but a high-quality experience has helped us develop more flexible curricula. For example, we are now working with Harvard Summer School on a new 7 week course that will be offered in the summer of 2022.”

The methods and genetic tools developed in this study have already been requested by fruit fly science community, and will also be made available through the fly repositories maintained in the U.S. and U.K. The course was supported by a Vice Provost Undergraduate Education grant to S.K. from Stanford University, the Stanford BOSP program at Oxford, and by the Cancer Research UK C49979/A17516 to L.A. B.-L. The syllabus used by students at the Oxford program is listed on the Stan-X publications page. For more information about Stan-X programs, please contact Dr. Lutz Kockel, lkockel@stanford.edu, Sangbin Park, sangbin@stanford.edu, or Seung Kim, seungkim@stanford.edu

STAN-X PARTNERS’ JOURNAL PUBLICATION: NEW DROSOPHILA TRANSGENIC LINES

Ashley Tay and Sangbin Park poring over new data in the laboratory.

Students and teachers in the Stan-X program published their study “Transgenic Drosophila lines for LexA-dependent gene and growth regulation,” in G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, an official journal of the Genetics Society of America (GSA). This is the third original research article published by members of the Stan-X network since 2016. The article can be accessed here.

Co-authors on this study include Lawrenceville students Elaine Wang, Ashley Tay and Jax Floyd from Hutchins Scholars program, Phillips Exeter Academy students Catherine Griffin and Ella Kim, and Stan-X partnering teachers from these schools and the University of Oxford. Other participants in this study include Stanford student and lead author Kathleen R. Chang, Stanford doctoral student Emily Greenwald, visiting scholar Celine Bennett, and senior author Sangbin Park, a research associate in Developmental Biology at Stanford, and co-founder of Stan-X curricula with Drs. L. Kockel and S. Kim.

Publication co-authors from Lawrenceville and Stanford during a break from their summertime research in 2019.

This study describes several advances for the field of Drosophila genetics, including creation of a genetic tool to convert existing ‘Gal4’ fly lines into ‘LexA.G4H’ lines using modern CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing. In addition, Park and his Stan-X collaborators generated a universal cloning method to generate ‘LexAop-based’ shRNA transgenic lines from functionally validated ‘UAS-based’ shRNA transgenic lines. They then performed a functional screen of new shRNA lines targeting protein phosphatase genes, and identified new growth regulators in the developing wing. Remarkably, the current study was initially developed as a summertime Stanford Bio-X project in 2018 by Chang and Park. This eventually led to development of a syllabus and teaching materials that later generated new discovery-oriented experimental science courses at Lawrenceville, Exeter and Oxford. In 2022, a new course based on this Stan-X study, open to secondary school and college students, will also be offered at the Harvard Summer School.

As part of their course (prior to 2020), Lawrenceville students in the Hutchins Scholars program, led by Dr. Elizabeth Fox, had the opportunity to work and live at Stanford. Likewise, Stanford teaching assistants lived and mentored students at Lawrenceville and Oxford. Over the past four years, collaborations between investigators in these research universities and the students and teachers in Stan-X partner secondary schools successfully generated these new valuable Drosophila resources and phenotypic data for the scientific community, while providing students with a sense of scientific discovery and ownership.

Lawrenceville instructor Nicole Lantz, who accompanied Lawrenceville Hutchins Scholars during their on-site visit to conduct experiments at Stanford in 2019 said, “This was such an incredible experience for our students at Lawrenceville. It is hard to place a value on the experience our students had in actively participating in, and contributing to, the larger scientific community.” 

Lead author Kathleen Chang who was a Stanford undergraduate when she worked on this study, said, “I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from and be a part of this scientific team. Working here has made such an impact on me.”

The methods and genetic tools developed in this study have already garnered great interest from the science community, including investigators who study intercellular communication in physiology, development, and neurobiology. The syllabus used by students at our Stan-X partner schools to construct LexAop lines and to perform enhancer trap screens, the basis of the study by Chang et al, 2022, are listed on the Stan-X publications page. For more information about Stan-X programs, please contact Dr. Lutz Kockel, lkockel@stanford.edu, Sangbin Park, sangbin@stanford.edu, or Seung Kim, seungkim@stanford.edu 

Scholastic partners trained in Stan-X laboratory practice through Discover Now

Discover Now participant C. Cain in action at the December 2021, Stanford session

This past week, instructors from multiple partner programs oriented to the practice of Stan-X programs and curricula. This included instructors from the Pritzker College Prep School (Chicago, Illinois), Dalton School (New York) and the Haileybury School (Hertfordshire, U.K.). Another instructor from the Massachusetts was prevented from attending in person due to Covid 19-related issues. This week of laboratory instruction was held in the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford, and organized by Discover Now faculty members Drs. Lutz Kockel and Seung Kim.

DNA sequencing and enhancer trap mapping results from Discover Now participants

Led by Dr. Kockel, the instructors Alex Gannett, Cory Cain (Pritzker), Jessica Joiner (Dalton), Victoria Turner and Gareth Lewis (Haileybury) met daily in-person at Stanford to gain practical instruction on lab practices, fly husbandry, food preparation and procurement, intercross strategies, molecular biology for mapping novel enhancer trap insertions, bio-informatics, larval tissue dissection immunohistology, and tissue imaging. This practical lab instruction complemented prior instruction received through online orientation and meetings covering the genetics, molecular biology and cell biology underlying the Stan-X fruit fly curriculum. Instructor Dr. Lutz Kockel noted, “It is very satisfying to see that course participants are rocketed from a ‘what the heck am I doing?’ to a loud and confident ‘I did this’ within 5 days of instruction.” He also said, “We see this progression and maturation with every Discover Now class”.

G. Lewis and V. Turner of Haileybury, and S.K. Kim of Stanford at breakfast

In addition to the lab-based work, discussion and advice were provided on course execution, including preparation of instructional materials and safe laboratory procedures. During the week of instruction at Stanford, the course participants also produced more than 30 new enhancer trap insertions that will be not only used in participating Stan-X schools for sequencing and analysis in spring 2022, but also become part of the Stan-X collection at the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (BDSC). Productive networking interactions between the Stan-X partners who convened at Stanford began through these meetings, and this camaraderie will be developed through year-long mentoring and weekly meetings provided by Dr. Kockel (Stanford) and other Discover Now instructors. Through this intensive, immersive week of lab activities and exercises, the teachers will take all the practical skills needed to run the Stan-X course back to their schools during term time. The instructors, Cory Cain and Alex Gannett from Pritzker College Prep in Chicago stated, “Now we know this curriculum and can implement this class into our school.”

Discover Now dinner at the Wursthall, San Mateo

Jessica Joiner, instructor in science at the Dalton School said: “This was a hugely helpful experience. Discover Now not only brought me up to speed on the modules in the StanX course, it also provided a new perspective on science education. This is an experience focused on lab work where you truly learn by doing. The Discover Now instructors are amazing teachers and scientists, and the experience is really inspirational. I am excited to use the different activities we practiced for a variety of courses at Dalton, from freshman biology to more advanced courses, like our neuroscience elective.”

Discover Now attendees lodged in local hotels, a short distance from the Stanford laboratory space. A farewell celebratory dinner was held at Wursthall, a well-regarded gastro-pub founded by the famed chef Kenji Lopez-Alt in San Mateo, California. We look forward to working with these instructors in the coming years.

For information about Discover Now in 2022, please contact Nicole Lantz at the Lawrenceville School, nlantz@lawrenceville.edu

Learning by doing: scholastic partners develop essential skills in Discover Now

Teachers from five schools convened on the beautiful campus of the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, USA, for a fun and exciting week of instruction in experimental protocols and data interpretation. This marked the second week of orientation to the theory and practice of Stan-X programs and curricula. This included partners and instructors from the Lawrenceville School, Albuquerque Academy (New Mexico), Commack High School (New York), Latin School (Chicago, Illinois),  and Stanford University. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, three instructors from another partner school, the Haileybury School (U.K.) deferred their in-person training until next summer.

End of the week smiles: group selfie on the last day of Discover Now

This in-person training immediately followed a prior week of online orientation and meetings covering the genetics, molecular biology and cell biology underlying the Stan-X fruit fly curriculum.

Discover Now faculty, Nicole Lantz, Elizabeth Fox, and Lutz Kockel met daily with instructors for an intensive immersion in fly husbandry, molecular biology, bio-informatics, dissections, microscopy and tissue handling. These approaches will be the backbone of course instruction and student activities in the Stan-X courses developed at these partner schools. Stephanie Good, from the Albuquerque Academy (New Mexico) reflected that “the Discover Now program was extremely helpful! The instructors were knowledgeable and patient,  and I am looking forward to sharing this experience with my students.”

Stephanie Good practices larval dissections and tissue mounting for microscopy.

Discover Now attendees lodged in a hotel, within easy walking distance of the Lawrenceville School. They had meals provided by the program, giving them a chance to experience fare from local restaurants. During mid-day breaks from lab work, teachers explored the environs, including walks and runs along the Lawrenceville-Hopewell trail. Participants also explored The Lawrenceville School's Big Red Farm, taking in the solar field and vegetable plots, feeding the pigs, and observing the sheep herds, and the apiary. Evenings out in town allowed teachers to develop connections and to network. 

In addition to the lab-based work, materials, discussion and advice were provided on space allocation, practical issues in fruit fly intercrosses, maintenance and larval biology, preparation of instructional materials and safe laboratory procedures. The environment and esprit de corps generated productive networking interactions between new Stan-X partners, features that will be fostered through year-long mentoring and meetings provided by Dr. Kockel (Stanford) and other Discover Now instructors.

Robert Smullen from the Commack High School (New York) summarized his experience: “Stan-X’s fantastic teacher development course is intense, covering a mindboggling amount of material over the five days... but it was super rewarding. The instructors for the course were informative and patient, reminding me of some of the best teachers I have had over my career. The time I invested in the five-day intense training has given information and skills that I will be use years from now.”

For information about Discover Now in 2022, please contact Nicole Lantz at the Lawrenceville School, nlantz@lawrenceville.edu

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

New Drosophila lines described at the third Stan-X Interscholastic Conference: Going Global

The Stan-X program hosted its third interscholastic science conference this spring, with presentations by 54 students and teachers. Students presented their research findings from Stan-X based curricula established at these schools in a scintillating afternoon filled with discussion about results, interpretation and new curricular offerings from Stan-X. The conference was also a celebration of completed coursework and research for students and teachers in the face of difficulties posed by COVID, including intermittent school closings and distance teaching/learning. 

 Participants at this conference represented schools from around the globe including: The Lawrenceville School (NJ, USA), Commack High School (NY, USA), Lowell High School (CA, USA), Phillips Exeter Academy (NH, USA), Haileybury School (UK), Dalton School (NY, USA), American School in Japan (Tokyo, Japan), Latin School (IL, USA), Loyola Marymount University (CA, USA) and Stanford University (CA, USA). 

Students presented data and interpretation of their experiments characterizing new fruit fly strains generated over the past year by our Stan-X partner schools. These included presentations about genomic insertion location of the SX-4 enhancer trap element, neighboring gene characterization, and unique patterns of LexA-dependent gene expression in multiple new fruit fly strains. Presentations included shared data from productive collaborations between schools, including molecular studies of the genomic location of enhancer trap elements. The sessions were moderated by Dr. Lutz Kockel (Stanford) and teachers and students from participating Stan-X schools. For nearly all students this was the first experience they had in publically presenting and discussing primary science data. So, like in prior years, the conference replicated important elements of a scientific meeting. This included the careful planning of data presentation and slides, practice talks, and the management of the natural nervous energy accompanying public speaking. The excitement and high spirits during the afternoon were palpable, despite the virtual setting of the conference this year. 

Student Houston Kilby summarized her experience in the Research Molecular Genetics course at Lawrenceville: "RMG was a great experience because everything we learned and all the high level concepts we studied were rooted in things we were really doing in the lab. We had such a great time getting to see how our research really applied to the world of science, and got a feel for what it was like to do professional level research. I loved this class, and I recommend it to everyone who is even remotely interested in science!"

Presentation and discussion of a new LexA enhancer-trap strain at the 2021 conference, by attendees from Lawrenceville, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Hertfordshire, UK.

Dr. Kockel commented: “This interscholastic conference also helps foster the sense in students and teachers that they are truly connected to a larger community of science, through a network of experimental genetics and biology, and through the data and new fly strains they have generated.”

Students from Phillips Exeter Academy presented their findings from a new Stan-X course begun this past spring with instructors Anne Rankin, Townley Chisholm and Stanford scientist, Dr. Sangbin Park. This new course incorporates CRISPR-based gene editing in living flies to generate new LexA fly strains. Participating Exeter students described the course protocols and successful outcomes from gene editing strategies using CRISPR/Cas9 gene in flies, setting the stage for offering this exciting, new course to other Stan-X partner schools. 

Exeter student Jason Wang summarized his experience with this new course: “Performing the new CRISPR-based conversion protocol was a deeply interesting, always engaging, and ultimately rewarding endeavor. Seeing genetics concepts come to life in our flies highlighted the tangibility and applicability of our project, and I am excited to see what the future holds for this course."

Ms. Rankin noted: “Through the Stan-X program I spend a portion of my time doing exactly what I ask my students to do - get far outside my comfort zone via exposure to new material, experiences and people.  By becoming a learner shoulder to shoulder with my students [and colleagues], I authentically model the characteristics I hope to instill - humility, empathy, inquisitiveness, openness, adaptability and continual growth.”

The afternoon ended with discussions of further studies to be performed in summertime internships and collaborations, and a lively interactions focused on the intent to have an in-person Stan-X student conference in the future.

For information about Stan-X and the 2022 Stan-X Interscholastic Science Conference, please contact Dr. Lutz Kockel, lkockel@stanford.edu

Investigations by Haileybury pupils advance biomedical research: a first in Europe

Haileybury pupils are the first in Europe using fruit flies to advance biomedical research

It is an exciting time for some of our most creative and ambitious young scientists whose research could contribute to finding cures for human diseases like pancreatic cancer and diabetes.

We are proud to be the only school in Europe offering Stan-X – an open-ended science programme based on experimental biology, allowing pupils to build resilience in learning with trial and error. The ultimate goal of the research is to introduce students and their teachers to genuine, unscripted experimental science.

Working collaboratively with Stanford University in the US and the University of Oxford, Stan-X is comparable to a graduate genetics course and is part of an innovative study involving other schools and colleges around the world.

“We are very proud to have been invited to be involved in this project and to be the only school in Europe offering Stan-X. It is very exciting indeed to be involved in a project that so significantly enhances our pupils’ scientific understanding.

We are hopeful that our new Science Centre will be completed in two years’ time. It is an ambitious project and ground-breaking, in that integral to the project, it will be a standalone facility for scientific and technological research.

Stan-X is the first of many advanced research projects that will be undertaken at Haileybury by our pupils over the course of the coming years.” The Master, Martin Collier, said.

The Stan-X programme currently involves seven Lower Sixth pupils who are working with teaching staff to create a laboratory from scratch. Once up and running, ‘team taught’ sessions will see pupils use modern stereo-microscopes to identify phenotypic markers in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, such as curly wings, stubble hair or white eyes.

Fruit flies are considered a model organism and a century of research has shown that humans and fruit flies share many mechanisms that are crucial for development, growth, function and survival. The aim of the research is to use fruit flies genetics to investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie human diseases. Results obtained at Haileybury will provide new tools and insights to a global community of researchers investigating diseases like diabetes and cancer.

It is the brainchild of Stanford Professor Seung Kim, of Stanford University, who wanted to provide opportunities for secondary school teachers and students to perform experiments without a known outcome, rather than predictable lab exercises carried out in science classes across the globe. The course originated at Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, nine years ago and we are offering it as an academic enrichment option with seven sessions a week.

Professor Seung Kim said:

“The essence of science is discovery. But too often science is taught in a very general way. That’s why my colleagues and I developed a programme to allow them to do genuine experiments and make discoveries in school.

“The Haileybury pupils will play an important role in this research but, perhaps most importantly, will experience the joy, mystery and anxiety of attempting to make a discovery at an earlier stage of their education than most school pupils. We think that for some, perhaps many, this experiment could be transformative.

“Very few school pupils get the chance to be involved in the planning, execution and interpretation of scientific experiments to which teachers and students don’t already know the answers – I am sure that the Haileybury team will find this work exhilarating. Our additional expectation is that the instructors will quickly achieve considerable autonomy, insuring the durability and flexibility of this experimental science programme.”

Pupils work at fly stations, using a fly pad (which exposes the flies to carbon dioxide and puts them temporarily to sleep) and a very fine paintbrush to sort and organise flies observed with a stereomicroscope. A glow-in-the-dark protein helps establish where an injected chunk of DNA has ‘landed’.

The process involves a series of ‘crosses’ which act as checkpoints throughout the breeding programme, and which generate new fly strains of great value to the community of science. Pupils and teachers will collaborate and experience the highs and lows of the science experiment, allowing them to see science in its purest form. Findings and flies are sent to Stanford research associate Lutz Kockel, and other Stan-X partner schools who verify the results, then submit the new fly strains to an international stocking centre which distributes strains to individual investigators, on request.

In prior Stan-X partnerships, research findings co-authored by pupils and instructors have been published in peer-reviewed science journals, and presented at international meetings. Similar outcomes are anticipated for the Stan-X partnership with Haileybury.

There are also plans to establish an award for a Haileybury Stan-X Scholar to work over the summer months at the University of Oxford, or in the Kim laboratory in Stanford.

Stan-X Presentation Accepted at the 2021 New Jersey Science Convention

Nicole Lantz, and Dr. Elizabeth Fox (Lawrenceville School), and Seung Kim have been invited to present their work on Stan-X as part of a virtual professional development series this year at the New Jersey Science Convention. This presentation is scheduled for February 7, 2021 11:30-12:30 PM EST. 

This presentation is one of a series targeting multiple grade levels and science areas. Each session will include a host and moderator. Live sessions will be recorded and archived for future viewing by registered attendees. Attendee registration for sessions will be handled by the NJSC staff. Please return to our News column in the future for further information and links.

Stan-X Moving Forward Despite the Pandemic

After the successful conclusion of training sessions in the Discover Now teaching academy this July, 2020, multiple schools have started Stan-X programs this fall. As part of our commitment to engaging with partnering teachers and their classes, Dr. Kim has visited with classes (by invitation) at multiple times this past month. Some highlights :

• Dalton School, NYC, NY: Seung Kim was hosted by Dr. Jessica Joiner on Wednesday November 18, 2020. Dr. Kim joined a group of over 20 students, faculty and Dalton School leaders to present the motivation, rationale and plans for the fruit fly-based Stan-X course developing at Dalton this fall and winter quarter. There was a lively discussion and Q&A period! Plans are afoot to visit the class next quarter to discuss experimental progress and primary literature related to the course.

• Haileybury School, United Kingdom: Seung visited the classroom of Victoria Turner and Gareth Lewis, who hosted a teleconference on Friday September 11th. Dr. Kim joined participating Stan-X students and instructors in class to discuss an overview of the experimental work planned this year.

Dr. Kim returned to lead a class discussion on Friday November 27th via videoconference. He joined the current group of 7 lower Sixth formers at Haileybury for over an hour to discuss the original journal article, “Ablation of insulin-producing neurons in flies: growth and diabetic phenotypes” by Rulifson et al. (2002). For all the students, this was the first time they had a chance to read and discuss primary article from a scientific journal. In this case, the discussion was led by a senior author on the study! Reading and understanding primary articles in science journals is a basic skill of practicing scientists. Students have had this experience at other Stan-X partner schools, and based on the enthusiastic responses of the Haileyburians, we are planning to repeat this in the coming term.

• Lawrenceville School: Nicole Lantz and Elizabeth Fox, partnering instructors at the Lawrenceville School Research Molecular Genetics (RMG) class, have built an innovative system for remote, real-time interactions at their fly stations – comprised of a dissecting stereomicroscope, and fly ‘pad’ with CO2 on the microscope stage. One student in class positions flies onto the fly pad, and uses a phone camera mounted onto their microscope to transmit images of flies on the stage to partnering students physically distanced, e.g. in their home or dorm room. This allows two or more students to view and score fly phenotypes simultaneously, whether they are in the actual classroom or viewing via teleconferencing. Students from multiple Stan-X partner schools, including Commack High School in Long Island, NY and Haileybury School in the U.K. participated in these sessions. At multiple times throughout mid-November, Dr. Kim also joined via this scheme to interact with students at their microscopes, and discuss fly husbandry and phenotypes. The audio allowed Kim and the students to discuss findings in class. This terrific adaptation to the need for distanced learning has helped move research work forward in the RMG class, even in the time of COVID-19.

In November 2020, the students from Haileybury and Lawrenceville met online to discuss their flywork. Lawrenceville students used Zoom to show the Haileybury students their flies under the microscope, allowing the two groups of students to discuss their common research while it was actively happening.