“We’re like rock stars here!”

That’s what one of the Newark High School’s BioMedical Sciences students excitedly remarked after being questioned and congratulated by participants at RIT’s New York State Project Lead the Way (PLTW) conference on October 13th.

Following a successful site visit at Newark High School and earning national certification earlier this year from Project Lead the Way for the BioMedical Sciences program, Dr. Carolyn Malstrom, Senior Director of School Engagement for Project Lead the Way for the Northeast, invited NHS BioMedical Sciences Teacher Shawn Flanagan and some of his students to the RIT conference to make a presentation about their program, explain what they’ve accomplished and how it’s been rolled out to the school community.

Attending the conference with Flanagan were Newark High School seniors Joe Colacino, Jackson Correia, Sarinah Hernandez, Tristan Laws, Ian MacTaggart, and Nick Tarplee; Board of Education member and PLTW-BMS Community Partnership Team member Yvonne MacTaggart; and Newark High School Living Environment teacher Rebecca Yuhas.

BioMedical Sciences Students Present At Project Lead The Way Conference At RIT

During the conference, the students_ wearing their white lab coats, a gift from the BioMedical Sciences Community Partnership Team _ enthusiastically provided a summary of the BioMedical Sciences program in action. They gave an overview of the program and a showcased exemplary work. They also shared about the influence the program has had on other aspects of their schooling such as academics, career development and current events analysis and they related personal experiences including how enrolling in BioMedical Sciences has changed their pathway towards college and career readiness.

“Our students didn’t do well today, they did extraordinarily, incredibly well,” Flanagan told colleagues later in the day. “They deserve as much credit for getting this program off the ground as anyone. They helped me tweak what worked and streamline what didn’t.”

Flanagan later led a discussion at the conference with other teachers from throughout the state about best practices for implementing the BioMedical Sciences program. During his talk, he pointed out the efforts to create a more student-owned and maintained laboratory setting in order to instill a sense of self-reliance. He also discussed the role the Community Partnership Team has played in instilling a strong sense of hometown pride in the work done by these students including: the Welcoming/White Coat ceremony, clothing sale, and logo/branding efforts to further establish the group’s identity.

After the presentations, the students were met and thanked by professionals from across the state and shared their ideas and experiences with teachers from Brooklyn to Buffalo. During lunch, several of the students met and talked with Frank Zaffino, a retired Vice-President from Eastman Kodak Company who, after lunch, presented the keynote address and talked about the role education and programs like PLTW play in developing the future economy.

MacTaggart, Yuhas, and the BioMedical students also took their time to learn about PLTW programs for elementary and middle school students through PLTW’s Launch program initiative. At the same time, Flanagan was networking with other BioMedical programs from Rush-Henrietta and Gananda to further enhance a cooperative effort for the programs in the region. He also met with other school representatives who wanted to learn more about our first years to see if they could bring BioMedical Sciences to their high school.

The BioMedical Sciences Community Partnership Team, through an anonymous donation, provided transportation to and from the event through Metropolitan Limousines as a thank you and congratulations to the students for their hard work and prestigious honor of being chosen to be presenters.

Thanks to Shawn Flanagan for providing photos and great story information!