Melissa Boviero Selected as Regeneron Endeavor Fellow

As part of this, she earned a Leadership Certificate (9 graduate credits) in STEM from Columbia Teachers College in partnership with the NASA Endeavor program. For her research mentorship, she engaged in a two week laboratory research experience at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, working with a mentor scientist and bio tech engineer. Mentors engage Fellows in research projects in the mentor’s scientific specialty. Fellows learn how to use scientific tools and equipment, engage in professional lab safety practices, and experience how bio tech research is applied to solve problems in human health. Fellows return to their classrooms with new skills and best practices in science and STEM education that enrich the experience of their students and enhance their curriculum.

Through her participation in this program, and the PD she has gained through the courses, Melissa has created some dynamic and positive changes to her curriculum. For instance, she started designing units following the "5 E Method” of lesson planning, which makes sure that the activities and lessons planned within a unit has students “engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate.” She has also added different tech opportunities to lessons, including having students code Scratch for digital stories that follow a rock through the rock cycle. She is currently working with Hackley computer science intern Will Molter on designing a TinkerCAD project for having students design and build earthquake resistant structures that can withstand the motion of seismic waves, and which they will later test on Hackley’s earthquake shake table.

In the upcoming semester, she is enrolled in a class that looks at the different ways to integrate math within the science curriculum--a topic she looks forward to exploring and further integrating into her lessons.