Hackley’s Partnership with Regeneron

Hackley Review Winter 2019-20

Two Hackley teachers, Melissa Boviero and Dan Lipin, have completed the Regeneron STEM Teaching Fellowship.

The competitive 16 month Fellowship, created by the STEM Leadership Center in collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Teachers College of Columbia University, and U.S. Satellite Laboratory, seeks to train secondary science teachers in STEM teaching methods, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and professional research practices.

Fellows complete their classes remotely during the academic year through Columbia Teachers College, made possible with sponsorship by Regeneron, and receive a certification in STEM Leadership from Columbia. They then spend the summer doing hands on learning and research at Regeneron under the guidance of a researcher in one of their departments.

Melissa Boviero notes, “It’s a significant amount of work, but it was completely worthwhile! Through the classes I took from Columbia and NASA Endeavor, I sharpened my pedagogical skills and enriched my lessons. For instance, I took a class on different ways to use technology in the classroom, and it helped me to add flipped lessons, WeVideo, and Scratch digital stories to enrich projects that I had previously done. I took a class on enriching lessons with data and math, which I added to my earthquake engineering lessons, and which helped elevate the learning the students took from that unit.”

Dan Lipin found his summer work at Regeneron to be tremendously inspiring, as scientists there taught him how to use computer programming to analyze genetic data to better understand the biology of liver proteins, and to understand the science behind using omics to help find targets for treatment of disease. He reports, “The experience rekindled my love for biotech after being away from it following the completion of my PhD. Brainstorming ideas for solving genomics puzzles was fun!”

Melissa agrees that the time at Regeneron was memorable and significant. “The other fellows and I were treated as one of the researchers, and I learned laboratory skills I had never learned before. I was also involved with reviewing the data of an experimental treatment, and I appreciated learning just how complex the process is in developing treatments and going from design to trial.”

Hackley has many reasons to appreciate Regeneron, which is located not far from campus. The company has hosted numerous Hackley students for their Senior Projects and has hired Hackley students and young alumni as summer interns. Leaders at Regeneron -- including Roy Vagelos (Hackley grandparent), Bill Roberts (Class of ‘75 and parent of alumnae), and George Yancopoulos (parent of alumni) -- have served as Szabo Lecturers, and Bill and George have supported Hackley’s Networking Initiative with numerous informational interviews. Most recently, George Yancopoulos facilitated a daylong educational visit for the Hackley science IRP (Independent Research Project) students, which helped expand their understanding of the opportunities and impact inherent to scientific research.
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