Kayla Samimi
Copy Editor
Students currently enrolled in Mira Costa’s Biotechnology 2 course are in the process of finding individual, science related internships, which will earn them year-long credit for Biotechnology next school year.
Biotechnology is a class consisting of both juniors and sophomores who collaborate in weekly labs and other science-related activities. Costa biology teacher Jessica Bledsoe teaches the class, which meets every day during zero period. Juniors are enrolled in the Biotechnology 2 course and sophomores are members of Biotechnology 1.
“What’s really cool about biotechnology is that it’s such a new course,” Bledsoe said. “My current students are setting the stage for all others. A lot of decisions regarding this course have come from discussion as a collaborative unit.”
Photos: Biotechnology students perform labs which will help them in their internships.
All juniors who will be a part of Biotechnology 3 next school year are required to find a year-long internship. The internship must be related to the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. After the students find their internships, Bledsoe will approve each student’s choice.
“I really want my students to have an authentic experience with a field that they are interested in,” Bledsoe said. “We are currently embarking on the process of finding each student’s match. I want to give them an experience that will excite them about biotechnology.”
So far, three students have already found their internships, Bledsoe said. Junior Sam Frias will be working with neurosurgeons at the University of Southern California. According to Frias, her internship will involve working with the development of a specific snake venom that has the potential to act directly on brain tumors.
Link: Read about the USC Keck School of Medicine.
“Over the time in the lab, doctors will be guiding me through laboratory procedures for producing [the snake venom] agents and administering them into animal test subjects like mice for further observation,” Frias said. “I’m very excited to work at USC because I will finally be able to apply the skills I’ve learned in Biotech and delve deeper into the field I want to pursue in the future, which is neurosurgery.”
The students have until the end of this school year to find their internships. Once the 2017-18 school year begins, each students is required to complete 20 hours of their internship each month. The hours will be logged on a hour sheet and must have a signature from the internship to be deemed valid. According to Bledsoe, it does not matter how students choose to spread their hours throughout the month since she understands that some weeks are busier than others.
Link: View a list of common labs performed in the field of Biotechnology.
“It’s a really good idea to have us participate in internships our senior year,” Frias said. “I would definitely rather be spending my time in a more hands-on setting than in a classroom every day.”
In return for the time spent at their internships, the Biotechnology 3 students will only have to meet once every other week for zero period. At these biweekly meetings, students will update Bledsoe on any progress with their internships.
“Allowing students to sign up for internships gives them real life experience,” Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “We always spend time in the classroom so it is good to have this new method of learning.”
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