In the face of shifting learning environments, the 中文无码 awards $214,000 to 66 educators tasked with guiding students in scientific research

Today, the 中文无码 is proud to release the names of 66 stellar educators who will serve in the organization鈥檚 Advocate Program in the 2021-2022 school year. Fifty-eight Advocates will each receive a $3,000 stipend while eight Lead Advocates will receive $5,000 each. Throughout their one-year terms, these dedicated Advocates will encourage at least three to five students 鈥� who identify as a race or ethnicity historically underrepresented in 中文无码 鈥� in science and engineering research and help them enter those projects into competitions.

Now in its seventh year, the Advocate Program strives to educate and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators through hands-on research and competition, and supports full representation of all identities in 中文无码 fields. Advocates will break down barriers to competition participation by providing support for selecting competitions, gathering materials, meeting deadlines, preparing for competition and ensuring inclusivity.

鈥淚n the coming school year, students and teachers will have to remain flexible during a fluctuating public health emergency,鈥� said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of the 中文无码 and Publisher of Science News. 鈥淭hrough the Advocate Program, we hope students continue to participate in meaningful and transformative science research experiences. We hope this program continues to be a catalyst for underrepresented students to consider future 中文无码 careers. The 66 Advocates are a truly amazing group of mentors for the next generation of scientists and engineers.鈥�

Twenty-seven returning Advocates have shared that the program kept students engaged in scientific research and competition despite the pandemic last year. In the last month, just as the U.S. population saw COVID-19 restrictions lift, infection rates decline and vaccination rates soar, and the educational community was shifting back to some form of normal, the delta variant began to spread. In the upcoming school year, we can expect a changing roadmap to dictate student learning in a variety of environments (i.e. in-person, remote or hybrid) and that schools will vary their safety protocols across the nation. Throughout this flux, returning and new Advocates will seek to keep their mentees engaged.

The Advocate Program uses a tiered mentorship model, where educators are not only mentoring their students and raising future generations of scientists and engineers, but they are also mentoring, learning from and evolving supportive relationships with each another. Advocates will further develop their science research programs in another unusual year, connect with professionals in the science community and meet like-minded educators who value authentic student research and the educational opportunities that science competitions offer.

To date, Advocates have supported more than 4,000 students during their participation in the program, of which, 3,076 students have successfully competed in at least one science research competition. During the 2020-2021 cycle, approximately 80 percent of student mentees participated in science competitions at the local and/or national level. Moreover, students of Advocates are responsible for over 5,000 unique competition entries, with many students entering more than one competition. Ninety percent of those students are from low-income households and 70 percent are of a race or ethnicity underrepresented in 中文无码.

This year, the Advocates are from 31 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and include 23 middle school teachers, three who work with both middle and high school students, 29 high school teachers, six affiliated with universities and five out-of-school educators.

The following are 2021-2022 Lead Advocates, who will oversee groups of Advocates:

1. McKenzie Baecker, Two Rivers Public Charter School (Washington, DC) 
2. Scotti Benton, Jasper County Middle School (Monticello, GA) 
3. Elizabeth Bieri, Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School (Birmingham, AL) 
4. Robin Driver, Eisenhower High School (Yakima, WA) 
5. Reshawndra Hutchins-Trapp, Elite Scholars Academy (Jonesboro, GA) 
6. Jeremy Jonas, Tucson High Magnet School (Tucson, AZ) 
7. Sam Loftus, Shasta Middle School (Eugene, OR) 
8. Yajaira Torres-De Jes煤s, Colegio Rosa Bell (Guaynabo, PR) 

The following are 2021-2022 Advocates:

1. 础诲别苍颈办别听础办颈苍测辞诲别, Eastside High School (Gainesville, FL)聽
2. Laura Alberici da聽Barbiano, Blanson CTE High School (Houston, TX)聽
3. Ramon Benavides, Del Valle High School (El Paso, TX)聽
4. Dallas Bergstrom, Miller Career & Technology Center (Katy, TX)聽
5. Caitlin Bonham, Kenwood Academy High School (Chicago, IL)聽
6. Humberto Bracho, Frick United Academy of Language (Oakland, CA)聽
7. Justin Brown, Kealakehe High School (Kailua-Kona, HI)聽
8. Leslie Cannon, The ATLAS Academy at Tennyson Middle School (Waco, TX)聽
9. Philip Clarke, Centennial School District (Gresham, OR)聽
10. Cameron Cooley, Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering (Memphis, TN)聽
11. Sarah Cooper, Southeast Career and Technical Academy (Las Vegas, NV)聽
12. Renee Cordes, Flathead High School (Kalispell, MT)聽
13. Christine Danger,聽University聽of Florida & Hillsborough Public Schools (Tampa, FL)聽
14. Lakshmi Darbha, Aavanee (Frederick, MD)聽
15. Dannielle Davis, Circle of Excellence Network (St. Louis, MO)聽
16. Michelle Denson, Atlanta Public Schools (Atlanta, GA)聽
17. Jessica Doiron, Freedom High School (Woodbridge, VA)聽
18. Martrice Donaldson, School District of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)聽
19. Lauren Dudley, 颁丑补辫尘补苍听鲍苍颈惫别谤蝉颈迟测聽(Orange, CA)聽
20. Mark Eastburn, Princeton High School (Princeton, NJ)聽
21. Kathleen Galau, Thunder Mountain High School (Juneau, AK)聽
22. Jennifer Gentry, Vanderbilt Collaborative for 中文无码 Education and Outreach (Nashville, TN)聽
23. 颁丑谤颈蝉迟颈苍别听骋颈谤迟补颈苍, Toms River High School South & Toms River High School North (Toms River, NJ)聽
24. Angela Groves-Price, WP McLean Middle School (Fort Worth, TX)聽
25. Todd Ireland, 100 Black Men of Douglasville, Inc. (Douglasville, GA)聽
26. 厂耻苍诲补测听滨飞补濒补颈测别, Prince George鈥檚 County Public Schools (Laurel, MD)聽
27. Karen Johnson, Evanston聽Township聽High School (Evanston, IL)聽
28. 贰诲飞颈苍补听碍颈苍肠丑颈苍驳迟辞苍, Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy (Pittsburgh, PA)聽
29. Andrea LaRosa, Westside Middle School Academy (Danbury, CT)聽
30. Debra Las, John Adams Middle School (Rochester, MN)聽
31. 骋补耻谤补苍驳听尝颈尘补肠丑颈补,听Go中文无码聽(Chicago, IL)聽
32. Amy Mallozzi, Oregon State聽University聽(Corvallis, OR)聽
33. , Homer Hanna Early College High School (Brownsville, TX)聽
34. Margarette Marturano, Seminole Ridge High School (Wellington, FL)聽
35. Erin Mayer, Casey Middle School (Boulder, CO)聽
36. 础濒濒测蝉辞苍听惭肠贵补濒濒蝉, Blowing Rock Elementary School (Blowing Rock, NC)聽
37. Amy Melby, Yuma High School (Yuma, CO)聽
38. Ryan Melton, Grenada Career and Technical Center (Grenada, MS)聽
39. Jessica Menchaca, Del Valle ISD (Del Valle, TX)聽
40. Raquel Miranda, Project Youth 4 Youth International (El Paso, TX)聽
41. Lalitha Murali, Glen Hills Middle School (Glendale, WI)聽
42. Jacqueline Nichols, Sunnyside Unified School District (Tucson, AZ)聽
43. Bree Oatman, South Dakota Discovery Center (Pierre, SD)聽
44. 厂耻蝉补苍补听翱濒颈耻, John Muir High School Early College Magnet (Pasadena, CA)聽
45. Yolanda Pender-Bey, Mount Vernon Elementary School (Chicago, IL)聽
46. Macy Pickman, USD 409 (Atchison, KS)聽
47. 贰颈濒别别苍听笔辞蝉别谤颈辞, Wolf Point High School (Wolf Point, MT)聽
48. Cecilie Prine, Lander Middle School (Lander, WY)聽
49. Mary-Elizabeth Quan, Ontario-Montclair School District (Ontario, CA)聽
50. 狈补迟别听搁补测辞谤, Mescalero Apache School (Mescalero, NM)聽
51. Carter Shank, Kings Science and Technology Magnet Center (Omaha, NE)聽
52. Bradley Spencer, Weber School District (Roy, UT)聽
53. Scott Troy, Westminster High School (Westminster, CO)聽
54. Joshua Truitt, Hilsman Middle School (Athens, GA)聽
55. Kiara T. Vann, Stratford 中文无码 High School (Nashville, TN)聽
56. John Wiley, Challenge School (Denver, CO)聽
57. Sara Yeh, Ray Wiltsey Middle School (Ontario, CA)聽
58. 闯别补苍听驰辞辞, Almeria Middle School (Fontana, CA)

The Advocate Program is made possible by the Arconic Foundation, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Regeneron. In addition to receiving stipends, each Lead Advocate will supervise six to eight new Advocates with whom they host monthly calls, facilitating monthly reports on how their students are doing in their research endeavors and offering helpful guidance and support. Lead Advocates are returning educators who hold additional responsibilities; each hosts a session at an Advocate Training Institute and creates a webinar providing guidance to any educator seeking to bolster 中文无码 research programs in their schools.

This past June, this year鈥檚 cohort attended a virtual Advocate Training Institute, where sessions covered topics such as research in hybrid learning environments, designing and implementation of a 中文无码 research course, strategies to level up student research and using public resources to support student projects.