TeaM SCoRE Biotechnology: Teachers in Montana Strengthening the Continuity of Rural Education in Biotechnology

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Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) will implement "TeaM SCoRE Biotechnology: Teachers in Montana Strengthening the Continuity of Rural Education in Biotechnology" to increase the number of high school students who matriculate into FVCC's biotechnology program. Specific strategies are professional development workshops for high school teachers and hands-on biotechnology lab experiences for high school students, both done in collaboration with the PIs and FVCC students. Many of the high schools in the FVCC service area are rural and this project will contribute to educating the workforce in rural, northwestern Montana.TeaM SCoRE Biotechnology will increase the awareness and the size of FVCC's biotechnology program by reaching out to high school students and teachers in rural northwestern Montana. It will also leverage the prior ATE at FVCC, "Strengthening Continuity of Rural Education in Biotechnology" (Award #1104075), and the work of the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI, Award #1524353 and #1118679). TeaM SCoRE will provide professional development workshops for high school teachers along with equipment and materials needed to implement biotechnology laboratory exercises, with the goal of preparing high school students for the FVCC biotechnology program. There is the potential to learn about effective practices in community college and high school collaborations, how those collaborations support student transitions and persistence in higher education, and what practices are most effective in engaging students in a rural environment. Project evaluation will focus on identifying the activities that best engage high school teachers, and how these projects improve the knowledge and skills of high school students. The dissemination plan will have a local focus, by working with local and regional media, and will take advantage of the regional and national ATE networks.