LYNN — More than 20 students from Lynn Classical High School (LCHS) participated in a trip to the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, gaining hands-on experience in a variety of scientific courses.
This week-long residential experience allowed students to take part in the institution’s research-based tradition of training to expose students to understanding and experiencing experiments done in research laboratories.
In September, LCHS science teacher David Winchester received an email from the MBL that a donor had provided the $2,500 required cost per student to send as many LCHS students to the MBL this school year as possible.
The donor was an LCHS alumnus, graduate of the class of 1968, Saul Pannell, who is also the vice chair of the trustees of the MBL.
Later that week, Winchester had a Zoom meeting and started planning, and said there were many hurdles to jump and speed bumps to avoid, but he had a lot of support, which allowed for this to be successful.
“It was also through the avid support and help of Amy Dunn, Ellen Moriarty, Nurse June Blake, and (Superintendent of Schools) Dr. (Patrick)Tutwiler and his team that made all this possible,” Winchester said. “All of them helped me get over and around all of them (hurdles) along the way.”
MBL has expanded its world-renowned education program to offer intensive, hands-on science courses for high-school students.
Some of these courses included anatomy and development of marine vertebrates and invertebrates; coral reefs in a changing world; adaptation and evolution in response to environmental changes; and exploring microbiomes of marine organisms with DNA sequencing.
The students attended lectures by MBL faculty and participated in laboratory investigations and activities with instruction from the MBL faculty and LCHS teachers.
“The goal was to expose our students to advanced instruction and experiences in marine and biological studies at a world-class research facility using their education staff and resources,” Winchester said. “I think (this) offered them all a view into what science, marine or otherwise, looks like, and allowed them to experience and visualize themselves doing it in the future as an academic and professional pursuit.”
The students — and four LCHS faculty members including Winchester, Toria Townsend, Kat Bates, and Patty Santos — stayed at Woods Hole from Sunday, Feb. 6 to Saturday, Feb. 12, living in MBL dorms and eating at the MBL’s dining hall, all for free thanks to Pannell’s donation.
Sunday and Saturday were the travel days, and the group was picked up and dropped off behind Classical by a Coach USA bus, also provided by Pannell, to get to and from Woods Hole.
Winchester said he, LCHS, Lynn Public Schools, the MBL, and Pannell would all like to do more classes and have more students attend the laboratory next year if possible. Pannell was also able to visit the students while they were there.
“We had up to 55 slots available for students this year, (but) we ended up sending 22. The COVID-19 surge caused a lot of students not to attend,” Winchester said. “I was just glad we were able to take as many as we did. It was a bright new light in a long two years of educational darkness.”
Winchester also thanked the leadership at the MBL that made the experience possible, including Linda Hyman, Jean Enright, Scott Bennett and Dave Remsen.
“They were instrumental in making it happen, meaning, it would not have happened without their guidance and endless question answering that I needed from them along the way,” Winchester said.
Since its founding in 1888, the MBL has brought many scientists to Cape Cod to carry out some of their most “creative and far-reaching work,” according to its website.
The MBL said 58 scientists affiliated with the MBL have been recognized with Nobel Prizes and the laboratory, affiliated with the University of Chicago, is dedicated to scientific discovery — exploring fundamental biology, understanding biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education.
Winchester created a video of the students’ experience during their week at the MBL, which can be viewed at drive.google.com/file/d/1Mt5stRC-FdHus4mI9MYXN1cNyJVZeONL/view.
