Ribbon Cutting Is Held at Bio-Tech Lab
The Monticello – Jasper County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting at the new bio-tech lab at Jasper County High School last Friday.
The ribbon cutting was attended by the bio-tech students, many of whom started out working in an after-school program, and all who have now dedicated two periods of their schedule to the program.
Other attendees included members of the Chamber of Commerce, School Board Member Bobby Norris, Steve Jordan and his wife, Lynne, who are supportive of education and Mr. Jordan is part of the group that got Baxter Pharmaceuticals to locate at Stanton Springs, teachers, administrators, and family members.
Supt. Mike Newton welcomed everyone and gave a synopsis of how the lab came to be.
Mrs. Elizabeth Proctor, who leads the biotech initiative explained a little about the biotechnology program.
“The planning for a biotechnology pathway at Jasper County began 2 1/2 years ago. We started with a pilot program that was funded by a local learning grant. Students participated in numerous labs and field trips.
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Mmes. Proctor and Patti Cole were the authors and coordinators of the after school / weekend program. Students participated without earning a credit or a grade. Students were engaged purely out of interest for the subject.
“With the success of this project we were determined to start a permanent program in the school system, said Mrs. Proctor. “Then the meetings began—lots of meetings. We met with the department of education, other school systems that were implementing biotechnology, technical colleges, students, parents, teachers, administrators, building maintenance, and more.
“We also shared our progress with community organizations explaining the endeavor and goals. The list was expansive. The beauty of this project is that input was sought at so many levels and time was taken to train teachers and coordinate the implementation. The biotech class is offered as a block class sixth and seventh period and that alone required many, many shifts in the school master schedule.
“After this fundamental foundation was in place we started building the actual infrastructure. We turned a storage room that was connected to a biology classroom into a biotechnology suite. Today the biotechnology program is running and planning to accommodate more students in the future.
“We are actively seeking funding for a equipment grant. Currently the students have access to equipment – but it is shared equipment. Fourteen students are enrolled and sharing equipment is feasible at the present but we do plan to expand. Also we are participating in equipment loan programs for the more expensive pieces that we were unable to fund locally. Another way we are supplementing the equipment this year is through a collaboration with Central Georgia Technical College.
“Finally the big question is what is biotech? Well this is a fun answer. Biotech is not a new science – using yeast (a living organism) to make bread rise is an application of biotechnology. Today biotechnology is defined any technical application that uses a biological system living organism, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for a specific use,” explained Mrs. Proctor.
“Students that want to participate in the biotechnology program must maintain at least a B average in Biology, complete an application and be willing to commit to the two hour block class. The two hour block class is necessary due to the extensive labs.”
