July 18, 2006 > Logan Grant For Biotech Academy

by Rick La Plante

A James Logan High School biology teacher has won a $290,000 grant from the California Department of Education to develop a biotechnology academy at the school.
Sue Hinojoza, who secured the grant in partnership with Teresa Golebiewska, senior project manager/grants for the New Haven Unified School District, will use the money to establish a Genetic Engineering and Molecular Sciences (GEMS) Academy. Students will perform intensive laboratory work, such as putting DNA from one organism into another, cloning plants and bacteria, and using their own DNA to trace the migration pathway of their ancestors as far back as 50,000 years.

"It's exciting when a teacher like Sue, who has such vision for her students, receives recognition and the resources necessary to turn that vision into reality," New Haven Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Pat Jaurequi said. "Her enthusiasm and Teresa's expertise in program design and proposal development made this grant possible, and they are both to be congratulated." Golebiewska earlier helped Cabello Elementary School teacher Kim Pratt get a $20,000 grant from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration for a science project. Four more grants, including a $1.2 million proposal to for elementary school counseling, and a $1.175 million proposal for small learning communities, are pending.

Hinojoza's grant includes $40,000 for planning in the 2006-2007 school year, during which she will teach a biotechnology class being offered for the first time. The remaining $250,000 will be used to implement the full GEMS program over three years, starting in 2007-2008.

Hinojoza is growing Logan's biotech offerings in partnership with Ohlone College's outreach program, Learning Alliance for Bioscience (LAB). Through LAB, Logan students will be able to earn both high school and college credit.