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Senior Jonathan Brand shown focusing on his project, “Evaluation of Battery Parameters with an Algorithm.” Photo courtesy of STARS.
Choosing to incorporate learning into part of their summer, six students gained valuable scientific experience at the Students and Teachers As Research Scientists program.
The idea behind the program, run by Dr. Kenneth Mares, a former college professor, is to “identify very talented students in the greater St. Louis area who would like a bona fide hands on research experience,” said Mares.
Six students were selected to participate in the six-week long course taking place at University of Missouri- Saint Louis and Washington University campuses, along with several science research centers. Seniors Jonathan Brand, Louis Wang, Rebecca Zhang, Victor Ge, Henry Chen, and Tommy Du all represented Central, six of the 83 participants.
“STARS definitely gave me more experience in science by introducing me to procedures and methods not taught in the high school setting,” Wang said. “Also, I had to read a lot of professional research papers as background to my own research and was exposed to what a real research paper looks like.”
Wang and three other Central students took home awards, out of 26 prizes given.
“Papers are taken to experts who read them, and they identify the most meritorious papers,” Mares said. However, students feel as though they gained more than just awards.
Throughout the program, which is capped off with a presentation of every participant’s report, students work under a research mentor. These mentors include some of the top scientists in St. Louis.
“They’re doing things in science that they haven’t seen, a legitimate bench research project, something they can’t experience throughout the year; they’re assigned to a senior scientist and invariably that scientist has a research team the students get to work with,” Mares said. These leaders simply further enhance the already great experience gained from the STARS program, according to Mares.
“The experience I gained allowed me to be more comfortable performing a procedure, running tests and analyzing results,” said Wang, who was awarded for his report “Synthesis of Hydrated Magnesium Carbonates”.
Yet, the program is not limited to academics. Wang also cites the program for “establishing connections to universities and science labs across the nation,” making it much easier to get into the school of the participant’s choice.
One thing that separates a STARS student from a typical college applicant is the fact that they’ve attended the “only truly pre-collegiate research based program in the country,” according to Mares.
It also helps prepare students for the college workload and even gives them a taste in the science career field.
“We also introduce students to the importance of the college application process. This really helps them as they get to the college level,” Mares said.
Although college choice is important, the program still focuses on kids connecting with other kids and enjoying themselves.
“We also include social activities along with the research process. They all meet for lunch on Wednesday and Monday. We try to have an opportunity for the students to interact outside the laboratory; movies, social, Cardinal’s game, bowling,” Mares said. “It’s important that these kids learn to interact with each other in social situations as well as with scientific situations.”