How two sisters are creating free lab opportunities for MNPS students
Three years ago, Belmont College of Sciences & Mathematics colleagues and twin sisters Dr. Becky Adams and Dr. Beth Bowman set out to create a different kind of science summer camp at Belmont.
Instead of a traditional high school camp format where parents enroll their kids online and pay a deposit, they opted for a format where Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) teachers nominate standout students to participate in the camp for free. The goal is for students who may not typically have access to summer camps or well-funded labs to visit a college campus, gain lab experience and further explore a passion for science.
“Teachers can see something unique in students that they may not even see in themselves, and that’s the criteria we send to teachers,” said Bowman. “By providing this perspective to them, we hope we catch students who don’t even realize science is a skill they have and build a sense of confidence within them.”
The microbiology-focused camp is called Visualizing our Invisible Surroundings Immersion at Belmont Labs (VISIBL) and centers around making microscopic bacteria, viruses and fungi visible using lab equipment.
The inspiration for this camp derived from the sisters’ own experience as students at Hillwood High School.
“We were both able to participate in a free, biology-related extracurricular program as high schoolers, and it led us to want to enter the biology field,” said Adams. “Now we want to offer a similar opportunity to others.”
Four MNPS schools are represented at VISIBL this year including Hillsboro High School, John Overton High School, Glencliff High School and the new James Lawson High School.
A typical day at camp involves a quick recap of the previous day’s findings followed by an interactive lecture and lab briefing. Students then get hands-on with lab equipment for 90 minutes before breaking for lunch and repeating the routine in the afternoon.
While Bowman helped create the camp’s programming, she mainly focuses on the administrative aspects of the camp experience while Adams leads the classroom. Aiding Adams are student workers Lizbeth DelaRosa and Sandy Attaalla.
“The most rewarding part of this camp is when we get sidetracked during lectures,” laughed Adams. “When they begin asking questions about other things and I can see their logical thought process from one question to another, it shows that they are highly engaged and anticipating concepts we may be talking about next.”
These compounding connections are also reflected in the research participants conduct in the lab. Just as lecture concepts build upon one another and extend beyond the initial topic, students hone their lab skills by building upon previously learned techniques and complementing them with new ones.
Outside of providing students with lab exposure and experience with quality equipment, the camps also serve as a community builder for participants.
“At your own school, there may only be a small number of people interested in something you are interested in,” said Adams. “But being able to meet other students from other schools with the same interests is a great way to connect.”
“In fact, Beth met her future husband through the high school program we did and began dating at Belmont, but that’s obviously not what we’re trying to do here,” she laughed.
VISIBL is one of eight summer camps the College of Sciences & Mathematics offers to high school students. Other camps focus on data science, anatomy, video game design and programming, physics, mathematical problem solving, psychology, neuroscience and more.
Learn More
Learn more about summer camps for high schoolers at Belmont.