CariGenetics Holds First School Tour
Hundreds of students from across the island enjoyed an insight on the science of conservation genetics as members of staff from CariGenetics carried out their first school tour recently.
A spokesperson said, “CariGenetics is committed to engaging with the community. This is key to the ethos of our company and holding a tour within the public and private education sectors is one way of upholding our commitment.
“The purpose of the tour was to give students—from primary to senior school age—the opportunity for early exposure to science, and to learn there are a plethora of career paths in science besides teaching and working in a medical
environment.
“Students had the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the cahow genetic project currently being undertaken by CariGenetics, which is being supported by grants from the Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS] and the Atlantic Conservation Partnership [ACP].”
“Having the opportunity as a scientist to go around to the schools to teach school children science and the techniques that we use in a laboratory was an amazing first time experience. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and were very attentive and eager to learn. Many of them expressed how they would like to grow up and be a scientist like me. To leave an impression on the students was heart-warming,” says CariGenetics’ Laboratory Manager, Tahdae Tucker.
Tiffany Mahraoui of Chatmore British International School describes the experience the tour gave her students. “The Chatmore family inspires young people to discover a love of learning. We provide opportunities for students to be inspired, to be unique and to be transformed. CariGenetics’ visit to our school allowed our MP2 and 3 students to do just that and we thoroughly enjoyed our time spent together!
“Our students were involved, attentive and had the chance to interact with hands-on-learning about genetics. The students were inspired and loved learning about the DNA of lemurs. Their visit tied in nicely to our International Primary Curriculum as our learners were able to become global thinkers and internationally minded. CariGenetics’ visit helped to ignite curiosity and develop ambition in our students in the world of science!”
Ms Mahraoui’s sentiments are echoed by Kate Sweeney of Somersfield Academy, who said: “The Somersfield Academy IB Diploma Programme students thoroughly enjoyed the school visit from the CariGenetics team. They listened to an interesting presentation about cahow genome sequencing and took part in a hands-on electrophoresis activity. It was a fantastic opportunity to see science happening ‘in the real world’ and was very meaningful to have it presented in relation to a local issue.”
“The presentation by Mr Bean and Ms Tucker was extremely relevant to what the students were going to be learning about in science and social studies…there are still points that I draw on during my instruction. It was appropriately delivered for their young minds,” adds St. David’s Primary Deputy Principal Andrea Isaac.
Tarik Bean, Project Manager for CariGenetics, expresses his excitement for how well the tour was received by students of all ages. “Finally bringing a hands-on and practical approach of the science to Bermudian students was the best part of the school tour. Our students can now see young scientific professionals that look like them succeed in a field underrepresented by Bermudians. They also had the opportunity to see the benefits of obtaining science degrees that can lead to careers outside of teaching and medicine in Bermuda.”
If you would like for CariGenetics to visit your school, please email tarik@carigenetics.com.
