Olivia Parker

"Biotechnology for Southern Illinois: Science Education that Takes Our Students Beyond the Classroom Window" is a program that makes Coulterville and Chester school districts a "hub" for biotechnology education. Parker felt that society's applications of biotechnology are expanding at a high rate, but many schools are not including it as a form of educational instruction due to lack of resources and implementation support. The program is designed to address this issue in Coulterville Unit District One schools for more than 300 high school students. The objectives of the program are to provide teachers and students with a biotechnology curriculum that utilizes hands-on experiments to enhance intrinsic understanding of the scientific principles, and to provide educators with the training, support and equipment to incorporate biotechnology into their existing curriculum. An ultimate goal for the program is to open the students up to new employment possibilities in fields such as medicine, forensics, politics and law, which will lead to improvements throughout the community. Parker resides in Albers.