It's a cyclical program. 



First, selected high school science 

 teachers complete the "Frontiers" course 

 through UNC's continuing education 

 program. 



"We need to build their morale, to 

 keep them excited about science, up-to- 

 date on it and thinking about it in a dif- 

 ferent way," says Bollenbacher. "They're 

 scientists too. They just happen to be in 

 science education and not research." 



Through the course, the teachers 

 become "revitalized" and carry that en- 

 thusiasm back into their classrooms. 



together during a seven-week research 

 lab, "where they'll do the very experi- 

 ments they've been reading about," 

 Bollenbacher says. 



The Summer Research Challenge will 

 begin with a hands-on study of biology 

 at the coast and end in a research lab on 

 the UNC campus. 



"Students really don't get the thrill of 

 discovery anymore — they don't under- 

 stand the 'why' of learning it all," he 

 says. In the lab, they will get to experi- 

 ence that excitement. 



Terrance L. Johnson, director of the 



lasting ones — between potential young 

 minority scientists and their role models. 



"For this to work, these teachers and 

 students have got to become friends," he 

 says. 



A strong ally can help build self-esteem 

 and confidence. 



"The most important thing is that the 

 students know they can accomplish in 

 that field," he says. "This is especially 

 critical with minorities." 



Bollenbacher asks for empathy. Imagine 

 you're the only black student in a 

 research lab, he says. You know you're 



Skip Bollenbacher 



"They're excited about it; they get the 

 students excited about it. And the stu- 

 dents think, 'Hey, it isn't some boring 

 thing with a bunch of beakers and nerdy 

 people,' " says Bollenbacher. 



Meanwhile, the program also considers 

 the special needs of university professors. 

 They experience burnout too. 



To start with, selected faculty members 

 from participating minority institutions 

 are paired with a UNC-CH research 

 scientist for a summer fellowship. 



The program then "buys" those 

 faculty members' time — in effect paying 

 a substitute — so their course loads will 

 be reduced enough to teach the Frontiers 

 seminar at their home institutions. 



"They're teaching a course for their 

 undergraduates like the course we're giv- 

 ing the teachers at the high schools," 

 Bollenbacher says. 



The undergraduates who do well in 

 the Frontiers course and the participating 

 high school teachers will be students 



Photo by Carta B. Burgess TerranCe JohnSOn 



program, says this is where students get 

 to truly feel the workings of science. 



"It feels good to go in a lab, run an 

 experiment and the dang thing works," 

 he says. 



The classroom portion of the program 

 is unique too. It employs a "liberal arts" 

 approach to science, Johnson says. 



In a literature class, students read a 

 novel, then go into the classroom and 

 talk about it — what they understood, 

 what they liked about it, what it means. 



That's what students in the Frontiers 

 class do — really discuss the bones of the 

 research papers they read. 



"What we're doing is creating an at- 

 mosphere of total gratification of study- 

 ing science," Johnson says. 



But for all the excitement and all the 

 challenge it offers, some things about 

 science are "still pretty impersonal," 

 Bollenbacher says. 



This is why the program is going to so 

 much trouble to forge relationships — 



Photo by Car/a B. Burgess 



smart. You know you're as competent as 

 anyone else in the room. But you've 

 been told you're not as good. And you're 

 nervous. 



"Can you think well when you're anx- 

 ious?" Bollenbacher asks. "Of course 

 not. You'll most likely perform below ex- 

 pectations. The process needs to consider 

 that." 



It's not about pacifying or making 

 things seem easy. This is a competitive, 

 challenging project that aims to bolster 

 scientific skills and encourage participa- 

 tion with just an extra dose of TLC, he 

 says. 



"We're telling them, 'it may very well 

 be a struggle, but you can do it and it's 

 worthwhile,' " Bollenbacher says. ■ 



The Program for Minority Advance- 

 ment in Biomolecular Sciences is funded 

 through a grant from the Howard 

 Hughes Medical Institute, the Z Smith 

 Reynolds Foundation and the Eisenhower 

 Mathematics and Science Program. 



