BioSITE Class Brings Outdoor Curriculum Back to Sophomore
After COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, BioSITE is now in full swing after receiving a new educator.
By Bibi Sediqi
After COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, BioSITE is now in full swing after receiving a new educator.
By Bibi Sediqi
BioSITE is a class that offers sophomore Pioneer students a chance to receive service hours for teaching 4th and 5th grade students science curriculum.
The educational program, created by the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, is in its twentieth year at Pioneer and is offered as an elective for interested sophomores. The program focuses on environmental science, mainly creeks and rivers in the surrounding San Jose area. Each year approximately 1,000 students in the San José Unified School District visit and learn about neighboring environmental sites in San Jose.
The program welcomes a new BioSITE educator, Bhek Morton, this year, who has bachelors in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley, and a masters in genetics from Stanford University.
“CDM supports BioSITE in many ways. CDM provides the BioSITE curriculum, which is publicly available at www.cdm.org/biosite, and all the necessary textbooks and supplies for the year-long course, including the water quality testing kits," said Morton in an email.
The CDM is responsible for the majority of the funding and sponsorship for the activities held by BioSITE.
“All our (class) money comes from the district, the district is funding it by paying me to teach the class,” said Zaccheo. “But the CDM pays for a lot of the materials for the equipment and all the activities we do and of course pays for the bus and educator, so it's kind of a two-way stream.”
BioSITE involves plenty of hands-on activities, and takes emphasis on environmental learning beyond the confines of the classroom. The CDM even provides opportunities for participating students to branch out their findings and expand to a bigger audience.
“The Children's Discovery Museum hosts a BioSITE open house every spring where PHS BioSITE students can display their work and perform water quality tests with museum visitors,” said Morton.
Despite the many impactful things BioSITE has accomplished so far, it hadn't been the same case for BioSITE students in recent years. Student helper, Adris Bobby 11, feels the past two years with the COVID restrictions took a big toll on the class.
“Mr. Zaccheo was very passionate in getting it back. He put a lot of personal time to prep everything for us, since we were his first year back from covid you could feel all the energy and care he put into the class which encouraged us to work hard too,” said Bobby.
The class is now officially at full swing, jumping back into the normal curriculum without any restrictions and anticipating new additions.
“Right now we're just trying to bring the program back to the type of stuff we did before, because I didn't have someone that I worked with last year and we didn't have BioSITE then,” said Zaccheo. “Bhek will bring in many new ideas, like this year she really was able to pull off the creek cleanup that we were able to sponsor because of her.”
BioSITE not only educates students, but even assists sophomores in developing essential real-world skills.
“To me, BioSITE has numerous benefits, both mentally and educationally. I get the mandatory amount of volunteer hours needed for graduation, and it also offers many opportunities to improve teamwork skills and public speaking abilities, which are both very valuable in my opinion,” said Ruth Appleby, 10.
As the class structure is majorly spent outdoors, the curriculum offers students such as Steffi Cao, 10, a wider range of perspectives and lessons than a traditional learning environment.
“I enjoy how different BioSITE is because we get to go outside and we aren't stuck in a classroom, I get to learn more about my surroundings and my main takeaway is always how I can help the environment,” said Cao.
The educational program, created by the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, is in its twentieth year at Pioneer and is offered as an elective for interested sophomores. The program focuses on environmental science, mainly creeks and rivers in the surrounding San Jose area. Each year approximately 1,000 students in the San José Unified School District visit and learn about neighboring environmental sites in San Jose.
The program welcomes a new BioSITE educator, Bhek Morton, this year, who has bachelors in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley, and a masters in genetics from Stanford University.
“CDM supports BioSITE in many ways. CDM provides the BioSITE curriculum, which is publicly available at www.cdm.org/biosite, and all the necessary textbooks and supplies for the year-long course, including the water quality testing kits," said Morton in an email.
The CDM is responsible for the majority of the funding and sponsorship for the activities held by BioSITE.
“All our (class) money comes from the district, the district is funding it by paying me to teach the class,” said Zaccheo. “But the CDM pays for a lot of the materials for the equipment and all the activities we do and of course pays for the bus and educator, so it's kind of a two-way stream.”
BioSITE involves plenty of hands-on activities, and takes emphasis on environmental learning beyond the confines of the classroom. The CDM even provides opportunities for participating students to branch out their findings and expand to a bigger audience.
“The Children's Discovery Museum hosts a BioSITE open house every spring where PHS BioSITE students can display their work and perform water quality tests with museum visitors,” said Morton.
Despite the many impactful things BioSITE has accomplished so far, it hadn't been the same case for BioSITE students in recent years. Student helper, Adris Bobby 11, feels the past two years with the COVID restrictions took a big toll on the class.
“Mr. Zaccheo was very passionate in getting it back. He put a lot of personal time to prep everything for us, since we were his first year back from covid you could feel all the energy and care he put into the class which encouraged us to work hard too,” said Bobby.
The class is now officially at full swing, jumping back into the normal curriculum without any restrictions and anticipating new additions.
“Right now we're just trying to bring the program back to the type of stuff we did before, because I didn't have someone that I worked with last year and we didn't have BioSITE then,” said Zaccheo. “Bhek will bring in many new ideas, like this year she really was able to pull off the creek cleanup that we were able to sponsor because of her.”
BioSITE not only educates students, but even assists sophomores in developing essential real-world skills.
“To me, BioSITE has numerous benefits, both mentally and educationally. I get the mandatory amount of volunteer hours needed for graduation, and it also offers many opportunities to improve teamwork skills and public speaking abilities, which are both very valuable in my opinion,” said Ruth Appleby, 10.
As the class structure is majorly spent outdoors, the curriculum offers students such as Steffi Cao, 10, a wider range of perspectives and lessons than a traditional learning environment.
“I enjoy how different BioSITE is because we get to go outside and we aren't stuck in a classroom, I get to learn more about my surroundings and my main takeaway is always how I can help the environment,” said Cao.