Season 3 Episode 3: Igniting Passion for Biology with Amanda Blackburn and Evie Lafollette

Imagine transforming high school biology education by integrating synthetic biology into the curriculum, igniting students' passion for learning and preparing them for future success. How do you make this possible? This BioBuilder podcast focuses on two extraordinary biology teachers, Amanda Blackburn and Evie Lafollette, who share their inspiring journey of bringing synthetic biology to Dobbins Bennett High School in Tennessee.

Amanda and Evie discuss their BioBuilder training experience in Boston where they discovered this synbio curriculum and its incredible opportunities for their students. From developing unique passions to exploring groundbreaking fields like organism engineering, this episode explores how the BioBuilder curriculum prepares students for AP Capstone research, teaching them independence and essential life skills. We also delve into the exciting evolution of genetic engineering, from Gregor Mendel's discoveries to today's synthetic biology advancements.

In this captivating conversation, Amanda and Evie share how the BioBuilder curriculum fosters resilience and critical thinking in their students. Learn how they encourage students with diverse learning abilities to pursue their interests, develop their projects, and adapt to unexpected changes. Discover the cutting-edge technology they use, such as CRISPR, to better understand the engineering process and position their students for future achievements. This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about education and unlocking the potential of the next generation.

Learn more about BioBuilder's programs for students, educators, and industry professionals here 👉 https://biobuilder.org/

And follow BioBuilder on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/BioBuilderFoundation/
https://twitter.com/SystemsSally
https://www.youtube.com/@BioBuilder
https://www.instagram.com/systems_sally/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/16132078

Transcript

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 0:00

Hello and welcome to Life Changing Science the Bible The Podcast. Today's episode is a very special one as I'm joined by not one but two guests, two amazing Bible The teachers from Dobbins Bennett High School in Tennessee, Amanda Blackburn and Evie Lafollette. Amanda and Evie have been involved with Bible The for many years. They've presented at AAAS and SinBiblebeta. Together They co-taught a teacher PD workshop at the Niswandra Foundation and their goal is to bring Bible The to every single high school student at Dobbins Bennett High School. Let's learn more about their journey and dive right into this episode.

Amanda Blackburn: 0:37

My name is Amanda Blackburn and I teach biology at Dobbins Bennett High School.

Evie LaFollette: 0:41

Hi, I'm Evie Lafollette. I also teach biology at Dobbins Bennett High School.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 0:45

So great to have both of you here Mentioned that you both first heard about synthetic biology in a cold, crazy place right at the start of the semester. I would love to know where exactly both of you heard about synthetic biology for the first time.

Evie LaFollette: 1:01

We were just starting the spring semester of 2019 and we got an email the night before that told us to plan for a sub the next morning. We were going to have a meeting at 8 am in such and such room and to plan on being there. So we had no idea what we were walking into. You know, kind of the idea of what's the next big initiative that we're going to be, you know the rest upon. So we showed up and there was Natalie and she's telling us all of these beautiful, amazing things and this is what I do in my lab and this is what we want you to do, and we all just kind of start looking at each other. Okay, that sounds awesome, but you get, we teach 15 year olds in Kingsport, tennessee, as opposed to at MIT and the most beautiful labs in the country. Sure, this sounds awesome. By the way, what is synthetic biology?

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 1:52

This is the first time we've ever been in a class on it.

Evie LaFollette: 1:54

We don't know anything. And she had such a wonderful way of connecting with teachers that we were like this sounds interesting, tell us more. And the next thing we knew, like two weeks later we got on a plane and we flew to Boston and we got to spend a week with her in her lab learning about the different labs and why they do them the way they do and how they were student guided, originally from iGEM project, and that kind of sold us on the whole thing.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 2:21

I think the key word would be like student guided, where presumed students take the initiative, rather than, it seems, like a good collaboration between students and teachers, both alerting or working on a project at the same time.

Evie LaFollette: 2:33

I think that's it's very motivating for our students to see that the projects we're doing in class were projects that 19 year olds in college designed themselves. This could be you in three years or in four years.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 2:47

And that makes it because when I was in high school I, you know, i had older cousins who were like in college or doing PhDs and it was so hard for me to want to see that sort of path of how can I do that? it just seems so daunting and intimidating. And if you're already sometimes intimidated by some of the science or engineering that you do three or five, six years from high school, then you start getting scared already and maybe you don't have the best relationship with with science or you know, or with maths or physics etc.

Amanda Blackburn: 3:16

Well in exposure. Like our kids, we hadn't been exposed to it. We definitely weren't exposing our students to it. And then when Natalie started talking to us about it and started learning more about it, it was very much our idea and goal that if this is where science was going, that that's where we wanted our kids to be and if it's going to be kids, why wasn't it going to be our kids? and that kind of fueled the fire and where the kids were in charge of what was happening made it less of that lecture style where we were already kind of feeling was like a burnout way of teaching and we wanted to move away from that to be more self-guided and self-discovery. And COVID kind of helped that in a way, like it made us force the jump even though we weren't ready to necessarily, and it just made it that much more powerful when we needed it.

Evie LaFollette: 4:03

We had been talking for years of looking for a capstone, this giant culminating application style project, and we just hadn't found it. So when this was presented to us, we were like this is the, this is the missing piece. We've been looking.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 4:16

When you flew over to Boston for the first time, was this the learning lab.

Evie LaFollette: 4:21

We got to tour MIT, the learning lab, kind of a little bit of the city.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 4:25

Awesome, and was this? which year was it?

Evie LaFollette: 4:28

This was January 2019.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 4:30

In that experience. You'd already heard about synthetic biology and you were like, oh, this could be the missing piece that we're looking for, that week log. Was it a week log program that you were there with? Yeah, okay, and what did that involve? Was it more about what did the Bible, the team and Natalie discuss with all the teachers there? Was it like a mini training program or was it showing the impact that Bible can potentially have in students and the methodology of teaching? What did that four-day experience encompass?

Amanda Blackburn: 4:59

In those four days we became the students almost. Because when we met with Natalie the first time we said we love what you're saying, but we don't know what you're talking about. And so when we went there, we it was our opportunity to learn and to become the student and kind of take on that role. And then, once we experienced it from the student side, we were like, yes, this is what we want from our kids. So it was a little bit of lecture, a little bit of lab, that kind of breaking up that 20 minute here, 20 minute there thing that we were hoping for. That really kind of facilitated the process for us And then being able to go to like lab central and see what that kind of setup was and that open way of thinking.

Amanda Blackburn: 5:39

In our own school we built a very similar structure to lab central, with glass walls where people could see what was happening and kind of build from one another in that same way. That lab central set up And that kind of mimicked the thinking that we were carrying on. So then when we came back to our classrooms after being with Natalie, it was our turn to figure out how to run it as a teacher, and that's where we really kind of learned that we need to get our legs under us and ask Natalie for a lot more help, to say we know what to do for kids, but we don't know how to set it up. And she was like, don't worry, we'll figure it out. And she came back in the summer and really talked us through it step by step as being the instructor, because you can see the value as a student. But when it was our turn to make it go, we really needed more instruction. Yeah.

Evie LaFollette: 6:23

I think one of the things that really helped sell it for me was when we got to Boston. It wasn't just Natalie, who we absolutely adore, but she had a teacher who had been doing bio builder that Joe from the Boston area, who was able to, i guess, have that authentic teacher high school perspective of yes, this can be done by high school kids And yes, this is how I do it And here's how I modify and accommodate for this group. She was able to give us that, i guess, tried and true version that we didn't feel like we were gonna be the very first ones in the world to do something this crazy. This could be done.

Evie LaFollette: 6:58

We just had to figure out how we wanted it to work for us, and one of the big things that I think was our passion was we didn't want this to just be one specific upper level, top tier group of students. If we were gonna do it, we wanted this to be something that every single one of our kids could be involved in, from our lowest level Sped Biology ninth grade group to our upper level kids. And thankfully we're in a district that has supported that And they absolutely supported us financially buying the labs, letting our entire department line of Boston the first week of the semester. I mean they gave us all of these opportunities And even now our budget for Biobilder is a line item at the district that we don't have to beg or worry about it running out. We are being provided our materials because they're seeing the value in it.

Amanda Blackburn: 7:47

We understand that not all of our kids are gonna be synthetic biologists, but we absolutely know that every single one of our kids is gonna be a consumer, and for them to be educated consumers about what is available to them and kind of get rid of that misinformation in regard to what it means to be a GMO or what it means to be non-GMO was an important skill that we wanted them to have, no matter their level of learning.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 8:11

Yeah, and that's you're completely right. I actually haven't thought about it that way. Maybe 10% going to synthetic biology and 50% going to science and engineering or law, et cetera, medicine. But the conversations of GMO versus non-GMO and just biomaterials, for example, is a conversation that's gonna be part of everyone of our, which is already part of everyone's lives, and they think, yeah, you're getting that exposure is super important And I think is it fair to say the Biobilder curriculum was a sort of way to democratize? is accessibility science for all high school students at NEW? Absolutely.

Amanda Blackburn: 8:50

I think we had to modify it a little bit to fit the needs of the kids that we have, like when you're talking about students learning disabilities. They may read on like a third grade level and you have to bring them up and bring that content to meet one another, And for us, as teachers, that's our job. Right To differentiate the material and having accessible information that then could be broken down in a way that teachers can use was invaluable resource, like an opportunity that we wouldn't have had otherwise.

Evie LaFollette: 9:17

And we're not inviting them that hand-on lab experience. We wanted our kids to have confidence when they leave high school and go on to whatever college they may be, to have the confidence to say I've done this kind of lab, I've used micro-poppets, I've used this lab equipment. It added a whole different lab level that we hadn't been doing. That we think was missing for students when they went off the university.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 9:39

So I understand that the first part was understanding synthetic biology. I'm just picking them back to them Understanding synthetic biology, training the teachers and also when you're in what called the learning lab. there are also other teachers there who had gone through the same process that you were going through, which I'm sure made it less intimidating, made it feel like, ok, this can actually really be done.

Amanda Blackburn: 10:00

District are really good, and especially ours, about bringing the best and greatest things to you, And you should do this. And you're like my page is pretty full. My page is pretty full. We have a lot of kids that need a lot of love And I am very concerned about what you're asking me to do.

Amanda Blackburn: 10:13

And so when Nali came, we were a little bit hesitant, like, oh boy, here we go, Here's another thing. But then she was so genuine And what she was saying was so critical. We thought this is our opportunity And it's a lot easier to invest in something that you know is important, that we can see the value of it for our kids. And then Nali gave us the resources and said here's the things you need to do. And then we as teachers said, OK, how can we build this out and walk this up and make this accessible to everybody in a way that facilitates the goals that we have for them as learners? And that was what we did on the ground from there.

Amanda Blackburn: 10:53

But when we talk about scaling it at DB, other schools are doing it. One classroom And we're doing. Every student at Dobbins Bennett High School who takes biology will have this experience, And that's huge If it hadn't been for where we were out of school for COVID, this would have been our year where all four years those kids have had those skills. Every kid at Dobbins Bennett High School And that's a lot of kids, That's amazing Yeah.

Amanda Blackburn: 11:21

So that's kind of where we've taken it And we tell our kids no other school in the country is doing what you're doing on the scale, that we are doing it, and so you should take advantage of this opportunity And the kids that are. Like. You know, theater's my favorite, but I go up at 3 am and I was thinking about this and I was like theater's your favorite, but you're thinking about my favorite Yeah it's like I know the real deal and it's that you are thinking about science And that's what we want is our kids to be invested.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 11:51

And how's the process of implementing some of the Bible curriculum in conjunction with the high school curriculum? I think that's a challenge.

Evie LaFollette: 12:01

Everything is the hardest part. So we're still having you subject to all of the Tennessee biology standards And our standard list is long and it is vague and it is sometimes difficult to read into. But bio builder is truly the application of all the biology and science knowledge a kid has. So my favorite way to implement it is kind of to hang on to bio builder and tease it up all semester. Oh, we're going to talk about this later, hang on to that, you're going to need that. And then when we get toward the end like we took our state test a week ago and we still have four weeks of school remaining, so we have an entire month to devote directly to synthetic biology and using the bio builder labs to supplement of the kids getting to see, i've learned this content and now here's what matters, here's how I can apply it to the problem solving. And we use a storyline model in our classroom which looks at a lot of authentic data and case study. And so for our kids to now be able to say like, yeah, the world is full of problems And, yeah, humans are kind of awful and we're destroying everything around us, to now being able to say what is the aspect of hope. How can we take all of our knowledge and use it to think like an engineer, to problem solve a solution?

Evie LaFollette: 13:15

And it was the very first year that I taught there. I was in this tiny little classroom trying to do bio builder without any of the equipment. Just we were starting out and, like Amanda said, we were getting our legs under us. But we were doing one of the labs and I had this student just kind of like looking around the room all doughied And he just and I was like you, okay, he goes. It's just amazing What all the science caught was impossible can now be done by a high school student And I just like sit down.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 13:46

Oh, wow.

Evie LaFollette: 13:47

Really took in what he said. Yes, you're absolutely right. We're doing things now that were never done before, and when we start teaching I know they talked a lot about this is going on year 15. There was a lot of computer classes that were coming brand new and they were saying you're preparing kids for jobs that don't exist yet. I didn't feel it as much then as I do now. We had someone come and talk to our class and it was like their job was an organism engineer. Yeah, those are jobs now. These are things that we never heard of and degrees that were not even in existence when we were back in college. But that's what we want our kids to be prepared for is whatever passion they have and whatever direction they want to go.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 14:28

It really brings meaning to the word, like skies the limit.

Evie LaFollette: 14:31

The individuality of Biogilder, of what lets them we do a culminating project, where the students design an organism to solve a problem, and the directions they go are always so unique and inspiring because it's what they're passionate about, it's what they care about to do extra research in their own time, outside of class. It's teaching them to find a passion and a value for a message. Follow it.

Amanda Blackburn: 14:54

Kids are 14 and 15 year old kids, brand new to high school, very new to what that look, structure, looks like. They're the ones that are designing their. they're doing the bio-lilter curriculum. They're designing their unique organism That a way. when they get to AP, they already have this foundation. When they get to AP capstone research, they already have a goal. They've been working on this problem since they were 14 years old. They're ready to dive in deep and make that their project. That's what we're starting to see occur.

Amanda Blackburn: 15:26

But we told the people of Symbiobeta when we were there. we said imagine if you knew what you know now as a 14 year old. Like what could you have accomplished in the gap that you didn't get to start until now? And they're like, oh my gosh, so many things. It was like, yeah, exactly, That's our point. Oh, when you said that to Drew Indy, because Frank's just like yeah, yeah, he was like dang, i could have really got some things done over here. You know, the other thing that we're trying to hope for is that if just a few of these kids take that mindset and carry that I want to solve a problem mentality, even if they go in any other field with the I want to solve a problem. we are in better hands.

Evie LaFollette: 16:03

And you don't have to do what's already been done. You can come up with your own solution to whatever that problem is because you have your unique perspective. I think just that independence that teaches kids to stop relying on everybody else. How would you do it? And that's a little intimidating for a teacher And when we've held teacher workshops we've done a couple of workshops for teachers all across the state of Tennessee. We've talked to teachers in Missouri and Louisiana and a couple other different states. That's the scariest part of like. As a teacher, you want to be the expert. Well, these kids are going to ask questions that you have no idea and being able to be vulnerable and say I don't know, let's see what we can find, or maybe this is where there is a lack of research in this area, but you could be the one to do it.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 16:44

That, yeah, the last thing, you can be the one to do it. That's. that's sort of where I think that excitement from the students perspective comes into, comes into play, and so, okay, you get started in grade nine And what's some of the first few experiments like intro to synthetic biology that is part of the grade nine curriculum.

Amanda Blackburn: 17:05

I started off with first just providing the background of creation. they need right, like that is synthetic biology. What is the timeline for synthetic biology? look like, if it's so new, when did it actually start? And then when you start going back and say, well, they were kind of doing it right here And they're like so it's not that new, it's just undiscovered. And you're like, yes, undiscovered is the way to go to think about it.

Evie LaFollette: 17:26

I take it all the way back to Gregor Mendel and say like he was genetic engineering Yeah, he was picking and chewed prey, Jeff. We just now have direct access to the genome that we can do it faster. I heard someone say that synthetic biology is just evolution and overdrive, that we're able to directly make happen what perhaps thousands of years could have happened anyway. We can just use our knowledge to make it happen faster.

Amanda Blackburn: 17:52

So we start with that And then we kind of open their eyes to the different aspects of a position. So we use one of the bio builder activities. Is investing like you're given different roles, in which products would you invest in? And that kind of opens the kids eyes to that.

Amanda Blackburn: 18:09

This is not only a problem solving adventure, but could also be a consumer product actually, like where you, we at somebody made a notice that most of the businesses that were being touted were products and in the beauty industry a lot, and we were like what could be done here And would you invest your money in that? And why do people invest their money in that? And that level of critical thinking from the get go gets their mind in that here that they need to focus on this and keep pushing forward. And when they do that, when they get to their turn, they're like I've been thinking about this and this is what I want to do, and I've got this person on board and we've been doing research. We have a group of kids that they presented and it's been two years and they keep bringing us their updated manuscripts with updated budgets and updated things like the marketing plan, and kids that do nothing about it just become like this changed everything for me from that moment.

Evie LaFollette: 19:01

Ninth grade biology helped me decide my entire future, and as a teacher, those are moments that just make you cause.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 19:08

I always had that question of how are 16-year-olds coming up with so many cool, amazing ideas?

Evie LaFollette: 19:16

Well, even better than that. We found that it's. I mean, you say this they ask that it's not the kids that come from our students with learning disabilities.

Amanda Blackburn: 19:27

they have zero inhibition, They are not afraid of being wrong.

Evie LaFollette: 19:32

Their kids are terrified of picking something that won't work. Well, but have this been done? I don't know.

Amanda Blackburn: 19:39

So you have those that second-guess themselves and those that are not afraid, and when you put them together, magic happens, because the ones who are not afraid are like just do it, take the risk, make the job.

Amanda Blackburn: 19:49

Just like but, and it's like it doesn't matter, go for it. And we really implore this black box idea, that you don't have to know what's happening in the black box, but if you can tell me what goes in and what comes out and then we can work into the black box, that makes it a lot more accessible to all types of learners And some of their ideas are really great. Now, do they have bum ideas? Sure, then I have one boy comes up to me and he's like have a great idea. And I was like OK, everybody. He said we're going to make it so soldiers become camouflaged like geckos or like chameleons. And I was like I love the thinking.

Amanda Blackburn: 20:23

OK, are they naked? And he was like oh my gosh. And like, walk back to the dead. Oh, we were fine. Because it was like he thought this was brilliant And then realized they had to be naked for this to happen. And it was like never mind, what, never mind, forget it, go back to his tent. Like you need them to have those humbling experiences. We're like that was in their mind. They're like that was so dumb. No, it wasn't dumb. It was a step to getting to where you are now. Like you have to make those things.

Evie LaFollette: 20:49

But I think a lot of that is also what we try to build in all year long That you don't have to be right the first time, that this whole fail acronym the first attempted learning that you're going to make mistakes. Scientists don't get it right the first time. How can we expect a high school kid? The people who win are the ones that don't quit. So do not give up on an idea. Maybe you have to revise, maybe you have to change, maybe you have to completely redo an assignment, but we've tried to instill that from day one. We don't quit, we keep working, and so when we get to the project and they see something doesn't work right, they know how to then revise and work back. It's like that colorful world lab.

Amanda Blackburn: 21:26

Yes, the colorful world lab is great Because one of the proteins does it take or it doesn't change colors. The kids are like I'm good and you're the one that did it, and they're blaming each other.

Evie LaFollette: 21:37

They're so quick to blame on somebody else And it's like that was what was supposed to happen, that chassis does not take the plasmid as well, that one does not produce the color, and when they realized it was supposed to happen that way, it makes them feel a little bit more at ease that things are going to happen that you don't expect.

Amanda Blackburn: 21:56

And when that happens, how do you go from that? How do you approach the change? And hopefully we're building a life skill that when life throws them something they don't expect, they're able to pivot and make a change in the right direction.

Evie LaFollette: 22:10

We've looked at other genetic engineering labs that involve plasmids, that involve CRISPR technology, and we keep drawing back to the bio builder. One of the process. It's the design thinking It's working through that. This didn't work as I thought it would. Well, does the chassis of this bacteria work as well with this change? It makes them think about it from such an engineering perspective instead of just, oh, i'm using the technology, and this one changed color.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 22:35

Building that resilience and it was so important because I did an IGEM project in 2018. And I think it was in third year of college And six months we got no purified proteins. We're trying to purify a specific protein. Six months there's nothing. And what I realized was in research, or at least in grad school, if everything works, you're doing something wrong. That's an alarm bell. If you start an experiment and a day later everything's working, that's not how it's supposed to be. Like you need to fail 90% of the time because then the answer lies in sort of re-engineering your plasmid or choosing a new chassis. And yeah, i can see there's so much value in understanding that scientific thinking, because that's the only way. When you're tackling problems so hard, there's a reason those problems are so hard And just having that mindset in as early as grade nine, like I said, i want to sort of go back to high school now.

Amanda Blackburn: 23:34

We did an interview with kids that did Biobilder And it happened that one student in the room hadn't done it. He just came because I asked him to And when it was all said and done and he heard his peers talking about their experiences with Biobilder, i said what do you think? He said I think I missed out on something And it was like that's exactly right Is that he didn't have this opportunity and now realizes that there is a group of people that have information that he doesn't have and he is jealous. And that's what we want Our kids to be loaded up with this skill, this information that makes them just a little bit better. And then, once we realized we could do it with all DB kids, we were like why can't we do it with all Tennessee kids? Like we started calling our neighbors and being like hey, i heard about this, can I talk to you about this thing?

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 24:18

Yeah, they were like wow.

Amanda Blackburn: 24:20

You and over there. we have no free time, but we want to talk to you about this And we think it's important and we want your kids to do it.

Evie LaFollette: 24:27

And teaching is hard and the semesters are long And you get really tired. And There's a time period in the semester where you're just okay, i'm just exhausted and my children at home needed this and my kids at school needed this. Then I'm just I'm tired. And it's something about when we start doing buy-a-builder just rejuvenates us as teachers because it's not the same thing every semester and every single student project is different. It is such a rejuvenating moment for teachers that I mean it keeps us here. It keeps us wanting to do it again, to see what the next semester's group of kids is gonna come up with. And what is that group that graduated last year? What are they gonna go off and do? And when you get emails from kids are like I'm now in the engineering program at such and such school and I told them about buy-a-builder. Just you feel like you've made the impact you wanted to make.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 25:16

When I had a few other buy-a-builder students who had done buy-a-builder in high school and now are in college. They're working on some same projects that they're working on with buy-a-builder but with, like the university professor, and one of them is like collaborating with industry And I was like that's incredible, like just that one buy-a-builder door has opened up literally 500 other doors. And I'm super-gen And I'm sure both of you are as well. I'm sure all the teachers in buy-a-builder are like I wanna do this, let me get into a project And I know where in the final few minutes. And the final question I wanna ask is what advice would you give to teachers who are looking to buy, to start a buy-a-build class or to learn about synthetic biology? Because, as both of you know that that first step is so can be a bit intimidating. It's like, oh, how do I get started? How do I implement this in my classroom? Where do I go? Do I just start Googling buy-a-builder? What is some of your advice to those teachers?

Evie LaFollette: 26:13

My number one thing would be to find a friend. I mean, amanda and I are a team and we're in this together And there's times where I get like I'm not so sure, maybe we don't have time, maybe we still need to cover blah, blah, blah, blah, and she'll be able to say like no, we're good, let's do this. But just having somebody to bounce ideas off of and we're lucky to be in a school that has a, you know, a decent sized biology department. But maybe a teacher just finds a teacher in a neighboring school district that you have, that you can collaborate and work with. It doesn't have to be in building, but you just need somebody to support you and say, look, yeah, we're gonna do it because it matters And this is awesome And it's worthwhile for the kid And you could, we'll be your friend if you want to.

Amanda Blackburn: 26:52

Yeah, that doesn't mean If you're listening to this and you're like I have no one email us, we'll be your somebody, because we always joke, take the job. But if you're holding someone else's hand it's a lot easier, like it's just the idea of having that someone else to reaffirm what you're failing. We were gonna start something new. In the day before school She was like I don't think we can do it. I was like oh no, we're doing it. And it's like you have to have someone else push you through that door And when you're feeling low they can bring you back up.

Amanda Blackburn: 27:17

Because education is hard And it's not the best field to be in at the moment Cause you feel so burdened by everything that's going on around you. As we're talking to two Tennessee teachers, like it is heavy. But if you can go into work and know that the person next to you loves what they're doing, like you love what you're doing, that helps And it makes it so much easier. So if you need someone who loves what they're doing and wants to do it with you, we're your people, we'll do it.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 27:42

Thanks once again to Amanda and EB for joining me today. I think one of the most insightful quotes from this episode was when Amanda mentioned she understands that not all of their kids will be synthetic biologists, but they absolutely know that every single one of them is gonna be a consumer, and for them to be an educated consumer to what is available to them and kind of get rid of that mission information what it means to be GMO, non-gmo, et cetera is an important skill that they wanted all of their biobilder kids to have, no matter their learning, and this is incredibly important going into building the next generation of scientists, of students, of engineers, to help build the bio-economy. I feel this episode will be useful to anyone in the biobilder community and especially for teachers who are looking to bring biobilder to their high school for the first time. You are not alone and there is an entire community to support you. If you would like to learn more about anything we discuss in this episode, please refer to the show notes.

Zeeshan Siddiqui: 28:43

Join me for the next Biobilder podcast. We'll welcome another wonderful guest whose career has been influenced by Biobilder's life-changing science. See you next time.