PHOTO: A group of teachers participating in 2025 Summer Teacher Researcher Program gathered on the Danforth Campus in June to launch their lab experiences with WashU faculty. (From left: Rubina McCadney (University City), Alexandra Hays (Lafayette Prep Academy), Andrea Holmes-Bownes (East St. Louis District 189), Tasha Jordan (University City), Alex Messina (St. Charles R-VI), Kirstin Blase (Villa Duchesne), and David Ganey (Maplewood Richmond Heights).
Thirteen teachers from across the St. Louis region have been selected to work with WashU faculty members for the 2025 Summer Teacher-Researcher Program.
Administered in collaboration with the university’s Institute for School Partnership (ISP), the program is designed specifically to provide opportunities for faculty to connect in meaningful ways with educators in the broader community and to provide professional development for area K-12 teachers.
Teacher researchers spend four to six weeks in the summer working alongside WashU faculty in cutting-edge labs, gaining firsthand experience at the heart of real scientific research. They have the opportunity to create lessons aligned with national education standards and implement a lesson field test or pilot during the 2025-2026 academic year. These open source lessons are available to other educators nationwide.
The 2025 cohort includes four educators from the School District of University City: Tasha Jordan, Matt Tuths, Rubina McCadney, and Monique Hite-Patterson, as well as Alexandra Hays (Lafayette Prep Academy), Jose Helio de Souza (Normandy Schools Collaborative), Anne Deken (John Burroughs), Andrea Holmes-Bownes (East St. Louis District 189), Alex Messina (St. Charles R-VI), Joe Bartin (Kirkwood), Sarah Scerba (Rockwood), David Ganey (Maplewood Richmond Heights), and Kirstin Blase (Villa Duchesne).
Ten WashU faculty members are participating in the 2025 program, including from the McKelvey School of Engineering: Marcus Foston, Tao Ju, Yainnis Kantaros, Nate Huebsch, Abhinav Jha, and Kimberly Parker. Other faculty participants are from WashU’s Arts and Sciences: Mikhail Tikhonov (Physics), Rachel Pencyzkowski (Biology), Doug Chalker (Biology), and Bryce Sadtler (Chemistry). Note: Dr. Jha has a dual appointment with WashU’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology.
For more information about the Summer Teacher Researcher Program and other Faculty engagement opportunities, email the ISP team at schoolpartnership@wustl.edu.