The BioBus Educational Programs has expanded beyond its original scope as a mobile science laboratory, prompting the Board of Directors to call for a new name that more accurately reflects the organization's work. 

To get the creative juices flowing, the Board decided to hold a contest offering students and teachers, the beneficiaries of the programs, the opportunity to create the new name. The winner's school will receive a visit from the BioBus.

"When the BioBus made its first school visit eight years ago, the name BioBus was perfect. That's what we did," said Sarah Berke, Ph.D., director of the BioBus Educational Programs. "But we have exceeded expectations and expanded well beyond the mobile laboratory. We have added new programs to support and improve science education in the classroom, including the addition of an equipment loan program (BioConnection), new curricula, and a comprehensive teacher professional development program. We are much more that just a bus. We have clearly outgrown our name."

The BioBus program started in 2001, as an initiative of Connecticut United for Research Excellence (CURE), the state bioscience organization. The program operated one bus and borrowed curricula from similar programs in other states. Since inception, the BioBus had been fully booked each year, and currently maintains a four year waiting list. This year, the bus is slated to visit 31 schools throughout the state and will offer programs for students in grades 4-12. The staff has also been actively writing curricula to help meet the Connecticut Department of Education's science agenda. 

The BioConnection program, added in 2004, is an equipment loan program and offers classroom ready experiment and training to teachers across the state. For the 2008-09 school year, 39 schools are scheduled to receive equipment, and the program is still accepting requests. Equipment available includes gel electrophoresis used to separate molecules based on the properties of size and charge, and thermocyclers, which are used to make copies of DNA pieces. There are seven teaching modules currently available, with plans to add additional modules in the near future. 

The BioBus Educational Programs also offers comprehensive teacher professional development, said Berke. Furthermore, school districts can also request staff-designed training on specific issues or techniques in the life sciences. The BioBus Educational Programs reaches 175 teachers annually, in addition to reaching many more at both state and national conferences.

Berke hopes the new overarching name of the organization will more accurately reflect the diversity of these programs, their mobile nature, and their focus on life science and education. 

There are two ways to enter the contest. If you receive this newsletter as e-news, follow the link through Survey Monkey. 

If you receive a paper copy of the newsletter, log on to the BioBus website and follow the contest link. 

The deadline for entries is December 12. The winner, chosen by the BioBus Board, will be announced in the January/February 2009 newsletter.