The Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School (AMSA) and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Sunovion) recently completed the second year of a programme to help students understand Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) life science career paths within a pharmaceutical company and foster a deeper knowledge of neuroscience. Six AMSA upper school level students, five seniors and one junior, were selected as a team to participate in this collaborative project with Sunovion for their school’s Capstone Project. Due to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts response to COVID-19 and schools moving to remote learning for the remainder of the 2020 school year, Sunovion and AMSA worked together to adjust and transition the programme to a virtual experience

The high school student team developed a lesson plan about the central and peripheral nervous systems that they successfully taught seventh grade students at AMSA via a video classroom, with the goal to enhance and complement their existing biology class curriculum. This material was developed in consultation with a cross-functional team from Sunovion with a range of expertise.

“Our goal at AMSA is to create an atmosphere of celebration of knowledge where children of diverse backgrounds and abilities excel, especially in math, science and technology, and we empower them to succeed in the workplace in our modern high-tech world. The partnership between AMSA and Sunovion was what AMSA founders envisioned in our charter with the State, when they located the school in Marlborough for close proximity to a growing innovation ecosystem. AMSA is proud of this programme, which has leveraged access to Sunovion’s in-depth expertise to enhance our science education,” said Ellen Linzey, Executive Director, AMSA.

“This important programme with AMSA reinforces our commitment to advancing the next generation of innovators and leaders and we appreciate the continued collaboration with administrators and faculty. We were impressed by the students and their ability to absorb and convey complex neurobiology information to their peers in an accessible way. They adapted to a remote peer teaching environment this year with great effectiveness and success,” said Ken Koblan, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, who serves as Sunovion’s executive sponsor of the program with AMSA.