SAN ANTONIO \u2013 While many teenagers took a break from learning this summer, dozens of San Antonio high schoolers spent their time studying in a professional-grade laboratory.<\/p>\n
The Valero Young Scientist Program at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute<\/a> wrapped up its third summer, bringing rising juniors and seniors from 24 local high schools into real research labs for four weeks of hands-on science. Many of those students came from low-income communities where their schools may not be able to offer these kinds of opportunities.<\/p>\n Students tackled experiments with gene editing tools, performed mouse dissections, and tested soil from their own backyard \u2014 using the same techniques and equipment available to Texas Biomed\u2019s own researchers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe laboratory activities that they do mirror those which are done in our research labs,\u201d said Dr. Rosemary Riggs, Texas Biomed\u2019s director of education outreach programs. \u201cThe students are gaining skills that will prepare them for a future in science.\u201d<\/p>\n For Bailey Ann Flickinger, a rising senior at Health Careers High School, the program reshaped how she thinks about her future in biology.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ve learned how boundless science is \u2014 it really is beyond the clinical part,\u201d Flickinger said. \u201cIn order to get to the clinical parts of science, you have to do the research. The importance of research is one of the greatest things I\u2019ve learned here.\u201d<\/p>\n And the program goes beyond beakers and test tubes.<\/p>\n Students finish the four weeks with an updated LinkedIn profile, connections to working researchers, and experience presenting \u2014 all of which can help them in the professional world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get to mesh everything together,\u201d Dixon said. \u201cThe kids get to say, \u2018Oh, what I\u2019m doing in this subject actually lines up.\u2019 When you go out into the world, you don\u2019t just need to know the content area of science.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the professional network built, students said there are also strong friendships being formed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really special to be in a place where we all chose to be here,\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cAt school, we all had to be there. But here, everyone has a passion for science, and we all get to express that by choosing to be here this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n The program also welcomed back former students as assistant lab managers and mentors to students who are in the program.<\/p>\n Ashton Mendez, a Somerset Academy Collegiate Charter School graduate, said he returned to guide the next class because he saw the impact that the program had on his own life.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I wanted to do at all until I came to this program,\u201d Mendez said. \u201cI found a love for science \u2014 I really did here. So this program is the reason I want to pursue a career in biology.\u201d<\/p>\n Mendez plans to study biology at St. Mary\u2019s University and minor in biomedical research, with a goal of studying cancer.<\/p>\n Dr. Riggs said the growth she sees is what keeps the work meaningful.<\/p>\n \u201cMy favorite part is watching the change in them from day one until the last day,\u201d she said. \u201cThe growth is phenomenal. They gain confidence \u2014 not just in their laboratory skills, but in how to communicate with one another, how to collaborate \u2014 and you really see them grow overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n Hello parents, teachers and students! If you\u2019d like Meteorologist Sarah Spivey to come out to your school, all you have to do is fill out this form<\/a> to be randomly entered! Full details are available on KSAT.com<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 While many teenagers took a break from learning this summer, dozens of San Antonio high…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[163,6527,82,84,83,2220,3731,19702],"class_list":["post-392160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-education","tag-ksatkids","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-science","tag-summer","tag-texas-biomed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}