Rising junior Erta Fonda and rising senior Zoe Dilts, both from William Tennent High School, received a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of CRISPR Classroom and helped contribute to the company’s growth. Throughout the six-week program, the interns learned about general entrepreneurship, customer discovery, marketing, sales, and practiced their science communication skills.
“Erta and Zoe gained a tremendous amount of experience working as interns for CRISPR classroom. In addition to the marketing and entrepreneurship skills related to their work, they gained invaluable soft skills they will be able to transfer to all of their future academic endeavors. Both Erta and Zoe reported improvements in their ability to solve problems and work with others, and also stated they felt less scared to try new things and fail. This experience will set Erta and Zoe ahead of many of their classmates and will undoubtedly give them an edge when looking at colleges and future internships.”
~ Ignacio Jayo
“I’m so proud of our students who took on an internship in a space that is hard for even the brightest adults to be successful in. These sorts of opportunities, like CRISPR Classroom, are so valuable and offer students the chance to close opportunity gaps. Borth Erta and Zoe seemed thrilled with their experience and ExcitED is looking forward to growing this partnership.”
~ Steven Beal
Zoe and Erta were challenged to quickly understand CRISPR Classroom social media channels and develop content appropriate for the company’s audience. Together, the interns created over 120 Instagram posts which included finding and researching the content topic, designing the graphic, writing the post text, and scheduling the post for publishing. Follow CRISPR Classroom’s Instagram to see Zoe and Erta’s hard work.
“My favorite aspect of the start-up experience so far is the way people respond to posts, the idea of pushing things on social media in general, and gaining followers to turn them into potential clients (A.K.A the marketing funnel).”
~ Zoe
“I love the creativity that goes into a business. The idea of being able to create and design almost anything and allowing people to see it and interact with it sparks a lot of my interest.”
~ Erta
Read the press release on Crispr Classroom’s website
ABOUT EXCITED
ExcitED, developed as a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research (PSBR),William Tennent High School, and the County of Bucks Department of Workforce & Economic Development is a workforce readiness program that prepares students for life beyond secondary education by securing, promoting, and growing authentic and intellectually challenging partnerships that enhance student learning and afford opportunities for our school community to learn from and work alongside industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and academic partners. As part of the ExcitED experience, interns gain hands-on work experiences that allow students to explore entrepreneurship and STEM-related professional opportunities.
“ExcitED gives students the opportunity to work with various industry partners in our region and exposes them to authentic work. Students see how the skills they learn in school translate into various careers and they get real-world experience and mentorship from a multitude of professionals. The students get financial compensation from ExcitED upon successful completion of their internships. This summer alone, 28 students participated in seven different internship placements of varying lengths and focus, including Biotechnology, entrepreneurship and marketing.”
~ Ignacio Jayo
ABOUT PSBR
The Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research (PSBR) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit science education organization formed in 1990. PSBR’s mission is to promote a better public understanding of the importance of biomedical research and its contributions to human and animal health, with the goal of offering any person, regardless of age, gender, or income level, the opportunity to engage in scientific exploration and career-connected learning. PSBR carries out this mission by providing in-person activities, presentations and experiences that support science and healthcare education, career awareness, and professional development opportunities. Since 2012, PSBR has impacted over 40,000 students.
“PSBR is thrilled to be part of the ExcitED collaboration and happy to be working with CRISPR Classroom to provide students with valuable and enriching opportunities focused on science communications while also providing real-world experiences.”
~ David S. Garbe, PhD, PSBR’s Director of Outreach and Education