Twenty-two students at Permian high school were acknowledged for completing a four year biomedical science track on May 9 at the second annual Project Lead The Way Biomedical White Coat Ceremony.
Each student was adorned in a white lab coat by a family member to recognize their achievement in finishing the program, and each white coat student will also receive an endorsement that follows them throughout their post-secondary education.
The biomedical track at Permian is sponsored by Chevron under Project Lead The Way, a nonprofit organization that develops STEM curriculum to develop creative thinking skills in students. During the four year program, students begin by learning about the basics of medicine and disease, before delving into the specifics of different body systems, the anatomy of different infections and the formation of genetic disorders.
“It’s all project-based as opposed to worksheets and memorization,” biomedical teacher Joey Escalante said. “Along with a whitecoat, they get an endorsement that follows them along. Companies love seeing Project Lead The Way because it shows that the kids are able to think outside the box and (are) able to create rather than strictly spin off facts.”
Initially planned to begin in 2021, the White Coat Ceremony was forced to miss a year due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.
Because of the outbreak, the past two biomed groups were forced into a unique learning experience that involved virtual learning and the outright cancellation of classes.
“They were at home, they’re on the couch trying to beat out the TikToks, beat out the Youtube and the Netflix, but these kids just have a thirst for knowledge and it propelled them forward,” Escalante said. “The project-based learning means they couldn’t cheat off these assignments and so once they could buy in these kids did some incredible work.”
Hailie Cruz, who was one of the students to receive her white coat, said it felt amazing to cross the finish line and see her hard work and effort pay off. She acknowledged the obstacles COVID had presented during her four years in the program.
“It was a bit rough because I didn’t learn much online at all, and in (Mr. Escalante’s) class specifically we have a lot of hands-on stuff that I really enjoy, and we didn’t have that for two years in a row basically,” Cruz said. “So it was hard, but I really like it now. It was harsh but in the end it was worth it.”
Since the content of the program covers a wide range of medical topics, students are able to apply diverse thinking into multiple subjects.
Aniya Matthews, another white coat recipient who plans on becoming a medical laboratory scientist, said the class gave her a solid foundation for her future goals.
“I just feel like you need to know the body and you need to also utilize certain things in your learning and put it into real world situations,” Matthews said. “The program really helped me do that and was helpful with a lot of anatomy, biology, a little bit of chemistry and statistics, it helped a lot.”
