Middle School Programs

Visits And Field Trips | Sixth To Eighth

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and unknown status of in-person schooling for the 2021-2022 school year, we will conduct these visits virtually this year. Outreach for each grade will consist of two interactions with STEP team members for each classroom via a video call and lesson. Each session will include a hands-on/interactive experiment for the students.

The YES2SUCCESS class visits and field trips began in 2019 as a way to introduce sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from four neighboring middle schools (in Azusa Unified, Duarte Unified, El Monte City and Monrovia Unified school districts) to cancer research. We aim to engage students in activities that will increase their interest in and knowledge of both cancer research and science.

Class visits: Once a year, STEP team members visit sixth, seventh and eighth grade classes from each school. During each visit, we lead students in a 45 to 60 minute, interactive workshop with a lecture and hands-on activities that introduce students to the material that will be covered on their field trip. In some recent class visits, students have learned about DNA mutations, pathology and careers in STEM. In addition to the classroom visit, we will have a cancer awareness booth for parents and teachers on select dates during student drop-off and pickup.

Field Trips to City of Hope: STEP also invites classes who have been visited by our team of scientists to come to City of Hope to participate in a campus tour and interactive science activities that continue the themes from the class visit. During the campus tour, students learn about the history of City of Hope and discuss the many kinds of employees involved in fighting cancer. During the second stage of the tour, students visit a City of Hope core facility to learn about the research being done there, meet City of Hope scientists and observe an active research project.

Students then participate in a workshop in which STEP scientists teach them more about the material they discussed during the class visit. As part of the workshop, students engage in a related hands-on experiment, such as gel electrophoresis or ELISA. We also show students how what they have learned is connected to research at City of Hope and the core facility they visited.

 For more information, please contact Marisa Bowers at mbowers@coh.org.

Saturday Seminars | 7-9th Grade

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines, it may not be possible to run this program in person during 2021. Please check back for more information in spring.

STEP will host six three-hour YES2SUCCESS Saturday Seminars for select 7th and 9th grade students who attend school in a YES affiliated school district (Azusa Unified, El Monte Union High School, Duarte Unified, Monrovia Unified). Students will be selected by recommendations from their teachers. The Saturday Seminars will give participating students more in-depth research and laboratory experience. Each session will consist of an interactive, educational, hands-on research experience. During meetings, students will also discuss health disparities and the role of research in decreasing disparities. 

Students will learn about the technologies utilized by City of Hope's state of the art core facilities, and will design a novel experiment based on the technology utilized by one or more of the core facilities. The students' projects will be submitted to the leaders of the core facilities for review and feedback. In the fall we will host a symposium where students will present their projects to City of Hope staff and leadership, community members, and the students’ families. City of Hope’s core leaders will choose and announce a winning project.

For more information, please contact Marisa Bowers at mbowers@coh.org

Scientist Training Camp: Cancer Edition | 6th Grade

Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we will not be able to offer this program as an in-person experience this summer. Please check back for updates later next Spring.

The YES2SUCCESS Scientist Training Camp: Cancer Edition offers rising seventh graders the chance to participate in a free two-week summer camp where they can learn about cancer and technology, conduct lab experiments and meet scientists from City of Hope. During camp, students are introduced to a variety of techniques, methods and topics related to cancer prevention, detection and treatment, and learn about careers in various fields of cancer research. Students will also be introduced to the idea of health disparities in cancer, and learn how disparities affect their communities. 

The camp will include virtual labs, hands-on experiments and tours of core facilities at City of Hope that use techniques related to the ones students are learning about. At the end of camp, students will present an idea for how to use one of the techniques they learned in a new way or present a technique they invented to aid in cancer prevention, detection or treatment.  Each session can accommodate 15 students per time slot.

For more information, please contact Marisa Bowers at mbowers@coh.org.