Leigh Apple, a science teacher at P.S. Jones Middle School, participated in a multi-day North Carolina Biotechnology Center summer workshop for educators held July 11-14 at the Duke Research Marine Lab in Beaufort.

Apple was among a group of educators enrolled in the “What DO YOU Think? Using Inquiry to Teach Middle School Science” workshop. This marks the 25th consecutive summer for the Center’s popular “working retreats,” which give teachers hands-on activities that they can take back to their classrooms and labs to engage students and improve learning in biotech.

More than 1,700 educators have participated in the program since its inception in 1987. Biotechnology was added to the state’s Standard Course of Study for high school biology classes in 2003, as North Carolina climbed into the nation’s top-three states for jobs in the life sciences.