Reflections on a summer well spent

Philip working with a student

At RegenPGC, we are building the future of perennial grasses and the teaching profession by introducing existing and prospective science/stem educators to our research portfolio. Every summer, we participate in two crucial Iowa State University initiatives, the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs.

The RegenPGC RET program allows middle and high school teachers to gain research experiences and form ongoing relationships with PGC scientists and graduate students. Our goal is for our RET participants to share their RegenPGC experiences with their students upon their return to the classroom and inspire young persons to learn more about STEM subjects.

The RegenPGC REU program provides opportunities to undergraduate students interested in future careers as STEM teachers to engage in a hands-on research project with a RegenPGC mentor and research team.

Both projects take place during the summer months, and RegenPGC collaborator Maureen Griffin and her team at the Iowa State University Office of Biotechnology lead the project.

Learn more about the essential truths and inspirations that our REU and RET participants were exposed to in 2025 in this overview piece.

RegenPGC interns and mentors get deserved recognition

It’s easy to get jaded in the age of endless social media, but we never tire of seeing our team recognized for its research, extension, education, and outreach efforts!

Today, our Education Team gets a shoutout from the Iowa State University Marketing and Communications Division and from Axios in the article, “Summer research program for teachers brings ISU science to K-12 classrooms.”

The article features Iowa State’s participation in the national REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates )and RET (Research Experience for Teachers programs. At RegenPGC, our team members provide mentorship for three RETs and 5 REUs. Mentees benefit, mentors benefit. It’s the ultimate educational win-win.

Check out the full article at https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/summer-research-program-teachers-brings-isu-science-k-12-classrooms. Learn more about our REUs and RETs at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/2023-ret-reu-programs-copy/

Meet teacher Elisa “Ellie” Soosloff

Ellie Soosloff 2025 RET

Meet high school math teacher Elisa “Ellie” Soosloff, a professional educator who loves a full workload!

Elisa “Ellie” Soosloff, Creston High School, Creston, Iowa

I am a high school math teacher in Creston, Iowa, entering my 5th year of teaching. I grew up in Elgin, Illinois, and moved to Iowa for college, where I attended Drake University, completing a BA in Mathematics and a Spanish Minor alongside my BSE in Secondary Education. This past summer, I also finished my MA in Mathematics through Texas A&M to begin offering Calc 1, College Algebra, and Statistics for community college credit at Creston High School. I also teach Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calc, and Probability & Statistics. It’s a full load, but I love it!

I applied to the RET program because… I have a passion for continuing my learning and being able to show my students not only why the math works how it does, but how it can be applied. I always love telling my students about how math and STEM are constantly growing and changing, and what better way to do that than to go help grow and develop research myself.

My expectations of the RET program are… to develop my knowledge about how research is done this summer. I’m excited to gain experience and make connections with other teachers and researchers to learn everything that I can. I’m especially looking forward to potentially developing something I could take back to my own classroom.

How do you see this experience impacting your classroom? I would love to incorporate more cross-curricular and project-based learning into my classroom and begin to introduce the students to areas of STEM that they don’t get to explore as commonly at the high school level. I believe this experience will be a great way to collaborate with other STEM areas and begin developing those kinds of materials based on the research descriptions involving creating and implementing classroom activities.

Meet Kylie Bucholz, future STEM teacher

Kylie Bucholz headshot

Meet RegenPGC Research Experience for Undergraduates intern Kylie Bucholz. She will be mentored this summer by RegenPGC researchers Dr. Shui-zhang Fei and graduate student Cameron Krumm. Here is Kylie in her own words:

I am currently a 2nd year Elementary Education Major attending Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa).  I am pursuing my K-8 Reading Endorsement and my Middle School Math and Science Endorsement. I am originally from Cedar Falls, Iowa. In my free time, I love to sing songs with my friends, ride my bike with my family, and color pictures!

I applied to the REU program because…  I think it will be a great experience that pushes me to become a better teacher while in a structured environment. This program will allow me to complete hands-on research that I can reference when I am working with my own students in the future. Additionally, this experience will push me out of my comfort zone by placing me in a new place where I will have to learn how to navigate around both Ames and Iowa State.

My expectations from the REU program are… to include many activities that will help develop me as a future educator, being put in situations that push me and are out of my comfort zone, and lots of learning! I will be completing research and attending professional development events, both of which will be completed alongside others, so we can learn together!

Why do you want to become a teacher? Ever since I was in 3rd grade, I knew I wanted to become a teacher, but it wasn’t always going to be in a STEM field. I didn’t decide I wanted to become a teacher in a STEM field until last year, but the idea had been growing on me since middle school. While I was growing up, I always excelled in my STEM classes and found myself wanting to learn more. This was due to my amazing teachers in elementary and middle school. My teachers were able to figure out what I enjoyed and relate my assignments to those things. They gave me extension activities to ensure I was being pushed to my full potential, and they supported me as a whole human, not just as a student.

Additionally, they encouraged me to join the robotics team at my school. By joining this team, I was able to push myself to do my best and think outside of the box when faced with challenges. It also allowed me to see how science and math have practical applications. Due to the amazing experiences I had growing up with my STEM teachers, the idea of becoming one grew on me. Finally, last year I had multiple different people mention to me that I would be a good science teacher and encourage me to explore that route. Ultimately, I have decided to take that route. I now want to become a middle school science teacher so I can encourage my future students to explore their passions and interests the same way that my teachers did for me. I also want to show them that they can do whatever they want if they put their mind to it. The STEM experiences that I had growing up had a huge impact on my decision to teach in a STEM field, and I want to ensure that other kids are able to have these same (or similar) experiences that I did.

 

Research is meant to be shared across the ages

Patrick Galland and Rickiel Franklin in James Wenman's 4th Grade class

2024 RegenPGC Research Education for Teachers participant James Wenman (Holy Trinity School, Waverly, Iowa) invited RegenPGC Collaborator Patrick Galland and Graduate Student Rickiel Franklin to his 4th grade class. We are unsure who learned the most, but Patrick had this to say about this unique experience.

“The students really seemed to have a blast, Rickiel and I had fun, too. We just went over our background (educational and personal) and went over the basics of how experiments progress through and what we hope to gain from them.

We then spent a good chunk of time reviewing Rickiel’s experiment (the one James worked on the most) and related the themes to real-world examples. James came up with my favorite; he compared the competition of PGC/corn over nutrients, water, and light to the kids with their siblings around the dinner table fighting over food. It got a good laugh out of everyone and was a very apt analogy. The biggest struggle for me was how to appropriately discuss topics in a way that was engaging and digestible to 4th graders, but James did an excellent job facilitating that. The kids were a pleasure, and I’m happy to help however I can.”

A teacher ‘takes one’ for the kids

Some teachers are willing to go all the way for their students. That’s what James Wenman of the Holy Trinity Catholic School in Des Moines, Iowa, did when he spent a good part of the summer at Iowa State University.

Here is what James had to say at the end of his RET project: “This program has allowed me to see into the world of science through the eyes of a researcher. Research is a dynamic field, evolving constantly. It involves encountering errors, repeating activities, and undergoing continuous learning processes.”

James came into our Research Experience for Teachers program to expand his knowledge in different scientific areas to “bring cool things back to my classroom.” We think he nailed it with his project, “Adapting growing practices of North American maize production to improve environmental affects.” You can learn more about James’ research project, “at https://lnkd.in/gshd7KGK

Schools almost out… kids bored yet?

What parent has heard that annoying refrain, “There’s nothing to do!” Or maybe you can’t get the kid to look up from a device. We just might have a little reprieve for you from our two upcoming summer day camps. Sign up the kids for day camps on June 11 and June 20. ISU Extension will be hosting two “Water Connects Us All” Day Camps. RegenPGC personnel will be on hand to educate the kids (Grades 3-6) about our project.

The camps will feature hands-on activities and experiments to learn about perennial ground cover and other conservation practices that protect soil and water. Activities include rain simulators, soil microbes, cover crops, bioreactors, and more.

Sign-up information is available here:

June 11 – Contact Shelby County Extension and Outreach for more information and to register (https://www.extension.iastate.edu/shelby/)

June 20 -Contact Union County Extension and Outreach for more information and to register (https://www.extension.iastate.edu/union/)