ALBRIGHT COLLEGE

Olivia Scholl was a high school student when she first got to flex her creativity and exploration of the biomedical sciences. She did so through participation in the Science Research institute (SRI), a program launched at Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Penn., in 2015. A program that integrates research-based learning in STEM education, SRI has grown 817% over the last five years at Conrad Weiser and is being expanded to Albright College in Reading, Penn., to allow for continued growth and greater accessibility for Berks County students and parents. 

SRI at Albright will offer state-of-the-art scientific summer and after-school programming to middle-and high-school students. Summer programs will begin summer 2020 and after-school programs will begin in fall 2020. Albright will also offer dual enrollment to 11th and 12th graders, within the context of SRI. 

At its core, SRI is a framework for integrating research-based learning in all disciplines. Students are encouraged to create research projects in the biomedical, genetic, environmental, agricultural, biotechnology and materials sciences as well as dance, art, music, the humanities, culinary arts and fashion. SRI serves as an educational philosophy rather than strictly a physical program, one that allows students to be involved in their own education. SRI students are provided with skill-based and authentic learning experiences that improve research as well as literacy, communication and entrepreneurial thinking. 

“A unique program in higher education, SRI is an authentic learning experience that brings a student’s own creativity and innovation to learning, while it prepares students for college- and graduate-level research,” says Adelle Schade, director of SRI and dean of pre-college and summer programs at Albright. “The Albright/SRI Partnership has the potential to inspire a generation of students and instructors, supporting an innovation-based workforce critical for the economic future of Pennsylvania,” she says. 

Scholl agrees. Now a first-year student at Albright College, SRI helped prepare her for college. “I learned essential lab skills that have transferred effortlessly to the lab courses I am now taking as a biology major at Albright.” 

For more information or to inquire about summer or after-school programming, visit Albright.edu/SRI