Salk Institute Awarded for 'Exemplary Partnership' with Local High School

June 5, 2002

Salk Institute Awarded for ‘Exemplary Partnership’ with Local High School

June 5, 2002

La Jolla, CA – In recognition of its deep commitment to Morse High School students, the Salk Institute has been awarded the ‘Exemplary Partnerships Award’ and the ‘Ten-Year Partnerships Award’ by San Diego City Schools.

“I believe that the partnership between the Salk Institute and Morse High School is one of the premiere science partnerships within the District,” said Janet D. Delaney, director of the city school system Community Relations Department.

The awards were presented at Sea World during the San Diego City Schools 20th Annual End-of-Year Community Recognition Event.

According to the award announcement, the Institute has been ‘an invaluable resource’ to Morse High School, located in southeast San Diego, through the involvement of both Salk employees and volunteers, and their continued efforts to educate and enhance student interest in science.

Elizabeth Alton, director of human resources at Salk, and Ingrid Johnson, also in human resources, have served as liaisons between Salk and Morse during the past decade.

Among other partnership activities, Salk staff and volunteers assist with student science fair projects, senior exhibitions and career day. Scientific talks are presented during ‘speaker bureaus,’ and students discuss with post-doctoral researchers and senior technicians what it’s like to be a scientist and do research.

The Institute also conducts an eight-week summer internship with Morse students, particularly those interested in pursuing careers in science. The program offers students opportunities to learn, network and pursue an education that will stay with them for a lifetime. Teachers also can work in the lab as interns, conducting research and using scientific techniques they can take back to their classrooms and share with students.

Future partnership events include the expansion of internships and ‘speaker bureaus’ in scientific research and the creation of varied opportunities in non-research areas such as computer science, journalism, fundraising, business administration and multi-media.

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, located in La Jolla, Calif., is an independent nonprofit institution dedicated to fundamental discoveries in the life sciences, the improvement of human health and conditions, and the training of future generations of researchers. The Institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, M.D., with a gift of land from the city of San Diego and the financial support of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.