Sydney Bergman- 2010 Fellow

School Without Walls, Washington, DC District: District of Columbia School District Grades: 9-12 2130 G Street NW Washington, DC 20037

Sydney Bergman has served as an educator for five years, teaching biology at School Without Walls (SWW) Senior High School in Washington, DC. She is a native of Shepherd Park, in Northwest Washington, DC, and is proud to be back at SWW, where she attended high school. After graduating from SWW, Bergman attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied biology and writing, focusing on ecology and evolution. Following college, she worked as a professional writer and editor before becoming a teacher.

The School Without Walls Senior High School is a 9^th through 12^th grade public magnet school that serves students from all wards of the District of Columbia, including some of DC’s most underserved areas.  The school provides students with a small-school environment, and connects students with their community through partnerships with local universities and organizations, like The George Washington University.  SWW has a competitive admissions process, requiring students to complete an interview, entrance essay, and more.  As a result, the school draws some of Washington, DC’s brightest students and has 100% graduation and college acceptance rates.

With the support of Society for Science & the Public and other partner organizations, Bergman started the SWW Senior Project in Science Program, a research course for seniors who are interested in completing an independent research project as part of SWW’s senior capstone course. Students work with mentors from the National Institutes of Health, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and local universities to design, implement, analyze, and present self-designed research projects at the DC STEM Fair, as well as for other science-related competitions. In the two years of the program, SWW has sent three finalists to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, including both DC representatives in 2012. In addition, the program partners with George Washington University and Jose Andres’ ThinkFood Group, with the goal of developing a food-centered curriculum for high schools.

In Bergman’s free time, she enjoys terrible action movies, reading, traveling, cooking, and co-parenting the world’s most poorly behaved cat.

Read about Sydney Bergman's SSP Fellowship Experience.

Sydney Bergman's students visit Intel ISEF 2011 on the SSP blog.