HudsonAlpha highlights teacher programs and K–12 genomics outreach, cites 1.7 million engagements

Kelly East (introduced on the record as Kelly East), vice president for educational outreach at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, presented the institute's education and outreach work to a House committee, describing statewide engagement in K–12 classrooms, community college workforce training and teacher professional development.

East said HudsonAlpha uses a visual "jar of beads" to track impact and that the jar contained "1,700,000 beads" representing digital and in‑person interactions over the prior year. She described SPARK, a month‑long biotech after‑school club for middle school students; Biotech Launch, a two‑semester program that pairs community college students with internships at HudsonAlpha; and teacher workshops and a compendium tied to the Alabama biology course of study.

East said HudsonAlpha will be an anchor tenant of the Wiregrass Innovation Center in Dothan and expects to run field trips, summer camps and teacher training from that teaching laboratory. She highlighted partnerships with groups and programs listed in the provided materials and the institute's work to reduce barriers to participation by providing transportation and materials where needed.

Representative Daniels praised the work and pressed for ways to expand programming to address low fourth‑grade science scores, saying he was "certainly not pleased" with current results. East described pilot projects with the Boys and Girls Clubs and coordination with AMSTI to push a third‑grade module to elementary teachers, and she emphasized both in‑school and out‑of‑school approaches.

What comes next: HudsonAlpha left committee members with resources and invitations to visit; the institute said a 2026 guidebook and lists of upcoming workshops would be distributed to classrooms and educators.