Christian Riley Dutcher, Digital Journalist
Published: 
Christian Riley Dutcher, Digital Journalist
SAN ANTONIO – While many teenagers took a break from learning this summer, dozens of San Antonio high schoolers spent their time studying in a professional-grade laboratory.
The Valero Young Scientist Program at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute wrapped up its third summer, bringing rising juniors and seniors from 24 local high schools into real research labs for four weeks of hands-on science. Many of those students came from low-income communities where their schools may not be able to offer these kinds of opportunities.
Students tackled experiments with gene editing tools, performed mouse dissections, and tested soil from their own backyard — using the same techniques and equipment available to Texas Biomed’s own researchers.
“The laboratory activities that they do mirror those which are done in our research labs,” said Dr. Rosemary Riggs, Texas Biomed’s director of education outreach programs. “The students are gaining skills that will prepare them for a future in science.”
For Bailey Ann Flickinger, a rising senior at Health Careers High School, the program reshaped how she thinks about her future in biology.
“I think I’ve learned how boundless science is — it really is beyond the clinical part,” Flickinger said. “In order to get to the clinical parts of science, you have to do the research. The importance of research is one of the greatest things I’ve learned here.”
And the program goes beyond beakers and test tubes.
Students finish the four weeks with an updated LinkedIn profile, connections to working researchers, and experience presenting — all of which can help them in the professional world.
“We get to mesh everything together,” Dixon said. “The kids get to say, ‘Oh, what I’m doing in this subject actually lines up.’ When you go out into the world, you don’t just need to know the content area of science.”
Beyond the professional network built, students said there are also strong friendships being formed.
“I think it’s really special to be in a place where we all chose to be here,” Aguilar said. “At school, we all had to be there. But here, everyone has a passion for science, and we all get to express that by choosing to be here this summer.”
The program also welcomed back former students as assistant lab managers and mentors to students who are in the program.
Ashton Mendez, a Somerset Academy Collegiate Charter School graduate, said he returned to guide the next class because he saw the impact that the program had on his own life.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do at all until I came to this program,” Mendez said. “I found a love for science — I really did here. So this program is the reason I want to pursue a career in biology.”
Mendez plans to study biology at St. Mary’s University and minor in biomedical research, with a goal of studying cancer.
Dr. Riggs said the growth she sees is what keeps the work meaningful.
“My favorite part is watching the change in them from day one until the last day,” she said. “The growth is phenomenal. They gain confidence — not just in their laboratory skills, but in how to communicate with one another, how to collaborate — and you really see them grow overnight.”
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Christian Riley joined KSAT 12 in June 2025. He returned to the Lone Star State after serving as the senior digital producer at the NBC affiliate in mid-Missouri and earned two Missouri Broadcasters Association awards.
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