While they aren’t going to be capable of mapping the human genome, students at Alden-Conger may get a chance to get closer to understanding some of the elements behind projects like those by next school year.

The district found out Wednesday that they will receive $5,000 in equipment and training for a biotechnology lab.

&uot;It will allow us to do some DNA fingerprinting,&uot; Pam Koenen, agriculture teacher at A-C, said. &uot;This will allow students to use forensic lab equipment we would otherwise not have available to us. We can learn about everything from making cheese and yogurt to ethanol. They’ll learn that this equipment has uses that aren’t just from the CSI shows that you see on TV.&uot;

The grant comes from the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC), an agency created by the state legislature to work on agricultural education on all levels in the state.

The lab materials included a mini-centrifuge, an incubation oven and 32 other instruments for a biomedical lab.

&uot;It’s rare for a school this size to have equipment this sophisticated,&uot; Koenen said. &uot;Large schools or technical colleges can afford these kinds of things, but, especially with the budget, it is tough for a school like ours to get these kinds of things.&uot;

Koenen wrote the grant application for A-C. According to Deb McDonald, program development associate for MAELC, A-C’s application was the first place grant, &uot;hands down.&uot; The MAELC has a committee of 16 members, all of whom voted first for A-C’s application.

&uot;She really had a thorough application,&uot; McDonald said.

Schools from around the state applied, and are given grants based on the amount of funding available. A-C was one of three districts to be accepted for the grant.

Grants are awarded based upon many factors, including sharing the equipment with other departments. Koenen said this was important for her.

Life science, physical science and the agriculture departments will all share the equipment, she said. But more importantly, many of the courses will be team taught to show how the sciences overlap.

&uot;We’ll get to work together on theory and application,&uot; she said.

Another important element to the grant is that three teachers from A-C, including Koenen, will get training at the University of Minnesota on how to team teach the curriculum and incorporate it into their coursework.

Koenen said it should give students at A-C a step up in science and technology.

&uot;It will give them an opportunity to work with (new bio-technology) and be exposed to the areas of sciences and agriculture,&uot; she said. &uot;Hopefully it will get them excited about things they could be doing career- or college- wise that will include biotechnology.&uot;