Lincoln K-8 Choice School receives Lowe's $65,000 grant

The zebrafish project at Lincoln K-8 Choice School continues to garner attention - and money.

This morning, Rochester Public Schools announced that Lincoln K-8 Choice School had been awarded a $65,000 grant from Lowe's Toolbox for Education, the home improvement firm's foundation.

Officials say the the money has been used to upgrade Lincoln's zebrafish lab, a research classroom created two years ago when Lincoln began apartnership with Mayo Clinic's Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology. That partnership began with the Integrated Science Education Outreach (InSciEd Out) program, which involves Lincoln teachers working with Mayo Clinic scientists to design lesssons that enourage a hands-on approach to studying.

The grant has enabled Lincoln to fund improvements in its Zebrafish Lab with new, state-of-the-art microscopes and cabinets, countertops, datalines and outlets. It also expanded the number of workspaces available to the students. The's science classroom has benefited, too, with new lab stations with enhanced electrical capacity and wireless ports. Lincoln will also purchase microscopes and digital cameras to allow students to capture images of embryos as they develop and perform measurements on those embryos.

"As the popularity of our Science Education Outreach program grows, student experiments have become more complex and space in existing classrooms was limited," said Principal Jim Sonju. "The equipment additions will provide greater learning opportunities to our students."