Local High School Students Tackle Antibiotic Resistance with Cutting-Edge Science, Thanks to CCF Grant
Local high school students are working to identify antibiotic resistant bacteria strains thanks to a recent grant funded by the CoServ Charitable Foundation (CCF) to the Lewisville Education Foundation (LEF).
November 8 is National STEM Day, which is dedicated to encouraging children to explore career fields in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Lewisville High School teacher, Dr. Rebecca DeLozier, is a perfect example of an educator using STEM to inspire young minds.
CCF Grants at Work
Bacteria are constantly evolving, developing new resistance to antibiotics and forcing scientists to dig deeper into DNA for solutions.
Students in Dr. DeLozier’s Medical Microbiology class at Lewisville High School experienced this firsthand using electrophoresis equipment, which separates DNA and identifies the strains that are resistant to antibiotics.
Dr. DeLozier thanked CCF and LEF for their generosity in making this grant a reality and explained how the money was used to help fund multiple experiments.
“The labs really help build background skills and knowledge that empower kids to pursue STEM education and careers,” she said. “When students have experience performing molecular and cellular lab techniques, it makes the possibility of pursuing careers in research and medicine more attainable in their minds.”
For this assignment, the students have soil samples from different pig farms, one with an antibiotic resistant strain and another without. Using pipettes, the students drop the samples into the solution, then add an electrical charge. Because DNA is negatively charged, when it floats through a salty solution, it migrates toward the positive terminal, Dr. DeLozier explained. The DNA fragments move at different speeds through the solution, which helps separate them.
About 20 minutes later, under a blue light, the various strains show up, identifying which farm has developed the antibiotic resistance.
Your Genorosity Makes a Difference
The CoServ Charitable Foundation’s grants to education foundations wouldn’t be possible without Members and Customers who round up their bill each month as part of Operation Roundup®. While it’s just pennies per month, it raised nearly $1.6 million in 2024. That money went right back into the communities we serve in the form of grants to nonprofits and education foundations.
So far in 2025, CCF has distributed $330,000 to education foundations in the 23 school districts in our service area, including LEF.
“There’s perhaps no better way to Invest in Tomorrow than to inspire the smartest young minds to solve tomorrow’s problems,” said Jennifer Ebert, CCF and Outreach Coordinator. “We are so grateful to have teachers like Dr. DeLozier in our community and thank her for all that she does!”