Sarah Benat

Sarah Benat comes from East Boston and is our next RET Student of the Week!

A BU alum since 2013, Benat has returned to her alma mater after hearing good things from colleague and 2015 RET participant Amanda Dillingham. “I hope that participation in this program allows me to connect classroom content to relevant science research, enables me to model the use of new tools in my science classes, and will encourage me to provide more opportunities for students to ‘do science’ in the classroom,” she said.

Benat studied human physiology and was on the premed track as an undergraduate, and ended up being recruited as a Learning Assistant for general chemistry. The reasoning? She said, “around this time, there was a big push to introduce science majors to the possibility of teaching.” After that, she got to experience other teaching opportunities, like a shadowing a Brighton High School physics class. Benat followed up with her academic advisor the semester after to work on getting an education degree. She is now licensed to teach biology, chemistry, physics (8-12), and is “happy to teach any with equal passion.”

Benat now teaches sheltered English immersion physics and biology at East Boston High School. She hopes to come out of the RET program with new information on current research tools to bring back to her classroom.

“I want to improve my curriculum by offering more hands-on approaches to learning about science and engineering,” she said. “I think the RET program has taught me about the process of learning to use new equipment.”

Benat is working with REU Allie Goncalves on analyzing biomorphs in Professor Bishop’s lab. She said of Allie, “She is incredibly helpful when I want to check my work with her. It is also comforting to know we are both learners here.”

In her free time, Benat likes to travel to Panama to visit family, hang out at the beach, or nap on a hammock. She also enjoys relaxing by perusing through Netflix. While Benat is learning new tools in the lab, she is meanwhile learning personal skills such as cooking. Best of luck to her in her summer of new endeavors!