Palmetto Excel Center in North Charleston, South Carolina on DonorsChoose

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Students who once froze at the sight of a vocabulary list now lead demonstrations, use precise equipment terms, and explain how genetics and environment influence everyday choices. Procedural practice and small‑group labs reduced anxiety during assessments and increased persistence: learners who started the term unsure of themselves finished able to articulate evidence, draw conclusions, and teach a peer. That transformation — confidence built from doing science, not just memorizing it — is the gift your support created.\r\n\r\n How the project has mattered \r\n\r\nAcademic confidence: Students moved from rote recall to evidence‑based explanations and improved performance on summative tasks. \r\nProcedural fluency: Repeated, scaffolded practice with lab roles and clear vocabulary gave students the exact language and hands‑on habits used in real labs. \r\nRelevance and agency: Lessons that tied genetics and diet to real life helped learners make personal and community‑level connections to science. \r\nPathways to opportunity: Exposure to authentic techniques and teamwork opened conversations about college, certifications, and local bioscience jobs.\r\n\r\n An introduction to the next step: bringing molecular biology into students' hands\r\n\r\nBuilding on that momentum, I am planning a second project that brings molecular methods off the page and into each student's hands. Instead of memorizing DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, students will extract, amplify, and visualize DNA themselves. The goal is to turn abstract vocabulary into practiced skills and scientific habits: hypothesis design, protocol execution, data interpretation, and evidence‑based communication.\r\n\r\nWhat students will do and learn:\r\n- Master safe, exact vocabulary and safe handling of micropipettes, tubes, thermocyclers, gels, and a benchtop centrifuge. \r\n- Extract DNA from simple samples and prepare them using the centrifuge. \r\n- Set up PCR to target specific sequences and run agarose gels to observe DNA bands under a classroom‑safe blue‑light illuminator. \r\n- Analyze band patterns to estimate fragment sizes, troubleshoot experiments, and tie molecular results back to cellular processes and real‑world questions.\r\n\r\nEducational benefits:\r\n- Reduces test anxiety by aligning assessments with practiced, observable skills. \r\n- Strengthens quantitative reasoning through measurement and interpretation of gel results. \r\n- Makes STEM pathways tangible by introducing techniques used in college and industry. \r\n- Creates durable classroom assets and consumables that will serve multiple cohorts and community partners.\r\n\r\n How you can continue to deepen impact \r\n\r\nIf you'd like to help extend what Cell City began, support for durable, classroom‑safe equipment (a benchtop centrifuge, PCR consumables, gel electrophoresis kit, and a blue‑light illuminator) and ongoing consumables would be transformational. Your investment turns the question \"What is DNA?\" into the discovery \"Here's how life works,\" and it equips adult learners with confidence, lab literacy, and clearer postsecondary or career choices.\r\n\r\nThank you for believing that second chances in science matter. Because of you, our learners are no longer defined by past experiences — they are becoming investigators, teachers, and builders of their own futures. 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About this school

Palmetto Excel Center is an urban public school in North Charleston, South Carolina that is part of South Carolina Public Charter School District. It serves 401 students in grades 9 - 12. Its teachers have had one project funded on DonorsChoose.

Equity Focus School

Support towards this school will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Public School

Grades 9 - 12

401 Students

# of teachers unavailable

7000 Rivers Ave Bldg 100

North Charleston, SC 29406 View local requests

https://palmettoexcel.org/

Evidence-based impact

Inspire teachers to stay in the classroom and boost student achievement.¹

Give to this school

Ms. Vero, a DonorsChoose teacher for 9 years.

Kindergarten teacher at PS81 - Robert J. Christen School in Bronx, NY

Palmetto Excel Center Teachers on DonorsChoose

Ms. Bruns

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Palmetto Excel Center Demographics

54%

of students receive free or reduced price lunch

Source: the National Center for Education Statistics

100%

of students are Black, Latino, Native American, or Asian

Schools in districts that mainly serve students of color receive substantially less state and local support than similar districts that serve primarily White students. Learn more about this gap, why it exists, and how you can help close it.

Palmetto Excel Center Support on DonorsChoose Last updated Dec 5, 2025

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