The 2001-2002 school year once again brought almost exponential growth to the club. Although not all of the new members were committed, many were-- and they brought valuable insight and enthusiasm to the club with them. This was demonstrated by the success of offering WSSP@EBHS as a "class", which required students to attend at least 3 days a week in order to pass.

A highlight of the school year was a trip to Rider University in May 2002, where six students participated in an informal "science fair" type event. Especially interesting, however, were speakers that discussed cutting edge technology in the field of biomedicine. Professionals, as well as students, presented on topics ranging from the role of p53 in cancer to immunotechnology.

Finally, this year's WSSP project was once again concluded with a "poster session" competition held at Amersham Pharmacia Biotech in Piscataway, NJ. (Click here to see pictures; scroll down to the second table). Despite the fact that 2002 was the first year in 3 years to break EBHS's winning record, this did not stop all EBHS Scholars from feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride at the Waksman Poster Session. The students had spent countless hours preparing a professional-quality poster, "Opening a Whole New Can of Worms", which presented a year's worth of findings on gene conservation and C. elegans. Disappointment, as a result, was a predominant feeling following the session; yet all involved were content with our work as a team. We felt that we were just as good as we had been the years that we had won, if not even better, and we hope to continue our tradition of excellece next year.