As a means of combining their love for literacy and science, a number of seventh grade students from Ronkonkoma Middle School were recently given the opportunity to take part in a conference call with Ellen T. Matloff, a genetic counselor and founder of My Gene Counsel.

In preparation for their video chat, students enrolled in Danielle Tauriello’s life science classes spent the past several weeks learning about genetics in order to assist with sparking discussion topics. In tandem with these lessons, students enrolled in Heidi Edmond’s English classes finished up reading the popular literary classic “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, which deals with several topics in genetics such as genetic engineering and hereditary traits.

During the conference call, Ms. Matloff, who was coincidentally college roommates with Mrs. Edmonds, presented several slides explaining her education and career path, and then answered a number of well-thought out questions from the students.