Photos by Jason Redmond / Star staff Teacher Kristen Akl hands out dead bees to students Conner Rhoads, left, and True Randall in her fourth-period biology class at Foothill Technology High School in Ventura. The bees were part of a lesson on the relationship between a plant and its pollinator. A number of stick bees are displayed, top.

Biology teacher Kristie Akl stood in front of her fourth-period class at Foothill High School in Ventura, a toothpick in one hand and a dead bee in another.

After placing a dollop of glue at the tip of the toothpick, Akl gently inserted the toothpick into the bee's thorax.

"Make sure it sticks," Akl said to her 24 students, who tried their best not to crumble their tiny dead bees into oblivion. "And remember, if you have an allergy I will remove the abdomen for you, because that's where the stinger is."

The demonstration was part of the day's lesson on co-evolution and the relationship between a plant and its pollinator. Through hands-on experiments like these, Akl, 32, who also teaches biotechnology, hopes to make her lessons unforgettable for her students.

Akl will talk about this project and others when she attends the National Science Teachers Association's convention in March. She and 199 other teachers will be recognized as the first graduating class of the New Science Teacher Academy.

Akl was chosen as an Amgen fellow in the academy, a partnership between the National Science Teachers Association and the Amgen Foundation. Akl will be the only teacher from Ventura County to participate in the national program.

The $3 million program will provide professional development, training and mentorships for the 200 teachers over the next three years, program director Joe Sciulli said.

"The goal of the program is to keep teachers in the profession," he said. "Research shows teachers leave (the profession) for myriad reasons, and this program will help to mitigate those reasons.

"Often, when you are a teacher, there is a feeling of isolation and lack of support. If you don't have that support, you become frustrated, which leads to lack of interest."

The program is divided into two levels, with 100 "associates" in their first or second year of teaching and 100 "fellows" in their third year or more of teaching, Sciulli said.

Associates attending the March 27-30 conference in Boston will meet other educators, share classroom practices and meet with experts in their fields.

Amgen fellows like Akl will participate in an additional program called e-Mentoring for Student Success, an online network where fellows are linked to a veteran teacher in their field.

"I applied for the program because I wanted to have someone who has been teaching several years on the same subject who could guide me through things like curriculum development, setting up labs, etc.," Akl said. "We have a supportive staff here, but I think every new teacher feels like this in the beginning. It's sink or swim. Suddenly, you have 180 people you are responsible for, and it's sometimes hard to explain that to other teachers."

Akl said she was "shocked and stoked" when she received news that she was chosen as an Amgen fellow.

She said she plans to share with other teachers at the conference the successes of Foothill High's science curriculum and some of her creative teaching techniques, including a play about cellular respiration.