Reassurance

Mark Johnson: Some nights, after Kurtisha Jackson and her science team had struggled to wrap their brains around transcription factors and chromatin, after she had taken the city bus home, after she had eaten dinner and cleaned the kitchen and done her other homework – she felt the weight of her team's complex project. It was too difficult. She considered quitting.

At one time or another, the same thought occurred to each of her teammates at Milwaukee Academy of Science, a 10-year-old charter school.

For Cameron Bester, there were moments when Kurtisha and their teacher, Kevin Paprocki, chattered away in scientific language, and all he could think was: Can you put that in human words?

For Tim J…