In 2025, a group of Boston Latin Academy (BLA) students attended BARI Conference and got a firsthand look at how researchers, community leaders, and policymakers use research and data to understand issues affecting Greater Boston. The experience inspired BLA English teacher Mary Dibinga and her students to create a space of their own for sharing student research: the BLA Research Festival.
For many students, it was their first time participating in a professional research conference, so BARI Associate Director Kim Lucas visited BLA to help them prepare to introduce themselves, engage with presenters, and ask questions. The experience helped students see that they did not need to already have all the answers to participate in academic spaces.
“Attending BARI Conference taught my students that in academic spaces, asking questions demonstrates that you belong,” said Dibinga.
The enthusiasm from the conference quickly turned into action. In June 2025, Dibinga and her students launched the inaugural BLA Research Festival, an educator-driven civic research festival celebrating the research, data, and technology work of young people.
The festival was open to all BLA students, not only those enrolled in AP Seminar or AP Research. Students presented projects exploring topics connected to their interests and communities, including research on community support for Boston’s White Stadium renovation.
BARI network members served as judges, giving students the opportunity to engage directly with researchers and community members outside of their classrooms. For Dibinga, this connection helped students see research as something that could have relevance beyond a class assignment.
The inaugural festival’s Best Project winners were invited to present their research at BARI Conference 2026.
From Student Researchers to BARI Conference Presenters
At BARI Conference 2026, Gianna Nahim presented her research, “The Importance of Being American: Does The Usage Of American Accents Actually Make British Musicians More Popular In The United States?” alongside researchers, practitioners, and community leaders from across Greater Boston.
The connection between BARI and BPS AP Seminar and Research classes continued grew throughout the 2025–26 school year, when Charlestown High School became the partnership’s second school. BARI team members chaperoned the BLA class trip to the Boston Public Library to learn about various databases and research resources they could use in their projects and also visited Charlestown to work with students on crafting their research questions and finding sources.
In May 2026, it was Charlestown’s turn to attend BARI Conference, this time held at Northeastern’s Curry Student Center. Inspired by the experience, Charlestown High students also participated in the second annual BLA Research Festival. The Festival created another opportunity for students to present their work to educators, peers, and experts from a variety of fields and share their research with an authentic audience. It was a successful day, with two more winners chosen to present their projects at BARI Conference 2027.
What began with a group of students attending a research conference has developed into an ongoing opportunity for young people to conduct, present, and discuss research of their own.
For Dibinga, the goal extends beyond BLA and she is excited to see opportunities like the Research Festival and BARI Conference becoming a regular part of the experience of students across Boston Public Schools.
“This experience of researching and presenting new work needs to be accessible to students in all our schools at all levels.”
Through the BLA Research Festival, students are not only learning how to conduct research, they are finding opportunities to ask questions, share their findings, connect with researchers, and participate in the civic research community of Greater Boston.
