The BioEYES program in collaboration with the WashU Medicine Fish Facility establishes a partnership with K-12 schools and school districts across the St. Louis metropolitan area to cultivate an early interest in STEM and lay a foundational confidence and knowledge. Working directly with Dr. Paine-Saunders and Ms. Thomas, students assume the role of “junior scientists” to mate the fish and raise the embryos from a single cell until they hatch out as clear, free-swimming larvae with beating hearts that can be seen under high-powered microscopes. Students learn how to hypothesize and test ideas, ask questions, record findings, and think critically about their results.