Vaux High School Student Attends Yale Annual Conference with TIP Teacher November 10, 2025 – Posted in: Uncategorized

On November 7th and 8th, a group of TIP Fellows and Vaux High School student Ameen Fleming accompanied his teacher Ms. Danina Garcia to the annual Yale National Initiative Conference.  Ameen proudly represented the School District of Philadelphia at an event that drew teachers, students, and school district leaders from around the country.

Ms. Garcia’s curriculum unit, “Efficiency & Faithfulness: How One Philly Nurse Fought Tuberculosis,” highlights the story of Elizabeth Tyler, a trailblazing Black nurse whose work played a key role in fighting the tuberculosis epidemic in early 20th-century Philadelphia. Ms. Garcia wrote the unit in the Infectious Respiratory Disease seminar led by Professor Jordan Peccia at Yale’s 2025 summer intensive program.

Ameen, a Class of 2026 student, is part of Vaux’s inaugural phlebotomy training internship program and hopes to pursue a career in medical science. At the conference, he presented a project inspired by Ms. Garcia’s unit, where he explored the lasting impact Elizabeth Tyler made on her community.