Fostering STEM education and career paths remain a national priority. Despite the acknowledged importance of mentorship and support networks for student professional development, STEM enriching activities often do not foster lasting relationships with science professionals nor provide needed opportunities for youth to participate in professional science meetings, publications, and other activities. This is true for all educational levels, but is particularly challenging for elementary and middle schools where the complexity of language and concepts may hinder communication and learning when young students work together with science professionals. To meet these challenges, this work has centered on creating a continuum of STEM educational experiences through authentic, life science focused collaborative research for teams of students, teachers, and science professionals. The Milwaukee School of Engineering SMART (students modeling a research topic) Team Program that facilitates student abstraction of complex chemical concepts needed to understand structure function relationships of proteins by creating 3D printed models has been used for the basis of developing collaborative research teams. With an emphasis on building both relationships and models, the SMART Program provides the unique focus on scientific communication and process necessary for team development. Subsequently, teams have worked together to address specific research questions aimed at validating and extending scientific knowledge through experimentation in zebrafish. Over the past few years, proteins investigated include Collagen 8a1, T (Brachyury), and Factor X. Importantly, students have been welcomed into professional zebrafish conferences such as ZDM8, Boston, 2015 to present their findings and participate in a professional science meeting. In summary, this overall approach provides a unique way of addressing dual needs for both STEM education and scientific advancement in a fun, engaging, and meaningful way while fostering professional development for all involved.