<p>One of the chem teachers at my kids’ public HS does research every summer at MIT (as part of a research team, not original research). There is no way he would have time to do this during the school year as he coaches one of the scool’s science teams which takes up several hours per week outside of regular school hours. He is an amazing teacher and mentor to the kids he teaches and coaches and has inspired many students to study science in college. Sounds a little bit like what you aspire to. All of this to say that research is possible, but maybe not in the way you are envisioning, </p>