THE BOLT March 2013
Volume 13, Issue 5
20402 Newport Coast Drive, Newport Coast, CA 92657
A New Scientific Venture By Hawken Miller
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f Emily tesy o s Cour Photo
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n Shima
STaff Writer
ne year and four months from today, students will start classes in the Science Center. From that point on, science here will be dramatically transformed into a new and dynamic learning process. As the Head of School, Gordon McNeill understands this idea “will give students opportunities in science.” The teachers and vital members of the board of trustees will go beyond the current nation-wide science conundrum and “do science the right way,” McNeill says. Teachers like Dr. Todd Haney, Science Dept. chairman, are equally as excited. Haney, who completed his Ph.D. in biology at UCLA believes that this new building will “generate interest in science.” Sonnet Hui, the architect and designer for the science center, holds these same ideals. She has experience working “with many other education and civic developments.” She says that she knew “there was something special about Sage Hill.” Her expertise and motivation has galvanized the timely creation of this space. This building has been “part of the conversation from day one” for McNeill. The portables now are only placeholders for the greatness to come. The problems of the current science rooms have been impetus for the enhanced development and design of the new building. “Large, fixed furniture,” seems to be the greatest problem to Haney, along with the footprint of the current structure. For Haney, the layout of the current building creates “overused space.” He laughs as he recalls the lack of storage space and equipment; he and science teacher Tyler Zarubin are constantly “warring over equipment.” Faced with these considerations, the science faculty and the board of trustees have come up with a viable space to conduct and learn about science. Glass panels will allow for a better “kind of visibility”; movable furniture, high quality equipment and more storage space will eliminate the “things that eat up time,” Haney says. McNeill hopes that these additions along with “a dry teaching space and a wet teaching space” will contribute to enhanced curriculum and will help to “strengthen the lab program” that Haney has in mind. The department chair hopes that the completion of this new building will aid in “enhancing the current curriculum.” The faculty and student body alike are excited about the prospect of new electives such as “engineering, robotics and astronomy.” McNeill really wants to see the science course change in response to “what the passions of the students are.” Integration of the campus design seems to be the highest priority for designer Hui, who hopes to incorporate “details, materials and colors from the existing school.” Like the current Town Square, the “terraced plaza will become an iconic campus destination” and provide a viable environment for science to take place. Hui sees the building, as Haney does, with “open labs that allow for cross collaboration between spaces.” Haney is hopeful that with “fully equipped labs,” partnerships between science institutions will continue on a larger scale than ever before. Students have already experienced a sense of this collaboration while sitting in on the lectures of respected scientists from the UCI research facilities. Haney and McNeill, among others, are “exploring opportunities to get those students who have specific interests involved in more authentic activities.” In Hui’s perspective, the building will “create a new venue for the outside community to engage with Sage Hill and its students.” Allowing students to utilize real scientific labs and research centers will distinguish a Sage Hill science education from other schools. The individualistic approach of the school will manifest in this building and create an imprint in the current climate of scientific education. For those students who will not get to experience this unique building, McNeill offers them some advice: “value proposition makes it so that one can have the pride to say that ‘I went there.’”
A new definition of science takes Sage by storm. (From top to bottom) Seniors Samir Durrani and Emma Overly, sophomores Rebecca Fudge and Brittany Andressoo, Amir Soleimany and Milad Rouhani and seniors Tiffany Silverstein and Shaan Gareeb define what science means to them.