5 minute read
ENGAGING ENVIRONMENT: Hands-On Research
by Lalo Walsh
“I may be undersized, but don’t underestimate me. I’m a petite package who packs a punch.” -Hydrogen describes itself in The Periodic Table-Elements with Style!
Advanced Chemical Research teacher Maricar Harris prepares for her next lesson.
If Maricar Harris were an element, she would be hydrogen. Perched at the front of her classroom within the science wing at the east end of our Upper School, she could be mistaken for one of her students. She is tiny and bursting with lively energy. It feels like she is telling you an important secret when she talks about her Advanced Science Research classes. “These kids are going to be phenomenal lab partners in college,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. She knows this because her graduated Advanced Research students who have gone on to become science majors have told her so. Since 2016 Maricar has taught both AP Chemistry and Advanced Chemistry Research at Collegiate, and she has done it with a passion and excitement that is infectious. This year, because she determined there was interest among her students, she added Advanced Biology Research to her course offerings, presenting our students with yet another opportunity to learn from hands-on lab work. Wichita Collegiate School is the only high school in town to offer these college-level post AP courses on campus, and their impact on our students is tremendous. Chemistry Research students learn to operate a gas chromatograph while those in Biology Research work conduct gel electrophoresis using calibrated micropipettes in order to visualize polymerase chain reactions. Both research classes require that students engage in extensive scientific journal research and collaborate to produce independent research presentations of their own. “I ask them to go find the articles that interest them. They come back to class with their research, and given their varied interests, we decide on an overall topic to explore together.” This year, her Chem Research class struck upon sleep as their area of study with students delving into various aspects of it from lucid dreaming to how it can be influenced by diet and melatonin to how it impacts physical recovery and strength. For our science loving kids, having the opportunity to progress beyond the traditional high school curriculum opens not just their minds but also doors. “I think being a high school senior that already had research experience helped me stand out
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as an applicant to college,” says Isabella Do, now a sophomore studying Bioengineering at MIT, adding that, “being able to say we presented our work at the KU Forum was particularly significant.” The Student Research Forum that Isabella refers to is held every April and provides a public stage for the presentation, assessment, and discussion of college and graduate school level scientific investigations. Year after year, Collegiate’s Advanced Research students are the only high schoolers presenting; this opportunity shines bright on their transcripts. However, this competitive advantage is not really at the heart of what drives students to Mrs. Harris’s classroom. “You can choose whatever topic you want; it is 95% self-directed, and whenever you want help, you can get it. Personally, I found the complex systems in the auto-immune responses of COVID-19 very intriguing, and this class let me fully explore that curiosity,” says Chris Henry, now a senior in Advanced Biology Research. Ryder Walsh chimes in, “The only lecturers are your peers. As a student, I have to be one of those prepared to explore, investigate, and present exciting scientific concepts to my classmates. I feel the thrill of scientific discovery when I share what I dig up.” It is this same sense of adventure that continues to motivate Mrs. Harris to keep her classes cutting edge and constantly evolving. “Every summer, I’m doing something that I bring back to the classroom,” she effuses when asked how she prepares for these classes. Through grants or financial support Collegiate provides by way of our Annual Fund, she has been able to attend numerous workshops and obtain lab equipment that would otherwise be unaffordable. Currently on the cusp of earning her master’s in chemistry education, she says it is her students and their interests that spur her development as an educator. “It’s what they want to learn about that dictates the direction we go in,” Mrs. Harris says when asked how she sets her classes’ syllabuses. “If they aren’t interested in what I am already prepared for, then I say, ‘OK! Let me go out and find something else for us to do.’” In this way, our Advanced Science Research classes exemplify what makes all of Collegiate so special: the virtuous circle of inspiration and encouragement that exists between students and teachers. Ours is an academic environment that engages everyone involved in a shared sense of growth and mission. Looking ahead, Mrs. Harris sees the rapport she builds with her students as she supports them through their research as crucial to preparing them for college. “They appreciate the independence of it all. I am more of a mentor and facilitator than a teacher. I really like
Seniors Chris and Ryder examine an unknown substance during their Advanced Biology Research class.
Seniors Malak and Allie participate in a lab involving new equipment.
that for them,” she says, believing that having established such relationships with teachers in high school, students will feel more comfortable engaging with their professors in college. And this is when Maricar Harris shares another secret about her Advanced Research classes. What she demonstrates in this classroom model, and what she is really teaching, is bravery. Bravery and honesty. She recounts one of her favorite classroom memories: “The lab results didn’t prove what the kids set out to prove. They felt they were presenting failure. But then it dawned on them: there is value in getting the unexpected. Your path is worth something no matter what. Sharing that is valuable to others. In life, we face this challenge in so many ways, so many times over.” She hopes learning this lesson early, while still in high school, will help her students hit the ground running in college: “I want them to go away to college and to not be afraid to do research. When someone hands them a hard article, it’s not going to scare them. I want them to know they are capable of doing the hard work. And when things don’t work out like they planned, that’s OK. They will know Mrs. Harris will always be cheering for them from here.”
