Catholic school installs state-of-the-art science lab
The SS. Simon and Jude School in West Chester is ringing in the new school year with a $70,000 science lab.
The new lab will include the induction of a new science curriculum called “Lab Learner” that will allow students to participate in hands-on science experiments every week.
The school will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a 9 a.m. mass honoring the lab Sept. 15, led by school pastor Monsignor Francis W. Beach and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Rev. Joseph P. McFadden.
Students will use the classroom for the first time following the special mass. School starts at the SS. Simon and Jude School Sept. 9.
The lab is currently in the process of being set up in an area of the school that was previously used as a development office and honors-level math classroom.
The project was funded entirely by event fundraisers, donations from parents and grandparents, and charitable organizations such as the Robert and Joan Dircks Foundation, Sullivan Foundation and Connelly Foundation.
The idea for the lab began two years ago at SS. Simon and Jude when the Lab Learner program was introduced to school administrators.
The curriculum moves beyond the text to incorporate a smart board, projector, posters, charts, tables, lab stools, demonstration tables, lab equipment, eye wash stations, test tubes and other material used for experiments.
Prior to introducing the Lab Learner curriculum, the approximately 415 kindergarten through eighth-grade students at the school worked with a series of text books that was supplemented by computer visuals and some in-class experiments.
Principal Sister Margaret Rose Adams is excited for the new curriculum, because it will provide more visual and hands-on opportunities for students.
“It’s refreshing and a sign of new things to come. The more senses you can get involved in the learning process, the more children will take with them. We are just enthused that something new is happening in the school,” she said.
Sister Adams feels the Lab Learner program will provide a deeper understanding of the scientific method to students and help to develop inquisitive young minds.
“I think the program will improve the cooperative learning process. Students will be working with one another, so they will develop not only their educational and social skills but an enthusiasm for science so that they will get better understanding of God and his world,” Adams said.
Developer and president of Lab Learner Keith Verner said the curriculum is based on learning scientific vocabulary, understanding why things work, and participating in experiments and activities to promote learning.
“Students don’t really have to sit down and force memorization, because they understand what happens and use logic to answer questions. Students who use Lab Learner develop advanced vocabulary and think like scientists to solve problems,” he said.
The curriculum is currently in place in public, private and charter schools in about 20 other states throughout the country and is designed to meet state and federal education standards for science.
“This is the kind of learning that lasts that students can build on. Memorization doesn’t always last. We want to help students fundamentally understand scientific concepts and see how they are interrelated,” Verner said.
Every teacher who will teach Lab Learner will receive training from a Lab Learner representative at their school.
In addition, teachers are given social networking opportunities to talk with other Lab Learner teachers throughout the nation on lesson plans. They are also given opportunities to view videos of new Lab Learner experiments online each week.
“We started a community where no teacher is ever alone. They always have our support and each other’s support,” Verner said.
Lab Learner and SS. Simon and Jude provided professional development courses to teachers in August to teach the new curriculum.
According to Verner, by the end of the 2009-2010 school year there will be about 27 schools within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia using the Lab Learner program.
The new lab will include the induction of a new science curriculum called “Lab Learner” that will allow students to participate in hands-on science experiments every week.
The school will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a 9 a.m. mass honoring the lab Sept. 15, led by school pastor Monsignor Francis W. Beach and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Rev. Joseph P. McFadden.
Students will use the classroom for the first time following the special mass. School starts at the SS. Simon and Jude School Sept. 9.
The lab is currently in the process of being set up in an area of the school that was previously used as a development office and honors-level math classroom.
The project was funded entirely by event fundraisers, donations from parents and grandparents, and charitable organizations such as the Robert and Joan Dircks Foundation, Sullivan Foundation and Connelly Foundation.
The idea for the lab began two years ago at SS. Simon and Jude when the Lab Learner program was introduced to school administrators.
The curriculum moves beyond the text to incorporate a smart board, projector, posters, charts, tables, lab stools, demonstration tables, lab equipment, eye wash stations, test tubes and other material used for experiments.
Prior to introducing the Lab Learner curriculum, the approximately 415 kindergarten through eighth-grade students at the school worked with a series of text books that was supplemented by computer visuals and some in-class experiments.
Principal Sister Margaret Rose Adams is excited for the new curriculum, because it will provide more visual and hands-on opportunities for students.
“It’s refreshing and a sign of new things to come. The more senses you can get involved in the learning process, the more children will take with them. We are just enthused that something new is happening in the school,” she said.
Sister Adams feels the Lab Learner program will provide a deeper understanding of the scientific method to students and help to develop inquisitive young minds.
“I think the program will improve the cooperative learning process. Students will be working with one another, so they will develop not only their educational and social skills but an enthusiasm for science so that they will get better understanding of God and his world,” Adams said.
Developer and president of Lab Learner Keith Verner said the curriculum is based on learning scientific vocabulary, understanding why things work, and participating in experiments and activities to promote learning.
“Students don’t really have to sit down and force memorization, because they understand what happens and use logic to answer questions. Students who use Lab Learner develop advanced vocabulary and think like scientists to solve problems,” he said.
The curriculum is currently in place in public, private and charter schools in about 20 other states throughout the country and is designed to meet state and federal education standards for science.
“This is the kind of learning that lasts that students can build on. Memorization doesn’t always last. We want to help students fundamentally understand scientific concepts and see how they are interrelated,” Verner said.
Every teacher who will teach Lab Learner will receive training from a Lab Learner representative at their school.
In addition, teachers are given social networking opportunities to talk with other Lab Learner teachers throughout the nation on lesson plans. They are also given opportunities to view videos of new Lab Learner experiments online each week.
“We started a community where no teacher is ever alone. They always have our support and each other’s support,” Verner said.
Lab Learner and SS. Simon and Jude provided professional development courses to teachers in August to teach the new curriculum.
According to Verner, by the end of the 2009-2010 school year there will be about 27 schools within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia using the Lab Learner program.
