Students work on a project in science class at St. Isaac Jogues last year. The school is investing $80,000 into a new, state-of-the art trademarked science program LabLearner.St. Clair Shores — St. Isaac Jogues School in St. Clair Shores will roll out a brand new, $80,000 science program called LabLearner, a hands-on science education system, starting this school year.
According to its website, LabLearner is a 100 percent research-based, comprehensive, hands-on science education system aimed at illuminating and clarifying science in a way that is most understood and retained by students from kindergarten to eighth grade.
“It’s very important for me for our students to be engaged in what they’re learning and to be passionate about it,” said Sr. Catherine Marie Compton, OP, principal of St. Isaac Jogues. “We have several students who tell me they love science, but don’t feel science class is science. They’re reading a textbook. They do labs periodically depending on the teachers, but science is supposed to be working with things and discovering things around us. That’s what really appealed to me about LabLearner. The students are doing research, doing real work, at least once a week.”
The program will cover all the sciences and will engage students through labs, which science teacher Lauren Whiteley says is vital.
“When you’re doing a lecture or reading from a textbook, maybe you have your top students paying attention, but a lot of the time you’ll lose half the class when you say open your textbooks,” Whiteley said. “Everybody is so excited. Engagement is huge for these kids to have something they’re excited about. I think this is what this program is going to do. It’s going to bring excitement back to our science program.”
The program and science lab will begin to be installed Aug. 24. From there, the teachers at St. Isaac Jogues will go through a three-day training program, learning the ins and outs of LabLearner.
The idea for the program began when Sr. Compton, a Dominican Sister of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, took over last year and was immediately told of the need to upgrade the school’s 17-year old science curriculum. She began contacting schools across the country to try to find the best program for her students and came across LabLearner from a fellow sister in Peoria, Ill.
“She said LabLearner was state-of-the-art. They brought it in brand new and the students were really engaged and learning incredible amounts,” Sr. Compton said. “Compared to the other programs we got samples from, we thought this program was head and shoulders above the others.”
LabLearner costs about $80,000 to implement, so Sr. Compton approached the school advisory board with the idea. They loved it.
“When we heard this program was lab based and all the kids from preschool on up and work on an actual working lab, it was something I was really excited for and really got behind as far as fundraising and getting behind it,” said Jennifer Washburn, parent and school advisory board member. “Just hearing about it made us so excited.”
Through the parish auction, donations and grants, St. Isaac Jogues raised enough money in two months to implement the program before the school year.
“I truly believe it was 100 percent God because my timeline was not nearly as fast as his timeline,” Sr. Compton said. “I didn’t know if it was going to be possible to raise the type of money it was going to take to bring in a program like this. When we raised the money in two months, I realized the Lord will bless your work if you’re truly seeking what’s best for the students.”
Sr. Compton isn’t the only one excited about the program; Washburn’s two sons — students at the school — also can’t wait to get started.
“They’re extremely excited,” Washburn said. “The best days for them are the days where they come home and do hands-on learning. You always know when they have a good day because they come home and they talk about some experiment that they do and the fact that they can do that weekly or more, they’re both extremely excited. This is something that has brought a lot of happiness to them because it’s more than just book learning.”
Sr. Compton hopes she can continue to discover more hands-on learning programs.
“I do hope to find programs that are engaging and effective, because as a Dominican, learning is so important, and I want it to be engaging and exciting for our students,” she said.
