The familiar mantra that high school will prepare you for college
is perhaps best seen through the Directed Independent Study (DIS) course at St.
Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax.
Under the guidance of Paul VI science department chairs Michael
Potter and Eileen Liberti, student Hannah Fulop kick-started the program four
years ago with a self-designed experiment to cultivate fruit fly cells. Liberti
said Fulop’s research was “all so new but so much of it we could easily expose
high school students to on a smaller scale.” This year, the program has grown
to give four students the opportunity to delve into a variety of
biology-related independent projects.
Potter and Liberti guide students through a systematic process of
advanced research and Paul VI helps provide students with various professional
contacts. Some students perform parts of their experiments at outside labs
specific to the needs of their particular study. Previously, a student worked
at a biotech company to expand her research on antibodies. This year, juniors Camila
Gutierrez partnered with a veterinary clinic to aid her study on culturing
multiple cell lines, Catherine Bare is using a Soxhlet extractor while working
with soybeans, and Kristine Tran is infecting various lung cell samples with
vape oils to explore their harmful effects.
With so many students working with multiple cell lines, each was trained
in special sterilization procedures to avoid cross contamination. Paul VI has a
Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory with appropriate equipment to perform
tissue cultures, as well as sophisticated microscopes and storage units. All
DIS students are able to earn tissue culture certifications. Recently, the
school’s lab made two additions: a gas chromatograph and mass infrared
spectrometer. These supplements expanded the range of experiments DIS students
may undertake.
Since the beginning of the program, Potter and Liberti have
introduced students to these types of advanced equipment in the hope that they
will be better prepared for future studies. New courses such as dual enrollment
anatomy/physiology allow students to dive even deeper into college-level
science. Anyone who comes into the laboratory room will also be greeted by live
mice and fruit flies, which are available to students seeking to undertake
experiments with live subjects.
Biology and science experiment procedures are not the only thing
that DIS students are able to take away from this experience. Since not
everybody can use the lab at once, communication among the students is
essential.
“Lots of cooperation is required — who uses the lab when, and
when we all need to come in for meetings,” said Tran. “It has taught me how to
communicate with other people I’m sharing the lab with, and I think that will
be super important in college.”
At the end of their
experiments, students prepare research papers detailing their experiment and
results, give a presentation to a panel of faculty and administrators, and
answer questions, similar to research presentations in college.
Not all of these experiments yield the results the students are
seeking, but they don’t need to.
“Science is not about things going perfectly, science is about
learning along the way,” said Liberti.
Potter summed up the purpose of the program in saying that, whether
the expected result is obtained or not, “Either way, you’ve learned a great
deal.”