Before Chris Sauvageau ‘17 even entered SHC as an official freshman, Dr. Ramsey Musallam gave him a Bunsen burner, toothpicks, five kinds of salt, and told him to play with fire. Sauvageau, along with a group of incoming freshmen, met over the summer in the second-floor science lab to make different-colored flames by dipping toothpicks in the different salts and holding them over a flame. “With each kind of salt, a different color was produced, from red to green to purple to yellow,” Sauvageau said.

These freshmen make up the first class of the Inquiry & Innovation Program, I2 for short. Selected from the DePaul Scholar applicant pool because of their indicated interest in math and science, they will pilot a program designed to engage their curiosity and change the world.

The program arose out of a rising interest in the STEM fields―science, technology, engineering and mathematics―from middle school applicants. Principal Gary Cannon conceptualized the I2 program as an expansion to the DePaul Scholar program to attract high-achieving, STEM-focused students. AP Chemistry instructor Ramsey Musallam soon became the program director.

    Throughout their four years, I2 students will work on the focal point of the program― the capstone project. Students each pick a topic that fascinates them, STEM-related or not, and explore it in-depth. From there, the program will provide mentors in the external community and help build prototypes for creating an innovative product. “We think that this program can be a medium for helping people do things way bigger than Sacred Heart Cathedral,” Musallam said. “This capstone project is an assignment in life.”

    Students have already begun to think about their project topics. Tara Downey ‘17 hopes to explore psychology and research a mental disorder she knows little about, like schizophrenia. Sauvageau ‘17 has generated a variety of ideas― the science behind Rube Goldberg machines, why Canadian bacon is not the same as ham, or how to build games from scratch.

Beyond the capstone project, students will also gather once a month for meetings and informal check-ins. They need to maintain a 3.5 GPA, enroll in either Algebra 2/Trigonometry or Algebra Honors and take AP math and science classes before graduation.

Musallam hopes to treat each year as a focused stage in the capstone development process. In the first year, students will hone in on their interests and learn how to conduct extensive research. Second year-students will connect with mentors and begin to explore their topics in earnest. The third year will focus on building prototypes and conceptualizing final products.

Part of this focus will come from Capstone Development academic explorations taught by librarian Danielle Farinacci. These year-long courses will be a little more intensive than the usual explorations, comprising of weekly online workshops and hands-on, in-person meetings for each stage. This year’s class will complete a basic research skills course to prepare for researching, writing and presenting information on their capstone project.

All I2 freshmen all take physics together–a class taught by Mr. Joseph Murphy. Although the course follows the same basic curriculum as other freshmen physics classes, students also discuss outside material and perform additional experiments. So far, the freshmen have explored the ideal gas law, lightbulb construction and concepts surrounding quantum physics. These experiments form the core of the inquiry-based class and reflect the nature of the program itself. “We want them to experience science, not just be told about science,” Murphy said.

So far, students have enjoyed the program’s experiments and the opportunities to collaborate with their peers. “They’re all smart, and you get to know them through every research project,” Sophia Plett ‘17 said.

In the end, Musallam hopes that the I2 program will help students unlearn traditional, grades-focused learning. “You can be curious about something, but attacking your curiosity takes a whole other set of skills,” he said. “Once you attack that, a whole world opens up for you.”