CHS Science Students Selected to Present at Prestigious Science Symposium

Providing accessible childcare for children with disabilities. Connecting the school science lab to the real world.

Carmel High School students Jaclyn Repanti and Riley Ward recently presented their findings on these topics at the Eastern Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS), a sub-regional symposium to the statewide Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, one of the most prestigious forums for young scientists in the country.

Members of the Carmel High School Science Research program, Repanti and Ward have been researching their topics for years with the aim of creating a better future.

Senior Jaclyn Repanti’s research project measured childcare accessibility for children with disabilities, a topic she became interested in while working as a summer camp counselor at Camp Herrlich in Patterson. As a counselor, Repanti learned childcare services for children with disabilities are largely unregulated and that parents often have difficulty finding appropriate care.

“Working at Camp Herrlich has shown me what needs to be done to make camp programs accessible,” said Repanti who also attended after-school programs offered by Camp Herrlich when she was in elementary school.

“Camp Herrlich provides one-to-one interactions for campers with special needs as well as working with accessibility specialists to improve access in general. I was a one-to-one counselor last year and it was really interesting to talk to the parents of some campers and find out that they had travelled 40 minutes to come to camp.”

“There are so many camps in the area, so why do they have to travel here?” asked Repanti. “It’s because there is a gap in the market in their area for access for their children to go to daycare.”

With help from her mentor, Jessica Vanacoro, associate executive director at Camp Herrlich, Repanti researched the various aspects of childcare services, demographics and types of access available to understand what aspects of accessibility were lacking in different childcare services.

The project has since opened Repanti’s eyes to a potential future career in civil engineering or architecture.

“Some of the background research, especially for the physical accessibility section, had me reviewing New York State building code and how buildings are classified as accessible,” said Repanti. “I think that combining my interest in camp and my interest in architecture and engineering is something I would really enjoy doing.”

Junior Riley Ward focused her research on understanding the methodology used and conclusions obtained by general chemistry students working in a lab, a topic suggested by her mentor in a summer research program. Ward worked with her mentor, Sarah Hansen, Ph.D., from Columbia University, and another student co-researcher in California to review data from students in Hansen’s college lab courses. The research paper is currently in the peer review process on track for journal publication.

“Dr. Hansen is a chemistry education teacher, which is something I had never heard of until I started working with her,” said Ward. “I was really interested in the topic because the work affects students like me.”

“We researched what made the students reach certain conclusions, so we could understand better how the students thought. Instead of just studying chemistry, we studied chemistry education in order to help future chemistry students and professors connect to the real world.”

Both students were selected to present their work before fellow students, teachers, mentors and judges at the sub-regional symposium on January 29. Repanti won third place for her research and presentation.

“We are proud of the authentic research Jaclyn and Riley have done and are honored to have our students chosen to present their research at the Eastern Junior Science and Humanities Symposium,” remarked Nicole Griffin, Science Research Coordinator at Carmel High School.

For both students, the research will continue. Repanti would like to collect more data by interviewing participants. She hopes that interviews will provide more qualitative data points to enhance the survey results she previously had gathered. Ward would like to add a third co-researcher so the team could research the methods that the lab students used most often and why.

Using the dedicated research time in their class schedule and the resources provided by the Science Research Program, Repanti, Ward and the other young scientists at Carmel High School are well on their way to helping to create a better future for all.