Rochester Prep High School students share their capstone experience

One highlight of the RIT-Rochester Prep High School Partnership is the annual capstone showcase that spotlights student-professor collaborations. This year, more than a dozen Rochester Prep students presented their research projects Feb. 9 at RIT’s Wegmans Theater in the MAGIC Center.

Their diverse projects in photojournalism, antibiotic resistance, 3D printing and fabrication, and chemical engineering gave the students experience on a college campus and the confidence of completing undergraduate-level material.

Rochester Prep High School student September Jackson learned what it’s like to work in a lab and to interact with professors on a complex project in chemical engineering. She explored molecular dynamics of breathing through a scuba mask with Poornima Padmanabhan and Obioma Uche, assistant professors of chemical engineering.

While Jackson doesn’t plan to become a chemical engineer, her exposure to the field broadened her knowledge and perspective. “I loved the experience,” Jackson said. “It showed me the independent feel of college.”

Now in its fourth year, the capstone program gives eligible students from Rochester Prep High School research experience with RIT professors and a preview of the college environment. From late August through January, students spent four to five hours a week on campus in labs and in classrooms, working with each other, faculty, and RIT students.

‌

Danibeth Duran-Medina

The photojournalism capstone included assignments typically given to undergraduates that must include a list of things, people, emotions, and situations. Here, the photographer took a picture of a family friend having his morning coffee

Students in the photojournalism capstone joined a first-year class every Monday during the fall semester and worked closely with third-year photojournalism major and teaching assistant Maya Giron. Josh Meltzer, associate professor in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, gave the high school students the same assignments as his RIT class to teach them technical and observational skills. For their final project, the RPHS students chose “Youth and Mental Health,” zeroing in on a national issue that predated the COVID-19 pandemic. They photographed people interacting at their school and in the Rochester community at SOAR Youth Leadership and Champion Academy, mentoring and empowerment programs for youth.

Sharing different perspectives and experiences through the capstone program benefits both students and professors, said André Hudson, professor and head of the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences. His team of students isolated and detected antibiotic resistant bacteria on the RIT campus. An opportunity to work in a biology lab as a teenager led Hudson to a career he never anticipated.

“I’m here in science because someone took the time to provide peer-mentoring for me as a teenager, and it was life changing,” Hudson said. “One of our jobs is not only to provide education, but to provide inspiration, and it’s reciprocal.”

‌

Ariana Shchuka

Rochester Prep High School students stand for a picture with their RIT mentors, including Kit Mayberry, front row, at left; Josh Meltzer and André Hudson, back row, first and second to left, respectively, Poornima Padmanabhan, second to the end, and Ke Du, far right back row.