Special effects, homelessness, antibiotic research: at Poly, intellectually curious juniors and seniors have the opportunity to pursue their interests and passions beyond the classroom through the Independent Study program. By working with a teacher who has knowledge of their selected subject, students have the ability to design a custom class for themselves.
According to Upper School film teacher Adam Feldmeth, who is advising junior Olivia Arteaga-Johnson’s independent study on film, elaborated on which students participate in independent studies: “It’s the people [students] who have a deep love for learning and an interest in a topic that is not covered as significantly as they would like it in the usual classes.”
Arteaga-Johnson had taken film electives in previous years but couldn’t fit the block into their schedule this year. However, wanting to delve deeper into film, they reached out to Feldmeth in order to learn more about special effects, lighting and more film techniques.
Students can choose almost any topic for their independent study. This semester, senior Brendan Poon conducted a statistical analysis on the causes of homelessness in the US.
“I enjoyed the process of looking through census data to confirm my presuppositions from last year’s independent study,” said Poon. “Through that process, I came to realize that a lot of my prior learnings were wrong upon closer investigation. I found that different variables were more important in explaining homelessness than I previously thought.”
“The extent to which you want to grow is largely your own, as a student – owning your education,” shared Feldmeth.
Independent study classes are offered credit/no credit, which gives students the freedom to explore different areas and take risks rather than focus on proving themselves on a numerical scale. In addition, independent classes help students develop their time management skills, since they must structure their own curricula and prioritize tasks.
Poly also provides opportunities to students to pursue their scientific interests through the Poly Research Initiative.
“The idea of the Initiative is to add time and space where students can add value to the real world,” shared Upper School biology teacher Bala Selvakumar, who founded the Poly Research Initiative in 2022.
Recently, four seniors enrolled in the Poly Research Initiative — Kamryn Chan, Sharon Chou, Alexandra Kim and Juliet Lord — conducted experiments concerning antibiotic resistance and published their findings in the PARE database at Tufts University. Three of the students, Chan, Chou and Kim, also presented their research to the Newman Lab at Caltech. Projects with real-world applications like these help students develop their research skills.
Chan, who took PolyEnriched Biological Research in junior year, said, “I was able to develop the skills I learned last year with more independence in a collaborative and supportive environment.”
