Science department shares excitement for improved facilities

After years of teaching in only one room for multiple classes of science, Dr. Karen Walters and Scott Bucher now instruct in their own lab spaces. The two science teachers planned for expansion immediately after Bucher was hired to FCS in 2015. Both recognized the need and the benefit of a new lab for the science program.

Walters taught high school and college science before arriving to FCS in 2013. Soon after, she realized the importance and need for more space to teach. Dr. Walters appreciates the amount of space that the new lab now provides.

“It was important to get a second lab because the science department is growing,” Dr. Walters said. “In order to run both biology and chemistry properly, we needed more lab space to do so. The new room allows for both Mr. Bucher and I to develop our classes more and teach more labs without running back and forth between classrooms.”

Before transferring to FCS in 2015, Bucher instructed at Immanuel High School for 25 years, teaching four different classes. After working alongside Walters and teaching multiple subjects for three years, he aspired to create more in-depth labs.

“It feels great to have my own room,” Bucher said. “It allows a whole bunch of different things. I can set up a lab and leave it up, whereas last year, we had to tear down after each class for Dr. Walters because she was in the same class. I can also set up labs that are a little more complicated and in need of more set up because I couldn’t do those before. It allows me to do the same thing with demonstrations and experiments.”

Freshmen biology students experiment with tadpoles in the renovated lab.

Freshmen Ashley Sciacqua and Ashley Logan take a closer look at tadpoles in #FCbiology. @fresnochristian #thefeather pic.twitter.com/svynWgSKAP

— The Feather Online (@thefeather) September 7, 2018

Experiencing biology with Dr. Walters last year and recently working with Bucher in chemistry, Andrew Moore, ‘21, expresses his viewpoint on how the lab is currently running, and his excitement for what future chemistry labs hold this year.

“The new lab gives us more opportunities to dive into deeper labs,” Moore said. “I’m excited to get into the ‘nitty gritty’ of science labs, dissections, chemical reactions and things like that. For chemistry, I’m really looking forward to getting deeper into specific chemical reactions, what would the reaction be, or using different chemicals, acids and gases.”

The added tables, tanks, new flooring and storage provide new opportunities for students to learn and perform lab experiments. Bucher notices a significant change in the organization and structure of the lab.

“If you walk in, you’ll see a difference,” Bucher said. “If you were in the labs last year, everything was messy. Now everything is clean; it looks nicer; it has a better feel overall. Much more organized.”

Apart from the excitement, relief of more space, and newest additions in the labs, Walters allows the students to bring animals into the classroom. Currently tanks house tadpoles and frogs but may hold other species in the months to come. Walters enjoys watching students study pond ecology and observe biology unfold before their eyes.

“I think the students really learn more by being able to see the animals and touch them,” Walters said. “They’ve got the animals that actually live in a pond. The students actually get to touch the bullfrog, see what it eats, and watch the tadpoles develop.”

Intrigued by the concepts and material Dr. Walters brings into the classroom, Mason Beal, ‘22, enjoys studying under the microscopes and recording every aspect of life.

“I like biology a lot because it gives us a chance to inspect life and see the smallest details that God made,” Beal said. “I also love the freedom to be able to do something different in a class, rather than just getting lectured to everyday. ”

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