At the beginning of the 2016-17 school year, some students will become the pioneers of a new science class, Authentic Science Research (ASR).

The class will be divided into three main sections, each spanning one year: research review, scientific investigations and community involvement. Students will spend the first year of the class analyzing research patterns and formulating ideas for scientific research. The second year will be spent gathering analysis for scientific inquiries and meeting mentors with which scientific connections will be made in the future. Students will spend the third year presenting their projects to different scientific bodies.

Dr. Cathy Farrar, science teacher, will teach the new course next year.

“Rockwood Summit has offered the ASR class for quite some time and I actually taught this class in my prior school so this is definitely not a new idea,” Dr. Farrar said. “This will be the first year that we have enough students to fill up the class.”

Dr. Farrar said the main difference between ASR and a traditional science course is the student run aspect of the class.

“ASR is student driven meaning that what the student wants to learn becomes the primary focus for everything we do,” Dr. Farrar said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about chemistry, biology, physics, or any of the other sciences as they all basically use the same skill set to investigate phenomena.”

Jordan Shatto, sophomore, said the new class will give her the opportunity to become a scientist herself.

“I like the concept of learning about scientific breakthroughs that didn’t happen hundreds of years ago,” she said.

Shatto said the class will answer her own questions about science.

“There’s a lot of really cool concepts that explain the world around us,” Shatto said.

Irene Gao, junior, said she is looking forward to ASR because of the freedom the class offers.

Gao said she hopes the class will open her eyes to the science field and encourage her to learn more every day.

“There is absolutely nothing in science that I wouldn’t like to know more about because of how important it is to our existence on this planet,” Gao said.