For the first time, we have openings for Humanities 9 and 10 for Spring Semester 2023. Humanities blends English and social studies to meet all requirements. If you are an intellectually curious, dynamic learner who thrives in a collaborative, project-based environment, InLab is for you!
Are you in 8th grade? We are piloting an Innovation Lab Biology for 9th graders. Stay tuned for more information, or join us at the Open House.
We are excited to share that our 10th-grade Humanities class will have a UConn ECE Option for American History (pending enrollment.)
Greenwich High School’s Innovation Lab is a project-based learning program dedicated to fostering creativity, collaboration, and curiosity in a rigorous academic setting that meets all of the core course requirements. This application-based, personalized community emphasizes the importance of partnerships between students and teachers. Social Studies and English are combined into Humanities,whileMath and Science are combined into STEM. The interdisciplinary curriculum functions separately from Advanced Placement courses, as InLab’s philosophy concentrates more on the benefits of deep learning. However, with proper planning, enrollment in AP courses remains an option for qualified students.
Project-based learning encourages students to use what they learn in the classroom to inspire large-scale research projects that tackle real-world issues. Much of the research conducted is presented to a wider audience or exhibited at public organizations and museums. For example, classes are invited to curate an exhibition at Greenwich’s Bruce Museum, as well as enter their projects into competitions at the national level. Innovation Lab embeds the GHS Vision of the Graduate capacities throughout the program with a focus on developing research skills and collaboration skills both inside and outside of the classroom and incorporates the principles of the Stanford d.school’s design thinking and innovation.
More Information
Check Out our gallery of student work, testimonials, and newsletters Here.
The Greenwich High School Innovation Lab Humanities classes presented their spring exhibition of learning at the Byram Shubert Library on Wednesday, March 16th to a jubilant crowd of over 150 people.
Students from the 9th and 10th grade Innovation Lab (InLab) Humanities courses shared their deep research from this past year in an exciting showcase at this community event. Freshmen presented Memorializing History: The Triumphs and Tragedies of Germany through Memorial Parks and Sophomores shared their original artwork and symbolic representations in exhibits called Changes: The Impact of Social, Technological, and Cultural Changes in the 1920s on the 2020s. Also on display was a fabulous mock-up of the 10th grade Humanities magazine called Greenwich: Places to Go Before You Graduate.‘
GHS Innovation Lab 9th and 10th Grade Humanities students exhibited their projects the Byram Shubert Library on Wednesday, March 15th.
Innovation Lab teachers Courtney Hawes, Kathy Mendez, Jessica von Brachel, and Michael Belanger were thrilled that their students were able to present in this public forum, the first exhibition outside of GHS into the wider Greenwich community since February 2019.
Greenwich High School’s Innovation Lab is a project-based learning program dedicated to fostering creativity, collaboration, and curiosity in a rigorous academic setting that meets all of the core course requirements. This application-based, personalized community emphasizes the importance of partnerships between students and teachers. Social Studies and English are combined into Humanities,whileMath and Science are combined into STEM.
Applications for Fall 2023 enrollment are on rolling admissions, but with a recommended deadline of March 24th. All incoming 9th-12 grade students are eligible to apply to take Humanities, STEM, or both.
For More Information About Innovation Lab and Fall Enrollment
If you are an intellectually curious, dynamic learner who thrives in a collaborative, project-based environment, InLab is for you!
Are you in 8th grade? We are piloting an Innovation Lab Biology for 9th graders.
We are excited to share that our 10th-grade Humanities class will have a UConn ECE Option for American History (pending enrollment.)
Application (rolling admissions, but recommended deadline of March 24th)
Check Out our gallery of student work, testimonials, and newsletters Here.
Putting work on display on a public platform is one of the highlights of our Innovation Lab program. Over the past month in Design Studio, our 9th Grade InLab students have been hard at work exploring, researching, and polishing their Genius Hour Passion Projects. We always love seeing the variety of interests and curiosities our students dive into. Presenting to the class can also be a daunting task, but our students take risks with grace under pressure. Please enjoy this year’s installment of Genius Hour!
I was extremely fortunate to be able to find my home in Innovation Lab. The program emphasizes learning the skills needed to succeed in a rapidly evolving global and technological economy. It revolutionizes learning by using cross-disciplinary learning, growth mindset, and collaboration, to develop proficiency in critical thinking, asking questions, research, and design thinking. Learning is achieved through projects that engage with the community or solve a problem. Within the projects, I could tap into diverse passions.
As a student, I was able to be a research scientist, an activist, a historian, a paralegal, and a documentarian. My passion is environmental action. I stayed at school until 7pm for weeks to measure plant height for research on eutrophication in STEM class, while creating a documentary about water conservation inspired by rhetorical tactics used by 1920s Muckrakers. The documentary led to a public action campaign on water usage with a local Girl Scout troop and culminated in me engineering a solution, an Arduino-based water sensor, which measured water soil levels and could activate a sprinkler system I used in my backyard. For the first time, I felt like the work I was doing in school mattered.
My teachers respected students as partners in learning and assigned work that reflected a genuine belief in the students’ potential to do more than consume or regurgitate knowledge. We showcased our art in museums, we solved real-world problems in our community, we were not just passive high schoolers but citizens of the world prepared to go on and achieve great things. We were constantly presenting our work to the InLab and greater Greenwich community, so I learned how to present and articulate my ideas better. Frequent group work gave me the opportunity to cultivate leadership. I quickly learned that as a leader, I could maximize the effectiveness of each individual by putting them in a position optimally aligned with their strengths. Eventually, I realized that was what InLab was doing for me. The projects allowed me to develop my skills through personalized learning and my confidence, and my achievement soared. In InLab, I am part of a family and community, and I continuously challenge myself to set and achieve goals that would “make InLab proud.”
This program inspired me to be a leader and create change in my community, write for the local paper, lead a club on an issue I was passionate about, do original research, speak to the freshman class in an assembly, work for a tech start-up and make an advertisement with 1 million views (and counting), compete nationally in a history competition, and win national writing awards.
Oh, and by the way. I did take those AP classes. This year I took AP Lit, AP Psych, and AP environmental science and did exceptionally well in all of them. Some people feared that I wouldn’t be able to compete with the other students at “college-level courses” because other students had been preparing all this time. But it turns out that InLab’s rigor – through intensive research, original creation, and project-based learning is fantastic preparation for just about anything you need. When I took these classes, I realized how much we are missing out on by pushing bright students into a “race to the test,” when we could be pushing them to use their learning and abilities to build a positive impact in their communities and world.
I wish I could tell my past self not to worry so much about the people that tell you about what you “need to do” to get into college. No one really knows what goes on behind those closed doors. When I showed a college counselor my list, she basically told me I would get into none of them. Well, I got into almost every single school I wanted to attend and the school I will be attending in the fall, Wellesley College. I don’t blame the college counselor, though, she underestimated the silver bullet of my application. I was a diverse, interesting, and well-developed person from my experiences in Innovation Lab, and I had something to offer to colleges who were raving about how innovative and cutting-edge their education was in marketing materials. I wish for every student that they worry less about their future and that they have a chance to see what their amazing potential could be now, in an environment where their skills are celebrated, their weaknesses are supported, and they are prepared to join the real world by learning from the real world.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of being given a space to try anything and everything with your learning, it instills in you a sense of place and control in the greater world. It is one thing to understand how the world works; it is an entirely different thing to feel you have the power to shape it. I think, above all, that is what InLab did for me.
Dear GHS Innovation Lab Students, Parents, and GHS Community Partners:
We did it! Here we are in June, thinking back to this spring when we made the daunting, overnight transition to Distance Learning in our GHS Innovation Lab (InLab) program.
Who knew how Project-Based Learning (PBL) would work remotely in a virtual environment?
No, it has not been easy. But you know what? Our students kept going, kept pushing themselves and stayed engaged, connected, and grew as cooperative learners, thinkers, and communicators beyond our wildest dreams.
The result of learning and implementing PBL in a Virtual space? Grace under pressure.
In this newsletter, we highlight the roller-coaster ride of Distance Learning and the amazing work of our InLab students. We also say a final farewell and best of luck to our Senior Class.
Lastly, we would like to extend a huge THANK YOU and CONGRATS to everyone for making it through this DL journey together.
Wishing you peace and good health as we head into summer!
The InLab Squad
Ben, Brian, Courtney, Jessica, Joe, Kathy, Lauren, and Mike
What’s spring without a field trip? Click the link above, which will take you on a virtual field trip around the world! Choose points on the Padlet map to find out more about the deep dive projects from our 9th and 11th Grade Humanities scholars. INNOVATION LAB 10 AT HOME
During DL, the GHS Innovation Lab’s Humanities 10 students put their collaboration, creativity, and initiative to work in spite of the challenges. Click the red heading above to view this amazing curated work on the Humanities 10 website. Enjoy!
We’re all in it together. Click above to get a glimpse of life at home during Distance Learning. Featured Blogs from Olivia Leppla (“Blue Skies Lie Ahead”) and Veronica Paez-Deggellar (“On Exhibition and Growth: One Student’s Perspective”).
GHS InLab Students were among ten GHS students to win awards at the Connecticut History Day competition in April. Congrats and Good Luck to InLab Sophomores Carolina Ferrer and Richa Vaid, who will be competing at the National Competition June 14-20.
How did Juniors end their year in Design Studio?
In Design Studio 11, students spent time this spring working on on college essay writing prompts, SAT practice, writing and presenting their junior Presentations of Learning (PoLs) and maintaining their blogs. Students presented their PoLs to their teachers and counselor via Google Meets in fifteen-minute windows, reflecting on personalized goals toward the Vision of the Graduate Capacities, as well as their continued growth and perseverance during Distance Learning.
Living Portraits
What helped you get through Quarantine?
The things I couldn’t live without were, my book on Nomadic living (I look at this at least once a day), my computer, my calculator, COFFEE, my Ipad/phone, exercising (a group of friends and I do a social distanced workout group every morning at 8:30), books (I have read at least one book a week), My airpods, makeup (I have been playing with fun colors and extreme makeup techniques), and my blankets (being cozy has been a must for me). – Jennie Olmsted
This Living Portrait photo challenge was inspired by photographer Gregg Segal’s project “Daily Bread” about nutrition and eating habits of children around the world. Students were asked to gather ten items that held great meaning for them during DL and take a photo with themselves in the center of the photo.
Katherine Reflects on the Year:
I feel like InLab has made me the person I’ve always wanted to be, but I was always scared and didn’t know how to get there. I remember from the first day of school, immediately when I got home I told my parents that it was the best first day of school ever because from the minute I walked in the Innovation Lab environment, I felt seen not just as a student, not just as a letter grade that would be entered into Aspen, but as a collaborator and person with valued opinions. I will never forget my time in InLab as it has truly changed my life. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. – Katherine Feldmeth
CONGRATULATIONS, FRANKIE PUGLIESE (INLAB 9) FOR WINNING HONORABLE MENTION IN THE NPR STUDENT PODCAST CHALLENGE!
Frankie’s podcast “The Importance of Family Dinners” was chosen as an honorable mention winner in the national NPR Podcast Challenge competition! It is a wonderful accolade for Frankie and we congratulate all of our students who conducted research & interviews, and recorded, produced, and edited their Podcasts from home during Distance Learning. Check out Frankie’s Podcast Sound-cloud as well as other from our Design Studio 9 class!
STUDENT REFLECTIONS: WHAT IS YOUR HOPE FOR HUMANITY? Click here to see what Francesco Violanti (InLab 11) had to say about his role as a global citizen in this sample student reflection (Recorded with FlipGrid). Like many of our selfless students at GHS, Francesco volunteered his time during the pandemic delivering meals to families through an initiative with Neighbor to Neighbor. Way to go, Francesco!
Our Greenwich High SchoolInnovation Lab teachers are passionate about their content and implement cutting-edge learning strategies. Organized into two areas, Humanities and STEM, co-teaching is common and both areas are linked closely to a year-long thematic arc. Teachers also share responsibility for the Design Studio elective. Greenwich High School’s Innovation Lab offers a project-based, interdisciplinary option for English and social studies (as Humanities) and/or STEM (science and math). Ninth, tenth and eleventh graders are eligible.
Click here to find out more about our program’s philosophy and approach.
Welcome our newest colleague, Rick Baxley, who will be teaching the Senior Science Research course next year. Rick has loved teaching at GHS for 10 years and has taught several levels of many science courses (practical bio, honors bio, practical chem, regular chem, honors environmental science, APES, astronomy, honors astronomy, and forensics) and he says he’s always looking to learn more about our world. He’ll be teaching honors environmental science, APES, and InLab senior science research in the fall.
Thanks to the Greenwich Alliance for Education for your continued support! A Reaching Out Grant from the Greenwich Alliance for Education supports materials, projects, and the continued professional development of best practices.
Questions? Comments?
@GHSInLab Interested in learning more about GHS Innovation Lab and our PBL approach? Reach out to any of our InLab team members or students.
After the Bruce Museum exhibition last year, I looked forward to the second time around and what new knowledge, creativity, and struggles my classmates and I would receive. However, I had no idea just how taxing the process would end up being, and additionally, how much the stress was worth for our final product.
The Humanities Bruce Museum project for sophomores versus juniors has a stark contrast. While the tenth graders are asked to do an individual art piece, the juniors are put into groups to research the United States’ government response to various crises. My group decided to research the Japanese-American internment camps that took place during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the deciding factor for Japanese-Americans to be sent to “relocation centers,” as they were called, simply because of the fear perpetuated as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although there was no evidence to prove that Japanese-Americans were a threat to American society, FDR signed Executive Order 9066 which stated that all Japanese-Americans, citizen or non-citizen, where to be sent to the internment camps to keep these “enemy aliens” as they were called under the supervision and away from others. Even after the financial reparations offered almost 40 years later by the Civil Liberties Act, a law created by the legislative branch, the internment camps left scars on the people that were forced inside.
After officially choosing our topic for the Bruce Museum, we were asked to create a rough prototype made out of paper of what we wanted our future project to look like. When we presented our idea to the class, we were met with many critiques that ended up improving our final product. Our original vision was too focused on meeting the literal requirements of the assignment rather than being an original art piece. We had to get creative, and through further discussion with the group, we mapped out a new idea. We would build a model of a camp inspired by our research and the infamous Manzanar Internment Camp which kept the most Japanese-American internees. We would build a model barrack using foam board and acrylic, put sand at the bottom of the box the barrack would be placed in to represent the rural locations of the camps, and build a fence out of chicken wire standing on a wooden sandbox. Within the barrack, we would include a timeline of significant events that took place during this crisis. Outside of the barrack, we would add faceless figures to represent the 1942 Lordsburg shootings, where a guard shot two Japanese-Americans because he believed that they were attempting to escape.
After weeks of extensive research, we gathered all of our materials with the help of our teachers and were eager to build. The group five split up, with two of the members tackling the barrack, and the other three figuring out the fence and sandbox.
As with any project, we faced many challenges along the way. The most prominent regarded the sandbox. We initially planned to pour a substantial amount of sand inside of the sandbox for a more realistic touch. However, we did not know how we would get this in and out of the museum without making a mess. Therefore, we came up with the solution to super glue the bottom of the box, pour a minimal amount of sand inside, and dump out any excess in the STEM courtyard. This was an amazing compromise and looked magnificent under the museum lights.
We also struggled with time management. While the building process felt like it lasted for months, it actually started about a week and a half before the exhibition. Nobody was spared from the persistent feeling of stress that made its way into every InLab classroom. It was imperative that we used our time wisely if we were to present a final product to the public. The aspects of our projects that affected our time management the most were the creation of the notecards and painting details on the barracks. Since class time was mostly focused on building, the note cards had to become homework for each individual member to complete. We found ourselves constantly changing the format and wording so that it could be ideal for the audience to read through quickly and effectively. When it came to painting, though acrylic paint does not take long to dry, the process requires a lot of patience. If we rushed through any detail, it would show. We attempted to organize our time by setting goals for ourselves at the beginning and end of Humanities classes. We would meet and go over what was expected of us by the end of that workday and anything that was for homework.
Though the process of this project was lengthy and strenuous, everything managed to come together in the end. There are so many things that would not have been completed without each group member’s help. We all contributed to this project in some way, shape, or form for the art piece to be the best it could be.
As for our Bruce STEM project, we were assigned to create a piece reflecting on the history of space travel related to orbital mechanics. I researched the Voyager Probes, two research space-crafts launched in August and September 1977, designed to take advantage of a rare alignment of the planets in our Solar System that takes place every 176 years. The probes flew by various planets using not just fuel but the gravity of each planet they passed, taking thousands of photos and collecting information regarding the chemical composition of their surfaces. Inspired by the story behind the probes, I decided to create a standing model out of the hardboard of their path through the solar system and highlighted ten key events related to their journey.
Unlike our Humanities projects, the STEM project was individual. If any setbacks were to occur, the only person I could blame was myself. I knew I had to manage my time wisely, so before anything else, I did extensive research on the probes and organized the information into the text that would end up going on the model. This ended up coming to my advantage so that once midterms had ended, I could completely focus on building the model. About a week and a half before the Bruce Museum, on the same day my Humanities group began to build, I started the physical aspect of my project.
While organization was my strong suit for the STEM project, I struggled with making the model visually pleasing and more of an art piece. I initially just planned to paint the board black and add a couple of starts to create a space-like background. However, I soon realized that it looked bland. To compensate for this, I drilled holes into the board that would later act as stars once I put lights behind it. I also added a galaxy design using white, purple, and blue paint. This helped attract more people to my project and added some personal flair.
While I wasn’t close to my project for most of the night, I did have some people come up to me interested in the background of my model and the process I went through creating it. It was incredibly rewarding to have my model in the Bruce Museum along with my Humanities.
It’s sad to know that I won’t be a part of another Bruce Museum exhibition next year. However, the exciting process, the appetite for learning, and the bursting creativity of my classmates will always stay with me.
Read more about the Upcoming Exhibition at the Bruce Museum on February 5th at 6:30-8:30pm and our only Open House for Interested Parents/Students January 29th, 6-7pm.
One of the most exciting parts of Innovation Lab – and the most stressful – is the exhibition. The first exhibition is often a revelation for students because they realize what it means to have a real, live audience for their work. We are so fortunate to have this opportunity built into our program. Last year was my first year with InLab, and I experienced the firsts alongside my students. This year, I found I had the same sense of urgency and anticipation as the kids, even though I knew what to expect.
Our December exhibition, originally slated to be a documentary film screening for tenth grade only, evolved into a major Humanities Showcase incorporating all four cohorts, two of which (ninth and tenth grade) are new to Innovation Lab and had never been a part of an exhibition before. Here’s the rundown:
Freshmen: Berlin Memorial Park & Passion Projects
InLab ninth graders became historians, artists, and urban planners to create a memorial park in Berlin. In teams, they researched, curated, designed, and presented monuments to explain what Germany’s journey from Unification to World War to Partition to Reunification. Beautiful, moving designs provoked thoughtful questions from guests throughout the evening.
Passion projects included a homemade guitar, repurposed fashion, scientific examination of the chocolate chip cookie, game designs, and much more. Students were impressed by the work of their peers and inspired to go right back into the “lab” and get to work on another project.
Sophomores: The Teen Agenda, A Documentary Film
The sophomore humanities class collaborated on a single-issue documentary film. Students studied history and the methods of persuasion that make a compelling argument. They then identified a common local concern and spent the first quarter researching and developing their argument. The result is The Teen Agenda, a film that explores students’ need for teen spaces in Greenwich. The film was received with great enthusiasm by guests, several of whom are bringing it to their own community organizations as they work to meet the needs of local teens. Guests included interviewees who have already begun to incorporate the tenth graders’ ideas and questions into their planning.
Juniors: In the Pursuit of Change: PSA
Media messages are fleeting, so 11th graders explored how short public service announcements can inspire action to improve a 21st-century problem. Students researched their selected topic, investigated the current role of government in ameliorating the issue, and used rhetorical devices, ethos, pathos, and logos, to persuade the viewer in a call to action. Tough topics demand clear, strong voices to address them, and that’s what we got!
Seniors: Social Science Research Works in Progress
Even half-way through their projects, seniors impressed with their enthusiasm and presentation skills. It was a treat to see the continuum of learning from ninth to twelfth grade. Seniors displayed projects in-process through their first-semester social science research projects with a focus on bias and uncovering the truth.
Exhausting and Exhilarating
On the way to completing their first projects, our ninth and tenth graders did just what we expected: they stumbled, they ran into walls, they got bored, and they got frustrated. Then, they recalibrated and developed stamina, they reflected and asked to start again, they made honest assessments of the project results but, more important, of their own learning. In a future post, we’ll highlight some of the reflection comments from our students, but for now…here are a few images from behind the scenes and at the big event.
After the Bruce Museum exhibition last year, I looked forward to the second time around and what new knowledge, creativity, and struggles my classmates and I would receive. However, I had no idea just how taxing the process would end up being, and additionally, how much the stress was worth for our final product. 
GHS Innovation Lab 
