McLeod Innovation Center McLeod Innovation Center

Speaking Finance

Sophomores attended a Financial Literacy session led by Mr. Tom Shea ’73 in March. The session — part of a wider Financial Literacy program offered to Prep sophomores — focused on college education, specifically the value that a college degree brings to a graduate over the course of their lifetime. Mr. Shea, Dir. of Prep’s Entrepreneurship Institute, also discussed college debt, and how students can pursue scholarships as a way to offset costs.

WHAT’S FOR LUNCH?

Prep students were true scientists during the lunchtime STEAM Challenge sponsored by the McLeod Innovation Center. During the week of Oct. 3, they took on the Oobleck challenge, a nonNewtonian fluid that can act as both a liquid and a solid.

MENTORS IMPACT TOMORROW'S LEADERS

On Feb. 22, students from the Fairfield University Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) met with the affinity NSBE group at Fairfield Prep. The Fairfield University students led an exercise which constructed a battery-powered device using Lego components, demonstrating firsthand to the Prep students how engineering and technology relate to the world around us. Thank you to the NSBE Chapter for taking this time to mentor the Prep students.

Making Music

Students in Mr. Fosse-Previs’ music class built guitars in the McLeod Innovation Center on Nov. 28. The students utilized woodworking and electrical components. They continued to assemble the instruments over a series of hands-on classes.

Drug Delivery Engineering Challenge

Stephen Soto’s AP Biology class participated in a Drug Delivery Engineering Design Challenge in McLeod Innovation Center. Our students learned about the process of drug delivery in the body and were tasked with designing a smallscale staged-release drug delivery system. They had to consider how the water solubility of certain coating materials would affect the delay of the release of each tablet. Applying the engineering design process, they brainstormed several solutions for coating the tablets, chose one, and iterated its design until the tablet was released after 30 seconds.

Esports Grand Opening

Fairfield Prep celebrated the official opening of our Esports Lab in the McLeod Innovation Center on January 24, and the launch of our first high school competition team utilizing the new state-of-the-art suite. President Christian Cashman, Innovation Director Dr. Rinat Levy Cohen and student Esports leader Matthew Fernschild ’24 spoke, as well as other administrators, about the impact and emergence of this new program. This July, Prep will host its Esports Camp for rising 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

Jesubots Battle It Out

The Prep Robotics team competed in the annual First Tech Competition (FTC) for high school students. The team’s robot was designed, built and programmed to earn points. Some tasks in the competition have included moving and placing cones, pushing bowling balls, hanging rings, balancing blocks, or scaling walls!

Esports First Win

Prep’s new Esports team won their first tournament of the spring season, reigning over Harmony Public High School based in Texas. Congratulations to team members Jared Mocco ’23, Jan Salafia ’23, Sean Salafia ’23, Ethan Tracey ’23, and Alvin Zhang ’23, as well as Coach Jessica Cuntrera and student leader Matt Fernschild ’24 for their support.