The Science Research program is one of the most successful programs at North and has over 100 students. During its time, it has been completely led by Dr. Schuchman, the founder of the Science Research program. Dr. Schuchman is retiring in June and so Mrs. Reim and the administration worked hard to hire his replacement. Here is a look at the interview process.

Just recently, Mrs. Reim, Mrs. Watt, and Mrs. Flanagan interviewed Renae Comulada-Vonderheide, Dr. Schuchman’s mentee as a potential replacement. Mrs. Flanagan reached out to some science research students to be a part of the interview process, as student mentorship is a foundational aspect of being a science research teacher. Apart from student mentorship, being a science research teacher means meeting students where they are and allowing them to still be independent and creative while maintaining consistent productivity. This is what our administrators were looking for. 

During the interview, students asked Ms. Comulada-Vonderheide a series of questions that evaluated her approach to research and student mentorship. They asked how she would help a student narrow down their topic, or how she would help a student look into data analytics. Ms. Comulada-Vonderheide gave extremely insightful answers and her passion for science was incredibly potent throughout the entire interview. 

Ms. Comulada-Vonderheide was very well-prepared for this interview. She led the science research program at her old school and grew her program from the ground-up, which now has 30 students. Being a science research teacher, she is extremely dedicated to each and every student and it is clear that her input as a teacher was valuable for the students as each student had entire portfolios of their path in science research. And so, students thought it best to ask her how she would work in a program with over 3x the number of students in her old school. Her response was organization, a strong answer to quite a difficult question. 

After review, the administrators and the students thought it best to move her forward to the next stage of the interview. She was confirmed recently at a board meeting, and students look forward to working with her next year.