A Look Inside St. Francis de Sales High School's Brand-New Quantum Science Lab
A $20,000 donation is giving South Chicago students hands-on quantum science experience right in their own neighborhood.
A high school on Chicago's South Side has opened a brand-new Quantum Science Lab to give students real experience with one of the fastest-growing fields in science. St. Francis de Sales High School received a $20,000 donation from a technology company called PsiQuantum to build the lab from the ground up. The lab is part of a bigger effort to connect local students to new jobs and learning opportunities being created right in their own community.
Junior Santiago Velazquez is one of the students who will use the new lab. He takes AP Biology and STEM classes, and he lives just a couple of blocks from where a major quantum technology campus is being built. Santiago plans to study civil engineering and says learning about quantum science matters for everyone. 'I think it's really important for all of us to learn what quantum is because it will help with medicine, like, it'll give many jobs to other people,' he said.
Science teacher Jane Healy leads the school's Science Olympiad program and has worked hard to bring hands-on learning to her students. She says the school has always had a tight budget and most of the equipment in her classroom was about 40 years old. Now, for the first time, she has the chance to design a lab built for modern science. 'Having this ability to craft a lab from the ground up is so freaking powerful,' Healy said.
The new lab would not have happened without the work of Principal Dr. Roni Facen. As soon as she learned that South Chicago was chosen as the site for the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, she started making phone calls to bring resources to her school. Dr. Facen grew up in the neighborhood and even attended St. Francis de Sales herself. She believes that for too long, kids on the South Side have not had the same access to science and technology as students in wealthier parts of the city.
Dr. Facen says the new lab is about more than just science — it is about showing students what they are capable of. She wants young people to know they do not have to look outside their community to find big dreams and real opportunities. 'It's not outside their community they can hope and dream. They can do that here,' she said. The lab is helping to break down barriers and open doors that were once closed to many South Side students.
St. Francis de Sales is not the only school taking part in this effort. Several other schools in the area are also joining the program, including Thomas Hoyne Elementary, Robert A. Black Elementary, Ninos Heroes Elementary, James Madison Elementary, and Bowen High School. Teacher Jane Healy summed up what she hopes students will take away: 'I hope that kids come out of here and see they are just as capable and just as smart as a kid from the North Side.'
"I think there's a limit to what we tell kids they can do on the South Side and I think this is breaking that glass ceiling and saying, 'No, you can become a scientist. That's a real job.'"
Comprehension quiz preview
1. How much money did PsiQuantum donate to help build the new lab at St. Francis de Sales?
2. What does the word 'innovation' most likely mean as used in the context of quantum innovators?
3. Why did Principal Dr. Facen start making phone calls right after South Chicago was chosen as the quantum campus site?