Episcopal Upper School students gain hands-on experience in science research through the ESTAAR program. ESTAAR, which stands for Episcopal Students Take Action in Advanced Research, is a two year program that includes coursework in the scientific research method and experimentation. Students learn basic lab skills, experimental design, communication skills in science, ethics in scientific research and how to collect and analyze data. Once classroom work is complete, students develop their own research projects and are assigned a mentor at a local research institution.

ESTAAR was established during the 2012/2013 school year and since then students have excelled. ESTAAR participants regularly present their findings at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium at LSU. In addition, students earn Academic Distinctions upon graduation. These young researchers report that the experience prepared them well for university-level research and beyond.

Read more about ESTAAR in these blog posts:

ESTAAR student researchers present their findings

Student successes in ESTAAR