ASR is a three year course that earns students both college and high school credit. During their first year, students choose a topic and get familiar with the topic through research. They start off reading small articles found on Google and eventually move on to published, professional scientific journals. Once students are comfortable with their topic, they begin to design an experiment. The experiment is usually conducted during the junior year with the help of a mentor. A mentor is a professional in the field of study the student is researching. Then once they have collected the data from their experiment, the student begins to write their research paper.
This year Peekskill High School has its first group of seniors. Alex Velez-Green, Evelyn Romero, Jessica Curtin, and Alanna Lyles are starting to wrap up their projects. Alex’s project deals with the economic feasibility of wind power in the Peekskill City School District. Evelyn and Jessica are researching the types of bacteria found in the school district and their susceptibility to antibiotics. Alanna is working on determining the effectiveness of the needle exchange program in Westchester.
This is also Peekskill high School's first year with three different classes of students. Mr. Rodriguez, the ASR instructor, is proud that he now helps 24 students with their projects.
A list of the remaining ASR students and their topics follows:
Juniors
Jonique Jarvis – Socioeconomic outcomes of
teenage pregnancies
Kenneth White Jr. – The effect of leaked technology
Tamisha Greenhill – The comparison of autistic students to other autistic students and normal people
Sheridan Taylor – Mentoring students in an urban-school setting
Mario Rice – The effect of Facebook on teens
Myriam Pauta – Natural products or artificial products on acne treatment
Symone Griffin – How do students with physical disabilities cope socially and emotionally with school
Alexine McCalman – Student preference of vocal communication. Texting vs. Cell phone
Brian Egan – The effect of sleep deprivation on teen’s academic performance
Derek Johnson – The effect and success of subliminal messages in viral video
Sophomores
Elijah Abdul Azim – The effect of video game controls on hand eye coordination
Jenesis Gallego – Natural products or artificial products on acne treatment
Jamil Gutierrez – The effect of a green or electric motorcycle
Jennifer Gallego – Solar energy
Margaret Krapish – The effects of school discipline
Milagro Rivera – Stress on the human body
Nitara Hall – The teenage eating disorders
William Ribado – Lacrosse injuries
Nick Soto – Baseball and elbow injuries
Robert Lyles – Video games and injuries