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innovation
wing
before When I graduated from Catholic Memorial in 1986, the second-floor addition that
extends west toward Hartwell Avenue didn’t exist. That explains why it took me several
The upper level of the southwest minutes to find my bearings earlier this year when I attended the official grand opening
wing of the building, previously the math and ribbon-cutting ceremony for CMH’s new Innovation Wing.
wing, was renovated to create a 21st
Century Learning Center. Construction This is not just another corridor with doorways into classrooms. This is an invitation for
began at the end of May 2015 and was today’s 670-plus CMH students to participate in learning opportunities unavailable to
completed prior to the beginning of the most of their peers. It’s part of a whole new approach to high school education, and I’ll
second semester in January 2016. admit I’m filled with envy. Forgive me, Father Hartmann, for I have sinned.
after The Innovation Wing was financed with contributions from more than 900 donors to
the Crusading for Excellence Campaign to complement Memorial Propel, a CMH-
6 trademarked approach to creative thinking and problem solving developed by former
principal Dr. Bob Hall and based on real-world business models (see page 7).
The space consists of seven Innovation Labs that provide teachers and students
with multi-functional, collaborative and active-learning areas for every subject. Each
Innovation Lab comes equipped with a breakout room to accommodate small-group
activities and meetings with specialist student mentors. Worktables roll on wheels,
sliding glass walls create transparency, and writing on the walls is encouraged.
“The ability to develop innovative problem-solving strategies is becoming more of
a requirement in the global economy,” social studies teacher Dave Mackett told me.
“We’re preparing kids to compete with the best minds in the world.”
“This is a huge advantage for us,” added Niko Medina ’16, a member of CMH’s
International Baccalaureate Business Management class, in which students form small
groups to brainstorm and build mock companies as diverse as a food producer and a
cellphone case manufacturer. “If we were in a normal classroom, we’d just be listening
to lectures and answering questions. We’re involved in active learning here, and we’re
always working with somebody. You can’t sit by yourself in these classrooms.”
As business teacher Jeff Mrochinski pointed out—and as is apparent when you step
inside any of the Innovation Labs—this setting closely mirrors that of contemporary office
buildings around the country. “In a corporate environment, we’re so interdependent on
each other for information that the need to work together is great,” said Mrochinski,
whose background includes 11 years as vice president of sales at a multimillion-dollar
employment agency. “This allows for free-flowing discussions among students, and it
has also significantly changed my approach to teaching.”
“We have ignited these students,” proclaimed Kathleen Hanlon-Sampon, who was
instrumental in the evolution of the Innovation Wing and retired this year after almost
four decades at CMH (see page 13). “They’ll be able to walk into
a college classroom and be prepared to be leaders among their
peers.”
I left CMH late that chilly February night, hours after the giant
blue ribbon was cut, confident that my alma mater—the place that
shaped my personal and spiritual life, the place where I met my wife
and guys I still call best friends, and the place in which I committed to
become a professional writer—has boldly entered a new era.
Never one to hesitate when people ask where I went to high school,
I’m now even more proud to call myself a Catholic Memorial alumnus. by Mike Popke ‘86
