Immaculate Science Teacher Awarded Foundations In Education Grant

**News Release Submitted by Immaculate High School**

Feb. 6, 2023

Immaculate High School is proud to announce that science teacher Dr. Stephanie Rugg has been awarded a Foundations in Education Innovation and Leadership Grant. A reception honoring awardees was held on February 2, 2023 at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport.

Dr. Rugg’s award for “Measuring pH and Spectrophotometry in college-level labs” includes funding of $5,551 for the 2023-2024 academic year. “I was very excited when I heard about this grant,” said Rugg, “because it gives my students an opportunity to do more experimentation and have hands-on experience. I told my honors classes and they were super excited too!”

Rugg said she wanted to expand students’ ability to study pH with special sensors because it is so versatile and relevant to biology as well as environmental sciences. They will look at buffers, titration and measure pH during reactions. The spectrophotometers Immaculate will purchase with the grant are devices that measure the intensity of light as a light beam passes through a sample solution.

The Innovation and Leadership Grants are designed to promote excellence for educators and students in the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Bridgeport. Foundations in Education is a non‐profit initiative created to assist the Diocese of Bridgeport’s ongoing mission to support Catholic education in Fairfield County by supporting innovation in academic and extra‐curriculum programs, fostering opportunities for the professional development of school leaders and providing scholarship assistance to families in need.