This winter, the class of 2027 will be the first group of students eligible for applying to Branson’s new Catalyst Scholars program.
Led by Peter Zdrojewski and Eric Oldmixon, the Catalyst Scholars program will be a yearlong class taken in a student’s senior year. It will focus on ideating and implementing a community-based passion project. The fall semester will be focused on the research and planning component, and the spring semester dedicated to action and execution.
Catalyst Scholars will be separate from Branson’s tried-and-true Junior Fellowship program, which funds students’ personal projects during the summer between their junior and senior years with a stipend from a generous Branson donor.
To join the Catalyst Scholars program, Branson juniors will need to complete a similar application process to the Junior Fellowships. Since the process will be nearly identical, students are encouraged to apply to both.
“Even if you receive a fellowship, that doesn’t mean you can’t be considered for [Catalyst Scholars],” Junior Class Dean and Human Development teacher Gisella Petrone said.
Catalyst Scholars invites all students to apply, even those who are still figuring out what excites them most.
“We don’t want students to think, ‘Well, without an idea, I shouldn’t apply,’” Zdrojewski said. “The really exciting part is the process of digging deeper into a specific passion, and working to apply it. So if you have questions around an interest, that’s great. We want you coming to us.”
And while the Junior Fellowship program centers on independent summer work, Catalyst Scholars emphasizes collaboration and providing ongoing support during the school year.
“You have Eric and me helping you out, and ideally 10 to 12 of your peers to bounce ideas off of,” Zdrojewski said. “So it feels less of a process that you are doing on your own.”
The idea behind this new program was to make space in the school day for the kind of rigorous inquiry and community engagement that might otherwise happen after hours.
“Often that cool stuff happens in addition to an already heavy workload of five to seven classes,” Zdrojewski said, “Which is great, but not always accessible for students who don’t have that extra time or ability to go somewhere or meet with an organization.”
The Catalyst Scholars program will present the opportunity for students to carve out time in the school day for their personal passions and receive academic credit for it.
“We want to honor the fact that students want to pursue their passions, learn about it, and apply it in a meaningful way with an outside community,” Zdrojewski said.
Zdrojewski finally explains that the heart of this program is to help students find the momentum to bring their interests alive.
“It’s about lighting something, right?” Zdrojewski said. “You already have that flicker of an idea in your head or heart, and we want to help you ignite that into something bigger.”
