2023 APS Annual Convention

All 11 Sacred Heart Academy students' poster proposals were accepted for presentation at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) Convention in Washington, DC on May 25-27. The girls spent most of the holiday weekend presenting their own original research, discussing the work of university students and professors with the actual authors - and visiting significant sites in the nation's capital. 

"Wait!  You're in high school? That's amazing!"

This reaction was actually pretty typical.  From professors to undergraduates, our girls were the talk of the Convention's Thursday night poster session. Although only ten of the young psychologists were able to participate due to one girl's family commitment, and another left early - to compete in the National High School Speech & Debate Competition in Louisville, KY, the mood of the group remained tight - not only cohesive and celebratory, but also serious and scholarly.  

 

Eight attendees were seniors; two were juniors. The girls presented remarkably sophisticated original research that stood up well alongside undergraduates and graduate students at one of psychology’s most prestigious international annual gatherings. All proposals are "read blindly,” meaning the judges did not know they were reading the work of high school students. This year's outcome swells the number of Sacred Heart APS invitations since 2019 to forty-nine! Understandably, several local newspapers have trumpeted the accomplishments of this remarkable cohort, two of whom have already published their work in scholarly journals. (Another three await word from editors.)  

 

Congratulations to all our young behavioral scientists!