List of 18 members.

• 

  Ms.AnneHipple

  Science Teacher/Department Chair

  Bio

  Annie Hipple serves as the Director of Student Activities at Saint Ignatius, where she also teaches a section of Advanced Placement Biology. This marks her eighth year at the institution and her second as Director of Student Activities, following a successful tenure as a full-time science educator. With a decade of experience in educational settings, including two years at Resurrection High School, Hipple has cultivated a profound passion for science that traces back to her childhood aspiration of emulating the renowned primatologist Jane Goodall.

  Hipple’s deep appreciation for the natural world informs her teaching philosophy. She finds immense joy in witnessing students experience those enlightening moments when classroom lessons resonate with their everyday lives. This connection fuels her desire to inspire curiosity and a love for learning in her students. Hipple believes that education is about more than just academic achievement; it is about nurturing relationships and fostering personal growth. Her commitment to serving others aligns perfectly with the values she cherishes at Saint Ignatius.

  Hipple said, “I want to encourage my students to embrace challenges and learn to acknowledge that struggles and mistakes are valuable components of the learning process.” She emphasizes the importance of community and compassion, urging students to extend the same love and support to their peers that they receive. Ultimately, Hipple seeks to instill in her students the understanding that curiosity and learning are lifelong pursuits, inviting them to take the time to think, wonder and appreciate the world around them.
• 

  Mr.JonathonAlcantara

  Science Teacher
• 

  Mr.JosephAugustinsky

  Science Teacher

  Bio

  “What I like about teaching is that every day is a different challenge and a new perspective,” Mr. Joseph Augustinsky says. “Lessons can wind up going to very different places depending on what the students are interested in and how they connect to the material.”

  
  

  Mr. Augustinsky teaches physics and robotics at Saint Ignatius College Prep. He says he enjoys the problem-solving aspect of teaching science. “Science appeals to me,” he shares, “because I enjoy teaching real-world practical skills that my students will be able to use after they've left Saint Ignatius.”

  
  

  Mr. Augustinsky became interested in teaching when he was a student at the University of Notre Dame and learned about the Alliance for Catholic Education, a program designed to train and develop teachers at Catholic schools. Mr. Augustinsky has been teaching science at Catholic schools across the United States for the past fourteen years.

  
  

  Mr. Augustinsky’s favorite time to teach students is at the culmination of the school year is the springtime. “The home stretch is where we see so many great moments of learning,” he shares. “Students are able to make great connections between what we are learning now and what we learned at the start of the year. The students and I can really look back and see all the progress that we’ve made.”
• 

  Mr.MatthewDowling

  Science Teacher

  Bio

  Mr. Matthew Dowling does not just teach his students science. He teaches each student how to think and learn like a scientist.

  
  

  “Saint Ignatius College Prep has a Constructivist approach to science learning,” shares Mr. Dowling, a biology teacher and the department chair. “That means that students create their own understanding of the material through experiments that they themselves conduct.”

  
  

  To tackle a concept, students in Mr Dowling’s classroom first design and complete a paradigm lab, having only hypotheses as to where the experiment will take them. From there, students use the data that they collected to form their own understanding of complex scientific topics. Then, they defend, analyze and expand upon their results in peer-review sessions.

  
  

  “Students will have a more nuanced and thorough understanding of science if they are the ones who are actually doing the science and making the leap from data to knowledge,” he states. Mr. Dowling’s approach allows him to direct students' confusion and curiosity towards scientific truths instead of lecturing and testing students.

  
  

  Indeed, science classes at Saint Ignatius College Prep operate how a real scientific lab would. “Scientists have to create their own experiments, form knowledge based on that data and defend their results to their peers,” he says. “We replicate that process in our department. We put science in the hands of the students and turn them into scientists.”

  
  

  Countless Saint Ignatius students will go on to study engineering or a natural science in university. The skills and processes they acquire in Mr. Dowling’s class, and across the department, will allow them to thrive as real world scientists.
• 

  Mr.JamesGaffey

  Science Teacher

  Bio

  “When I was a kid, I would look up at the night sky and feel such amazement at the constellations and stars,” says Mr. James Gaffey. Starting in the fall of 2025, the Saint Ignatius science department will offer an astronomy class taught by Mr. Gaffey. “It is this sense of wonder, of awe, that I am trying to impart on our students in my astronomy class.”

  
  

  Mr. Gaffey sees science as an integral part of the Jesuit commitment to a holistic education. “Science is a way of understanding the world, just like any other class our students will take,” he says. “I want our students to see that science complements what they learn in other classes.”

  
  

  Outside of the classroom, Mr. Gaffey proctors one of the most popular hangout activities on campus - the Ping Pong Club. “Ping pong is a great way for our students to de-stress and build a community on campus,” he says. The club had an incredible 283 members during the 2024-2025 school year, and some of its top players have journeyed across Chicago to battle some of Saint Ignatius’ biggest athletic rivals in ping pong tournaments.

  
  

  Mr. Gaffey has taught science at Saint Ignatius for more than twenty years and says that the community of the school is the reason he continues to be so excited to teach here. “The faculty and the staff truly care about and support the students and each other,” he shares. “That is what makes Saint Ignatius such a special place.”
• 

  Ms.NicoleEpiscopo

  Science Teacher
• 

  Ms.RychelleHooper87

  Science Teacher & Diversity Coordinator

  Bio

  When it comes to science subject matter, chemistry was Ms. Kitty Hooper's first love. She sees beauty in the Periodic Table. But she also sees beauty in the relatability of physics, what she teaches here at Saint Ignatius College Prep.

  "I love how physics is every day -- whether you're walking, driving or looking at the ocean waves," says Ms. Hooper.

  After having worked as theTeen andFamily Director at the YMCA, Ms. Hooper came to share science's "cool answers" with the Saint Ignatius College Prep community in the year 2000. She's alwayseager to work with the students who she describes as "just really nice kids."

  She also loves her role as the Saint Ignatius Diversity Coordinator. Whenever there are Becoming One Wolfpack sessions, Ms. Hooper has had something to do with them. The same goes for Diversity Week on campus. "It sounds cliche, but I wantall the kids who come here, who we tell, 'This is a community,' that they are safe and they belong," she says, "The parents, too. We invite them into this community and that invitation should be sincere. We want to foster a sense of belonging."

  A graduate of the Saint Ignatius College Prep Class of 1987, Ms. Hooper takes her work with people following in her Wolfpack footsteps to heart. Her advice for students while they're here and beyond: Ask questions. Be curious!
• 

  Ms.KatieHull

  Science Teacher

  Bio

  In high school, Katie Hull loved her math and science classes.
  
  

  She always enjoyed the challenge of solving a problem. Even if she couldn’t figure it out right away, she knew she could get to the solution.

  
  As a teacher, she wants her students to embody that same confidence when they face a challenge.
  
  

  “The overall skills of learning how to problem-solve, learning how to approach things step-by-step. That’s the main takeaway I hope they get from their classes in high school. That way they can do whatever they want post-graduation and know they can do it on their own,” says Hull.
  
  

  More than anything else, Hull appreciates the close-knit and supportive community at Saint Ignatius College Prep.
  
  

  “You can feel the love and encouragement from colleagues and students alike everyday,” she says. “We want to come to work and be there at games, dances and all those things. That’s something that’s really special about Saint Ignatius.”
  
  

  Her message to students: Don’t spend time worrying about what other people think. Just do what feels right to you.
• 

  Ms.NicoleLum

  Science Teacher, Head Girls Water Polo Coach
• 

  Mr.ChristopherMarks

  Science Teacher

  Bio

  Imaginespending 24 hours a day, seven days a week on a boat on the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska.

  Saint Ignatius College Prep teacher, Christopher Marks, did just that.

  “Storms there are quite violent, and it’s isolating because you’re 150 miles off shore, and away from people,” says Marks.

  His work involved collecting data to understand what species commercial fishing boats were catching. It’s experience he took to graduate school for marine biology, and that’s where he had anepiphany.

  “Igot to teach classes. It was a scarymoment realizing I wanted to teach it, instead of do it,” says Marks,“I took myknowledge and turned it into a teaching career.”

  His path brought Marks here, to Saint Ignatius College Prep where he shares his love of marine biology, born inocean snorkeling adventures, with his students.

  He describes those students as“very intelligent.”

  “I sometimes get questions I don’t know the answer to so we learn it together. If it’s an interesting question, we go and explore,” says Marks.

  He hopes to give his students a deep appreciation of the biological world. One way he does that is through an aquatic sciences class he developed with Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.

  "There’s some really cool stuff out there,”says Marks, who makes it his mission tospread that good word in the classroom.
• 

  Mrs.ElizabethMoroney

  Science Teacher
• 

  Ms.JuliannePeak

  Science Teacher
• 

  Mrs.DaniellePierce95

  Science Teacher

  Bio

  Have you ever wondered how you can be sitting in your chair, but moving through space at immense speeds at the same time?

  
  

  Physics can explain why, and it’s one of the reasons teacher Danielle (Martincic) Pierce ‘95 loves the subject.

  
  

  “It’s in everything you do,” she says,” To be able to understand physics and apply it, is the coolest thing ever.”

  
  

  Cool - yes. Easy - not necessarily.

  
  

  Mrs. Pierce says the only “C” she ever received in high school was in physics. Like so many of her students today, she had a lot going on: It was senior year. She had AP courses, and balancing everything was tough.

  
  

  That said, the “C” was a progress report, not a measure of her interest in the subject.

  
  

  “It just describes everything in your physical world,” says Mrs. Pierce, whose teacher at Saint Ignatius, Mr. John Balaban ‘64, became her mentor, and later, her colleague and dear friend.

  
  

  The mom of two girls says maroon and gold are in her bones. She met her husband at 1076 West Roosevelt Road, she had her wedding reception in Tully…and she found her educational passion here.

  
  

  Mrs. Pierce’s hope for her students: That they’re curious.

  
  

  She says, “Physics is a great discipline. But to come up with answers, you have to ask great questions!”
• 

  Mrs.CheriSmith

  Science Teacher
• 

  Dr.JoelSouthernPhD

  Science Teacher, Head Baseball Coach
• 

  Mr.ToddStrobel

  Mathematics & Science Teacher, Head Boys Volleyball Coach

  Bio

  Mr. Todd Strobel has spent his teaching career furthering the Jesuit mission of cura personalis at schools across the country. “A Jesuit school is a special place,” he shares, “one where care for the whole person is emphasized above all.” Mr. Stobel’s introduction to Jesuit education was a summer spent working at Regis High School in New York City when he was a student at Notre Dame. He also taught at Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C. before joining the Wolfpack.

  
  

  “What I love about teaching, especially in the Jesuit context, is being a part of the holistic formation of future leaders,” he explains. “My goal is to help students grow not just as learners, but as individuals.”

  
  

  Mr. Strobel pivots between teaching math and science, this year leading AP Calculus AB and AP Physics sections. “I have high expectations in my classroom,” says Mr. Strobel, “but I support my students through all of the challenges these courses can present.” Students in Mr. Strobel’s class can expect an energetic atmosphere that is, as he describes it, “fun, but serious.”

  
  

  Mr. Strobel also coaches the Boys Varsity Volleyball team, a sport which he sees as challenging student-athletes in just as important of a way as the classroom. “Coaching volleyball allows me to guide the players through all of the different facets of a sport - learning teamwork, overcoming setbacks and celebrating victory.”
• 

  Ms.DanielleThieman

  Science Teacher
• 

  Ms.AmandaWagner

  Science Teacher