Like many high school graduates, Ian Fogarty felt anxious about choosing the right university. It wasn’t until he arrived at Mount Allison that he realized he had found a place where people genuinely cared about him not just as a student, but as an individual while also offering top-tier academics.

Fogarty graduated with a Bachelor of Science with honours in chemistry and later earned a master’s in chemistry from New Mexico State University. He returned to Mount Allison to complete his Bachelor of Education.

Fogarty grew up in Riverview, NB, and has taught science, physics and chemistry at Riverview High School for the past 27 years. Over the course of his career, he has travelled across the globe attending conferences about teaching and has heard many stories about students who have made a difference. However, these stories often involved students in kindergarten to Grade 8, with few examples from high school.

While in Colorado helping build a new wing of classrooms equipped with interactive Smart Boards when a colleague there was working on a project to create lights for people living without clean electricity.

“I wanted to give students a chance to discover who they are,” Fogarty explains. “I wanted them to see the different skills and passions they didn’t know they had because they hadn’t had the chance to explore them.”

One year after summer break, a student returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic and shared a story about two girls, Hailey and Maria, who dreamed of becoming doctors but lacked access to clean electricity. Without proper lighting, they struggled to study and complete homework after their chores.

This led to the creation of Current Generation, a program aimed at bringing transdisciplinary STEAM-based education to students, showing them how their creativity can make a meaningful impact.

Riverview High School began making their first lights in 2014.

Fogarty's passion for creating Current Generation reflects his approach to teaching that students learn best through hands-on experiences. This "learn-by-doing" approach has shaped his own teaching philosophy and educational principles.

He likens school subjects to a buffet of learning, noting that some students have not had the chance to explore enough of the "buffet" to discover their strengths.

“It changes why students learn,” he says. “It changes from teacher versus student to teacher coaching student to reach the top of the mountain together. The path is different for each person, which is why we need transdisciplinary projects inside of classes like physics. It helps students experience more of the buffet.”

During a Current Generation workshop, when Fogarty introduces the idea of making lights for others in need, the students often ask, "How is that possible?" This sparked more curiosity as they became eager to understand how to help others like Hailey and Maria who live without clean electricity.

“Pretty soon, we've covered all the labs we would have done anyway, but it feels more like we're weaving our way through a journey,” he says.

Fogarty says that this program has had a particularly strong impact on female-identifying students. Many who were initially drawn to healthcare began to develop an interest in engineering. They found the same sense of fulfillment in engineering, especially through the human connections they didn’t realize the field could offer.

Although he teaches science, physics, and chemistry, Fogarty’s teaching philosophy emphasizes exposing students to a broad range of subjects and skills. This multidisciplinary approach helps them discover passions they might not have known existed simply because they hadn’t experienced them yet.

To learn more about Current Generation: currentgeneration.org