Top Activities

3. High School Outreach

Ann Levinson, Ami Lefevre,
Charles Cannon, Elizabeth Cozzi
ACS Chicago Section Office
7173 N. Austin Ave.
Niles, IL 60714
Ph: 847-647-8405
Fax: 847-647-8364
annlev@home.com, amilef@niles-hs.k12.il.us, ccannon@popmail.colum.edu, elizabeth.cozzi@abbott.com

The Chicago Section high school outreach effort uses a multi-dimensional approach to reach high school students and to achieve diverse goals. These goals range from exposing students to basic chemistry concepts, educating students about careers in chemistry, and encouraging the most talented students to study chemistry in college. First, the Section has an active Project SEED program (Summer Educational Experience for Economically Disadvantaged). Project SEED provides high school students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds opportunities to experience the challenges and rewards of chemical sciences, to conduct hands-on research, and to learn to work as part of a team for eight to 10 weeks during the summer with scientists in academic, industrial, or government research labs. Two students will participate in the Summer I experience in 2001. Second, since 1954 the Section has administered the Scholarship Examination in Chemistry to recognize excellent high school chemistry students and encourage them to continue to study chemistry in college. Students with the top five scores win college scholarships ranging from $1,250 to $5,000. Students also have an opportunity to win various additional awards ranging from $200 to $1,000. In addition, each teacher nominating a winning student receives $100. More than 100 students took the exam in 2000, and the Section awarded over $13,000 in scholarship prizes. Third, the Section encourages participation in the Chemistry Olympiad. Thirty students participated in the local contest, and 11 qualified to participate in the national competition April 15 at Loyola University, Chicago. Fourth, the Section conducted a workshop to help high school teachers prepare students for college chemistry and participated in a career day program at a local high school. Fifth, the Section reached hundreds of high school students during National Chemistry Week activities highlighted in Top Activity #1, as well as DuPage Engineers Week. Sixth, the Section worked closely with the Chicago Board of Education to review the K-12 science program and provided on-site safety reviews of chemistry labs at selected city schools. Finally, Education Night was the theme of the June membership meeting, when scholarship winners are honored and programs of broad interest to students and teachers are presented.

Strategic Thrusts: 1.3, 1.5, 1.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4