Secondary School Feature Articles

* A Cyclist's Guide to Ionic Concentration, by Arthur M. Last, p 1433

* Modeling Nuclear Decay: A Point of Integration between Chemistry and Mathematics, by Kent J. Crippen and Robert D. Curtright, p 1434

* Practical Origami in the Microscale Organic Lab, by Daryl L. Ostercamp, p 1456

National ACS Meeting at Boston

75th JCE Anniversary Celebration

The anniversary observance included a day-long symposium Remembering Yesterday; Looking Toward Tomorrow. Of special interest to high school teachers was the talk "Catalyzing Change Recognizing and Advancing Chemistry Educators and Education at the High School Level 1979-1996" by Arlyne "Mickey" Sarquis, the founding editor of the Secondary School Section. Another former high school teacher who served the Journal with distinction for many years as the first Publications Coordinator, James V. DeRose, reviewed the circumstances leading to the establishment of his position and the steps that were taken to ensure that the Journal could continue its mission. DeRose, now retired, taught at Marple Newtown High School in Pennsylvania and authored several articles in JCE. The symposium concluded with John Moore's presentation "Carrying the Vision of Neil Gordon into the Twenty-First Century", in which he reaffirmed the Journal's commitment to serve high school teachers.

High School Program

A day-long program for high school teachers is a feature of the national fall and spring American Chemical Society meetings. The morning program began with a CBL and graphing calculator workshop conducted by Harvey Gendreau, Framingham High School, MA. Bette Bridges followed with "Five-Minute Demonstrations from the Best of New England". She was assisted by Gendreau; Cary Kilner, Exeter High School, NH; Kay Mitchell, Jay High School, ME; and Hank Huss, Holmes High School, Covington, KY. The afternoon program, on the use of analogical demonstrations and pictures, was presented by John Fortman of Wright State University. Bette Bridges is the Chair of the Division of Chemical Education's High School Committee and teaches at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, MA. Congratulations and thank you to Bette Bridges and all those who helped her to make the High School Program at the Boston meeting a success.

High School/College Interface Luncheon

The luncheon, held in the Lenox Hotel, was made affordable by contributions from the Division of Chemical Education Program Committee, the Marjorie Gardner Memorial Fund, Project ChemSource, the Connecticut Valley Section of the ACS, and the ACS Awards Office. A large number of door prizes were awarded through generous donations secured by Bette Bridges.

Richard Brown Recognized as Award Recipient

The Northeast Regional Award in High School Chemistry Teaching was presented to Richard Brown, Chairman of the Science Department at Minnechaug Regional High School, Wilbrahan, MA. The award was presented to Brown by ACS President Paul Walter and he also was honored at the High School/College Interface Luncheon. Among his many achievements, Brown was recognized for using computers in teaching in the 70s; for using inquiry teaching for more than a decade; and for being a mentor of new teachers. As Brown accepted the award he shared advice for new teachers: to set high expectations for self and students; foster the concept of after-school help; join subject-area organizations and present at their meetings; never stop learning, creating and experimenting with teaching techniques; and realize that subject matter, methodology, and students are in a dynamic state of change, and embrace and grow with them.

High School Programs in Your Part of the Country

Do not miss attending the high school program when an American Chemical Society National Meeting is held at a location near you. The Spring 1999 meeting will be held March 21-25 in Anaheim and the Fall 1999 meeting will be held August 22-26 in New Orleans. While attending, visit the ACS Exposition-especially the JCE Booth. Announcements about national meetings are carried in this Journal, in the CHED Newsletter, and in Chemical and Engineering News. Information also can be obtained from the ACS Web site http://www.acs.org/meetings/. Regional associations of chemistry teachers often cosponsor the High School Program and disseminate information about the program to their members.

JCE Workshops at the 15th BCCE

Several high school teachers who conducted workshops and presented papers at the conference in Waterloo were saluted in October's column. The Secondary School Chemistry Section of JCE was represented on the program also, with two workshops: "Laboratory Activities for High School Chemistry from the Pages of the Journal" (pictured) and "High School Teachers Writing for Publication: Why? How?" Both workshops were offered at no cost to participants. The first workshop was filled to capacity with 32 participants and the second was well attended by 24 who gave up other evening activities in order to participate. Thank you to each individual who took part in these workshops.