CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD
The 2007 Chemistry Olympiad was very successful.
Vikram Nathan, a sophomore from the Harker School, qualified for the
study camp at the Air Force Academy. The section had 14 schools
participate with about 125 students taking the preliminary exam. The
schools were both public and private and went from Menlo Park to
Gilroy. The teachers graded the exams and 15 students were chosen
to participate in the national exam. The section is allotted 18 spaces,
but most students did not score quite high enough to be invited.
The consensus of the committee is to not overwhelm the students when
they are borderline, but to encourage them to participate next year.
Our section hosted the students from the California
Section for a day of testing at Santa Clara University (SCU). Dr. Linda
Brunaur oversaw the laboratory work. She thought the preparation
went more smoothly than it had the past years. The students and
proctors enjoyed a pizza lunch. SCU students gave the high school
students a tour of the campus.
The national exam date did not conflict with the
high school Spring break in April, 2007, as it had in the past.
Some of our public high schools do not offer
Advanced Placement chemistry classes. Two of the teachers are
using the Olympiad as "leverage" to encourage the school districts to
broaden chemistry offerings to include AP chemistry.
Again the teachers were invited to our summer wine
tasting and awards dinner to show our appreciation for their hard
work. Because Vikram Nathan was still in the area, we hosted him
and his father at a monthly dinner meeting where the topic was
diabetes. This was more appropriate than inviting them to the
wine tasting! The members enjoyed getting to know him.