- American Chemical Society will meet completely virtually
- 2020 Kalamazoo ACS Awardees
- Resources for Teaching Chemistry Online
- Project SEED News
American Chemical Society will meet completely virtually
The American Chemical Society (ACS) announced that it will hold the ACS Fall 2020 National Meeting & Expo completely virtually. The meeting will now be held Aug. 17-20, 2020, on the World Wide Web.
Originally scheduled to be held in San Francisco, the physical footprint of the meeting was terminated based on established COVID-19 reopening plans of the State of California and the City of San Francisco, as well as direct inputs from San Francisco city and public health officials. The decision, approved by the ACS Board of Directors, is in keeping with the Society’s core value of safety by ensuring the safety of its members, staff and the citizens of San Francisco.
Details and other information regarding the Fall National Meeting may be accessed at www.acs.org/meetings where there is an FAQ page, information regarding the Exposition, the technical sessions, registration, etc. as well as a way to receive regular updates regarding the meeting as its start approaches.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News.
The Councilor’s report from the terminated Spring 2020 ACS Council meeting is on our KACS website; the Council Policy Committee – of which our Councilor, Lydia E. M. Hines, is a member – met virtually and took action on routine issues. Highlights are that the annual membership dues for 2021 are remaining the same as for 2020 ($175), and that our two president-elect candidates are Dr. Mary K. Carroll (Union College, Schenectady, NY) and Dr. Angela K. Wilson (Michigan State University, East Lansing MI); please ascertain that the ACS has your preferred current e-mail address so that you may receive your ballot for the fall election.
2020 Kalamazoo ACS Awardees
Though our 2020 Annual Competitive Examination for High School Students was canceled and our in-person annual Awards Gathering was not held due to our current pandemic circumstance limitations, the KACS delivered award certificates to three long-term members of our Society; we also sent award certificates and other tokens of commendation, or cheques, to one High School chemistry teacher and to high school chemistry students and college graduates whose teachers selected them as outstanding.
60-year member: Dr. Verlan VanRheenen
50-year members: Dr. Richard C. Thomas
Mr. David H. Yates
Teacher: Mr. Robert Dick, Decatur HS
Kalamazoo College: Sara Nixon & Chris Vennard
Western Michigan University: Megan Callaghan
Outstanding HS Chemistry Students:
Ethan Makowski – Decatur HS – Mr. Dick
Kara Wesley – Gull Lake HS – Mr. SantaMaria
Katherine Harpenau – Hackett Catholic Prep – Ms. Johnston
Bo Janicki – Hartford HS – Ms. Wright
Connor Stutz – KAMSC – Dr. Tanoff
Charity Sidwell – Kalamazoo Central HS – Dr. Bonner
Sarah Wenke – Kalamazoo Christian HS – Mr. Nieboer
Brian Barbarini – Mattawan HS – Ms. Reeves
Rachel Furge – Plainwell HS – Ms. Schwartz
Zachary Zlomek – Portage Central HS – Mr. Taylor
Justin Hamlin – Portage Northern – Ms. Mason
Cassidy Martens – Wayland HS – Ms. Gabrielse
Resources for teaching your Chemistry Class Online
ACS has compiled hands-on virtual learning resources for students in grades K-12+, and for anyone interested in learning a little more about the practical applications of chemistry in everyday life at www.acs.org/chemistryathome. Educational resources are now available, organized by topic, to aid parents, teachers and the science-curious in knowledge enrichment during this time of distance learning.
Materials from the Reactions video series, C&EN, magazines from the ACS Education Division, and ACS’ portfolio of hands-on activities for students in grades K–12 and beyond have been organized and bundled together. These resources focus on five sections: The Earth, Water, Food, Health & Your Body, and The Periodic Table.
Explore how chemistry is at the heart of staying healthy with the Health & Your Body section. We encourage you to share your pictures doing fun ACS Chemistry at Home projects and lessons, and tag them #ACSChematHome.
Introducing Chemistry at Home, A New Distance Learning Resource
Free-to-Read Virtual Issue on Teaching Chemistry Online
To support the dedicated educators who are working so hard and diligently to keep their students’ chemistry education moving forward despite the pandemic, ACS Publications and the ACS Division of Chemical Education have compiled a collection of distance-teaching resources, including free-to-read articles from the Journal of Chemical Education.
Over the past several years, articles about learning chemistry at a distance and teaching chemistry online have appeared occasionally in the Journal of Chemical Education. This Virtual Issue includes many of these articles, along with a few additional resources, to provide guidance to chemistry instructors who are now finding themselves learning a new, less-than-ideal instructional format on the job, with new challenges arising on a regular basis.
Project SEED News
Project SEED Goes Virtual for Summer 2020
ACS Project SEED provides summer research experiences for economically disadvantaged high school students to experience what it’s like to be a chemist.
Many of you have contributed time and
money to support this program, which has operated nationally since 1968 and locally since 1993. Thank you!
Normally, at this time of year we would be matching our student interns with their project mentors. This summer we had projects ready and waiting at Kalamazoo College and Kalsec. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has required ACS to cancel all mentor-student internships. In its place, the ACS Project SEED staff and committee members have rallied to prepare Virtual Summer Camp 2020.
This four-week program will take in place in July and organize students in online groups of 6-10 for instruction and exercises in basic lab safety, topics in chemistry research, presentation of scientific concepts and college/career readiness (resume writing, professional etiquette, …). Students will be expected to devote 10-15 h per week for structured activities. The deadline for student applications
passed on May 15 and selections will be announced in early June. There was at least one confirmed student application from our local section. Watch for more news later this summer about the successes and learnings from this creative and exciting offering. More details are available at: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/students/highschool/seed/virtual-summer-camp.html.
If you feel so inclined, you can donate to our KACS Project SEED Fund by PayPal. All amounts are greatly appreciated and are reserved exclusively for student stipends. Contributions are eligible for tax-deduction.
Do you have questions, comments, or a desire to contribute to the newsletter? Send an e-mail to Mike Weslosky, Communication Chair at communications@kalamazooacs.org.