Chemistry Day May 2015 a Success!

in Outreach
May 2nd, 2015

Boston University Women in Chemistry- Chemistry Day- May 1st, 2015

The Boston University (BU) Chemistry Department and BU Women in Chemistry (BUWIC) sponsored the seventh annual Chemistry Day on Friday, May 1st, 2015. Through this collaboration, we hosted over 80 high school students, from Brighton (Brighton) and O’Bryant (Roxbury) high schools. The event began by welcoming our high school students with a one-hour demonstration show led by BUWIC’s Outreach Coordinator, Reem Telmesani (BU Chemistry, 2nd year). These demonstrations focus on chemistry concepts regarding pH changes of a solution, sublimation with dry ice, the ideal gas law, crime scene chemistry with luminol, making “Elephant’s Toothpaste,” and the “Methane Mamba.” Afterwards, the students broke off into 8 smaller groups led by our BU undergraduate volunteers to tour different chemistry labs. Students also got to work in groups in our undergraduate teaching laboratory to perform an oxidation and reduction metal experiment (a variation on a CH101 undergraduate lab experiment) and also use glow sticks to investigate different antioxidants in common vitamins and foods. Experiments were led by the following graduate students: Kathryn Summo (Officer), Alexis Courtney-Young (Secretary), Stephanie Maiocco (Treasurer), Gina Kim (Webmaster), and Stacy Chin (President). Before returning to their high schools at the end of this half-day event, the students enjoyed a BBQ lunch sponsored by the Chemistry Department.

BU Chemistry Day is the conclusion of an outreach program coordinated by Reem during the 2015 spring academic semester. Throughout the course of the program, 7 BU undergraduates visited multilingual chemistry classrooms at Brighton and O’Bryant, weekly or every other week to mentor students, assist teachers with instruction, and perform demonstrations.

BU Chemistry is grateful to all of those involved, with special thanks to:


  • BUWIC– Stacy Chin (President), Reem Telmesani ( Outreach Coordinator), Alexis Courtney-Young (Secretary), Kathryn Summo (Officer), Jessica Barnes (Vice President), Diane Haman (Seminar Coordinator), Stephanie Maiocco (Treasurer), Emily Allen (Social Coordinator), and Gina Kim (Webmaster).

  • Teaching lab coordinators: Boris Bezverkhny
 and Alex Golger

  • Graduate Student and Post-doctoral Teaching Fellow Volunteers: Randolph Escobar, Steven Hannigan, and Amanda Vo

  • Undergraduate “Outreachers”: Sharon Chityat (Brighton), Kelly Demeo (O’Bryant), Jeremy Weber (O’Bryant), Elizabeth Golden (Brighton), Abby Eichelman (Brighton), Grace Ferri (Brighton), Delaney Doran (Brighton),Tessa Lynch-Colameta (Brighton)

  • Undergraduate Volunteers: Rachel Rosen, Zambeta Tsapos, Blake Jardin, Marlee Quinn, Kyle Bannon, Will Blessing, Thuy Duong Le