You Be the Chemist

The United Nations has declared 2011 "The International Year of Chemistry" (IYC) and for those twelve months the international community will focus on increasing public appreciation of chemistry, encouraging interest in chemisty among young students, and generating enthusiasm for the future of chemistry.

 

Brenntag Pacific has chosen 2011 to debut You Be The Chemist (YBTC), a televised competition in the great state of California.  The YBTC Challenge is designed as a question-and-answer competition similar in format to a spelling bee.  Students in grades 5 through 8 answer questions about important chemistry concepts, historical discoveries, and safety awareness.  The competition starts at the local level with students vying for a chance to win a trip to the national competition in Philadelphia on June 20, 2011. 

 

The challenge began in February in San Gabriel, CA and was a great success.  Parents, teachers, school administrators and students all came together to support their local community. The competition started with a qualifying group of 24 students from St. Anthony's competing through four rounds of questions, with two tie breaker rounds needed to determine the top four students to advance to the State Challenge.  The four winners were all 8th grade students, with one young lady scoring just shy of a perfect score on all four rounds! 

 

Four students advancing to the State Challenge (from left to right):  Jessica Duong, Pauline Ma, Zabreena Flores and Allison Nguyen CONGRATULATIONS LADIES !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These young ladies particpated in the State Challenge on May 10, 2011 at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, CA.  From the State competition a single student was announced as the winner and the lucky participant competed in the National Challenge in Philadelphia the following month.

 

Click here for more details and a photobook displaying the YBTC National Challenge, it's participants and winners.

 

In 2003, The Chemical Educational Fundation (CEF) created the You Be The Chemist Challenge as a fun and innovative academic competition that engages young students in learning about the science of chemistry. Challenge question-and-answer competitions take place across the country, encouraging the collaboration of community organizations, schools and the chemical industry to work together to educate students about the value and benefits of chemistry.  There are close to 40 local challenges held throughout the year and Brenntag is proud to participate in this exciting program, sponsoring Challenges in the states of California, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.