Crazy About Chem: East students create an online Chemistry club in hopes to help students better understand the difficult subject

With students only receiving an hour and a half of in-person teaching currently due to hybrid learning, juniors Kay Kay Winn and Tongtong Yi and sophomore Sabrina Dean decided to create an online Chemistry Club in hopes of helping themselves and other students understand the complex subject better.

According to Winn, the AP test on May 8 is causing the Chemistry teachers to move through the curriculum at a faster pace than past years in order to cover all of the information that the students will be tested on. This got Winn and Yi thinking they should do something to help them and everyone else struggling in the subject.  

During the hybrid schedule, stress has been building up within the Chemistry walls because the subject is more challenging to learn through a screen than most, according to the club founders. Due to the intricate equations and formulas, many students have been struggling to grasp all of the complicated ins and outs of Chemistry. 

“Chemistry is always a difficult subject whether you’re in honors, AP or regular,” Yi said. “Since not everyone can receive the same level of instruction in a school setting, we can have this Chemistry Club to help us work through it together.”

The three students brought the idea of the club up to Susan Hallstrom, one of East’s Honors Chemistry teachers. She agreed to sponsor and host Webex meetings every other Tuesday after school for any Chemistry students to join. 

“I think this will give [Chemistry students] an opportunity to do some relatively self-directed inquiry,” Hallstrom said. 

When the students meet every other week starting Nove. 2, their plan is to help each other with homework or practice problems, read articles and teach one another to understand concepts. Winn is hoping that with the help of 20 or more brains, Chemistry will be easier to tackle. 

Whether students are in IB, AP, honors or regular, all Chemistry students are welcome to join the club. Breakout rooms will make it easier for the different classes to team up on a question or concept they’re working on. Winn thinks it will be beneficial for younger students to know that all the older kids were once in their position.

“Especially Honors Chemistry,” Winn said. “It’s really hard at first because topics are super confusing, but if you have older kids or people in your class willing to help you out it will be much less overwhelming.”