On April 4, Elizabethtown welcomed nearly 50 high school students for the second annual Chem-a-Thon event, hosted by the college’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  

The Chem-a-Thon is a day where students from local high schools are given the opportunity to complete a chemistry experiment and trivia games for potential scholarships or just to field interest in the sciences at Elizabethtown. The students came from seven local high schools: Annville Cleona, Elizabethtown, Linden Hall, Manheim Central, Muhlenberg, Solanco and Warwick. The event took place in the newly renovated Musser Hall, allowing the students to work with the newest laboratory technology in a hands-on way. 

Amy Defnet, the assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry on campus, led the event this year and offered details about the day.  

“The Chem-a-Thon was born from wanting to generate more excitement around the field of chemistry, especially in our local area,” Defnet said.“We wanted to provide an experience that allowed local high schoolers to get to know the Etown department, but also learn a little about chemistry.”

Defnet, who helped organize last year’s event with Associate Professor of ChemistryLauren Toote andVisiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Desmond Yengi, began planning for this year’s event in the fall, improving upon the first event by adding more materials to the lab experiment as well as contacting a range of high school teachers from the area who had potential science students.  

“All the professors in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department contributed to making the day run smoothly, along with several of Etown’s own science students,” Defnet said. “There is a lot of mystery surrounding chemistry and the sciences, so making it accessible to those around us is so important for inspiring the next generation of scientists.”  

Emma Caszatt, a junior biochemistry and molecular biology major, was one of the students working at the event. She vividly recalled the contagious enthusiasm from the students.  

“I have always enjoyed being a teaching assistant at the college, and I was able to successfully aid in the lab investigation during Chem-a-thon,” Caszatt said.“It involved a forensics investigation of the identity of different pain relievers through thin layer chromatography.”

For a high school student, having a challenging opportunity such as this at an early stage is “impressive and exciting,” according to Caszatt. The event was a success, as the students were engaged and eager to find the identity of their unlabelled drug. 

“It made me realize how talented these students are and their potential to make some amazing contributions to the chemistry field,” Caszatt said. “It made me want to work harder and get more excited about my own research!” 

Alongside refining the laboratory activity, Defnet, Yengi, and Toote also upped the ante on the quiz bowl, with the top five teams answering challenge questions that the college’s general chemistry students would be familiar with. That way, the students present could get thinking about what they already know and get to see what they can explore and learn in the future. One student on the winning team is even accepted and confirmed to be in attendance this fall as a first-year.  

“I think finding your passion in life is the key to happiness, so helping students identify interests early is so important,” Defnet said. “Most people don’t have a chemistry lab at home, so being able to offer the students the chance to see the possibilities of what they could learn, and seeing them rise to the challenge of a task that is completely new to them, is so rewarding to see!”  

Defnet and the chemistry department expressed excitement at continuing the event every spring and strengthening these connections.