CHEMISTRY CONTESTS IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA MARION TARBELL, SACRAMENTO JUNIOR COLLEGE, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
In 1914,the Southern California Section of the American Chemical Society originated the idea of a high-school chemistry contest and it was instituted in the spring of 1914. This contest has been conducted annually there since that time. John H. Norton, now a member of the Sacramento Section, was chaivman of the committee that had charge of organizing the contest in the Southern California Section. The Sacramento Section initiated the contest in 1923, and since then i t has been held in that section annually. The California Section, which is comprised of the members in and around San Francisco, ran the contest in their territory in 1925 and 1926 only. The purpose of these chemistry contests in the high schools is to stimulate an active interest in chemistry and to point out to the high-school student that chemistry goes farther than his limited course in high school. For the information of those who might be interested in trying,tfie same thing perhaps a brief outline of the procedure would not be amiss. To solicit interest, a circular is sent out in the spring to the high schools. This circular gives the date, time, place of examination, and defines the size of the team. There is a blank a t the foot of the circular to be filled out by the principal of the school. This includes the name of the school, name and address of the principal, signature of the chemistry teacher, and'the number of stud&ts enrolled in chemistry. During the last month of the school year the contest is held a t the various high schools. A chemistry class enrolment of twenty-five or less requires a team of three and one additional team member for each additional twenty-five or less students. The principal conducts the examination in his school. The day before the examination he receives a sealed package containing the examination questions which have been made out by the committee. At the hour of the examination the seal is broken in the presence of the contestants, and the examination is started. The students are allowed three hours for the examination. At the time fixed for closing the examination each student seals his answers in an envelope which is provided for this purpose and signs his name across the seal. The principal countersigns all examinations, seals them in a larger envelope, and returns them to the committee in charge. The only means of identification on the paper is a number which is registered with the student's name, so that the grader has no way of knowing whose paper he grades. The committee grades the papers, averages the percentages of each team, and declares the winning team and highest individual.
VOL. 5, No. 10
CHEMIST~Y CONTESTS IN CALIPORNIA
1275
A school trophy and a trophy for the highest individual are the awards made by the committee. These trophies, properly engraved, are given to the winning school. The school keeps them one year and returns them to the committee. After one school wins either trophy three times it becomes the permanent property of that school. The fact that so far, in the Sacramento Section, no school has won the trophy more than one year shows that competition is keen and that interest has been aroused.
