INDUSTRIAL AND HIGH-SCHOOL CHEMISTS A Progress Report from the Utica Group ALFRED S. BROWN Colgate University, Hamilton, New York J. J. DUDLESTON Utica Free Academy, Utica, New York R. HOFFMAN Skenandoa Rayon Corporation, Utica, New York
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ance as might be desired by the chemistry teachers in the Utica schools. By some lucky chance the statement of this problem and its definition was left in t,he hands of the high-school teachers themselves. The mere resolut.ion of such a problem into practical terms, the division of t.he over-all problem into specific ibems which permitted solutions within the range of the abilities and facilities available to the group, was a task which consumed several months. In fact, these discussions required and developed a considerable degrre of cooperation between th.e iiidustrial and the high.school chemibts. This subject has not become dormant. For a period of two full years it has continued to occupy a prominent place on the agenda of all Utica Group meetings. The first cooperative proje~tof the industrial and the teaching members of the Group was the provision of suitable prizes for high-school chemistry students. In this connection the first question concerned itself ~vith the nature of the prize: this should have permanent rather than temporary value; it should lead to a broader interest in the science; and of course, it must be desired by the recipient. These objectives were suitably met a t a reasonable cost by subscriptions to the JOURXAL OF CIIEMICAL EDUCATION.The second question concerned t,he qualificat,ions of the recipients. While high scholarship is an obvious requirement, it was felt that a range of a few per cent in numerical grades need not be significant and that the over-all objectives of the group mould require that the recipient also exhibit some evidence of a continuing interest in the science and profession of chemistry. Within this broad statement of purpose the selection of the specific recipients of these prizes was left to the judgment of the chemistry teachers in the several high schools. The ' Presented before The Division of Chemical Education at the third question which arose concerned the presentation 112th meeting of The American Chemical Society in Atlantic of these prizes. I t was noted that the high-school prize lists at commencement are so long that the ad&City, April 14-18,1947.
FOR yourself an industrial city of modest size, a community whose inddstries employ a mere handful of,American Chemical Society members. Add to this the absence of any educational institution a t a higher thaa secondary-school level and you. will appreciate the difficulties besetting many a high-school teacher of chemistry. To be sure, there is the textbook, the laboratory, and the science club in the school. But these teaching aids are definitely academic. Even if presented with skill they leave the student without an appreciation either of the living science as typified by industrial applications or of the chemical profession as exemplified by practicing chemists. The general situation which we have described is unfortunately of wide occurrence. We must accept the challenge of correcting these faults ip our several communities. Another feature of the general'problem is the remoteness of many communities from lwal section headquarters. For example, Utica is 50miles from Syracuse. By long-established custom the annual activity of a section of the American Chemical Society is a t a peak during the winter months. In central New York State the necessary amount of winter traveling to and from the Section meetings is arduous, if not positively hazardous. To provide a mechanism for attacking these and related problems, a small number of people interested, in chemistry (about a dozen) formed the Utica Group, a subdivision of the Syracuse Section. The initial organization was extremely simple and informal; the Group simply met in the homes of its severa.1 members a t approximately monthly intervals. The members took turns in acting as hosts, providing the simplest of refreshments. One of the first problems receiving the interested attention of the Group was that of providing such assist-
AUGUST, 1947
tion of another item receives slight attention by either the pupils or the audience and may even he against the nishes of the school management. In addit,ionto these considerations it was noted that the physical presentat,ion of the prizes should, if possible, have some constructive quality. I t is felt that some progress in this direction was made by presenting these prizes at a summer picnic meeting of the Group. Such occasions were inherently informal and provided better opportunity for the students to mingle mith the older members present. At such meetings the business session could be so brief t,hat the awarding of the prizes was also prominent on a time basis. I t will be noted that this procedure provided some contact, belated and limited though it be, between the science students of the several high schools in Utica. A second important problem concerned the accessibility and the pertinence of the chemical literature available to the high-school students. It was found that the public library welcomed the assistance of professional chemists in the selection of books and periodicals in the field of chemistry,, pyticularly when this assistance demonstrated a re,ahstlc appreciation of the needs of the high-school population. Such an endeavor obviously benefits from close cooperation between those who practice and those who teach chemistry. Over-all responsibility for this program was borne by the Utica. Group representative on the Section Library Committee. A second division of this general problem comprised the provision of suitable literature for the libraries of the high-school science clubs. The specific needs of individual science clubs will vary considerably, but chemical literature is growing so rapidly that the need of assistance is certain. The group found it possible to meet these needs to a limited extent. Again it is apparent that the mere determination of such a need required and developed cooperative effort by all the chemists in the community. The third part of the educational program which was undertaken by the Utica Group concefned the provision of opportunity for the high-school students to visit local plants which ntilize chemical processes, and particularly with the method of' conducting such industrial visits. The provision for security incident to the country's war effort had required the abandonment of any program of industrial visitations which had been in effect during the 1930's. But the opportunity to see industrial chemical processes not only is of great interest to the high-school student but also serv'es to stimulate him to greater effort and may even motivate him to continue in the profession. These consequences assume national significance in so far as they help to alleviate the shortage of technical men by attracting promising candidates to the field of chemistry. The industrial chemist must and can assume the responsibiMy of welcoming to his plant those students who areestablishing their first contact with chemistry. The efforts of.the members of the Utica Group were quite
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succe~fuland there have been made available to the local high schools industrial visits in greater number than prevailed during the prewar years. Of probably greater significance than the mere number of plant trips has been the interest in these activities taken by the top management of local industry. Typically, a recent industrial plant trip comprised not only an inspection of the plant but also an informal discussion period during which top management introduced the students to the field of chemical economics by explaining first the relationship between the entire industry and the particular plant which the students had just visited and secondly the significance of the entire industry to the life of the people. This served to paint for these students a broad picture of the value of chemical industry in general and to give them some idea of the role which chemists may assume in this country. Such k a discussion, in addition to the opportunity which it . provides for these students to meet with management informally, constitutes an important feature of education in its broadest sense. The activities which have been detailed above are but incidents in the execution of the main program of the Utica Group-namely, the creation of convenient opportunities and a suitable atmosphere for frequent meetings between those who are interested in chemistry. It was the hope and expectation of the originators of this group that mutual acquaintance would lead to friendship and to cooperation in services of mutual interest. Cooperation between reasonable men is the rule; its initiation awaits only the development of friendly acquaintances. It is pertinent to note that not all those who-are interestedin f
