High School Chemistry Program Gets Makeover from University of West Indies Student Chapter
The University of West Indies-Jamaica Student Chapter provided tremendous support to the students of St. Thomas Technical High School in Duckenfield, Jamaica during the 2023-2024 school year. The 4th-form students (US high school 10th grade) were without a teacher for almost a year and lacked the solid foundation necessary for their professional growth and development. There was only one chemistry teacher at the school, a recent graduate from the University of the West Indies, who also had the responsibility of teaching Integrated Science.
The students had not completed any laboratory exercises and were therefore apprehensive and fearful about pursuing chemistry. What would be next? How would the students prepare for their examination and complete their laboratory exercises?
Frustration set in, but there was a glimmer of hope. A pathway was created that was beneficial to the students. The students joined a weekly science club that was held virtually and reinforced key concepts, such as moles, organic chemistry (functional groups), and polymerization. The science club meetings were informative with videos and PowerPoint presentations being utilized as teaching tools. Online quizzes were also created for the students using Google form.
The students received additional support through an initiative created by members of the student chapter. The chapter planned and executed an outreach event on May 29, 2024, for third-form students (US ninth grade high school) to show the value of chemistry in our daily lives—demonstrating that chemsitry not only all around us but that it's fun!
Seven chapter members traveled from Kingston to give demonstrations of various experiments, including the Red Cabbage Indicator (anthocyanins changing color with pH), Testing Water’s Skin (illustrating hydrogen bonding); Polymers Perforated Balloons; Intermolecular Forces: Marker Butterflies; Climate Science: Detecting Ultraviolet Radiation with UV Beads; and a Flame Test that demonstrated a range of colors with different chemical elements.
On the day of the highly anticipated outreach, the students were delighted and excited. Non-chemistry students also participated in the day’s activities. The venue was full with select third-form students who also did Integrated Science. A gift section organized by ACS members awarded small prizes to students who correctly answered questions about chemistry. Six science stations were organized with students rotating from one station to the next. The students were thoroughly engaged and grateful for this unique opportunity. The school was presented with a gift of glassware for the laboratory.
This outreach initiative gave the students to have a greater appreciation for chemistry, and it encouraged some students to continue to pursue the subject. It also enabled other students who saw chemistry as daunting to develop passion and faith that they could be successful chemistry students. In August 2024 all fifth-form students from the school were successful in their Chemistry Caribbean Examinations Council (CSEC) exam, a secondary education certification.
Of note is that one student who regularly participated in the science club was awarded a “1” in Chemistry, which is the highest attainable grade. All of the students were successful (100%), an increase of more than 70% as compared to the previous years of passes for the students. Thank you, Jamaica Student Chapter!
About the Author
Andrea Goldson-Barnaby
is a graduate of The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and the University of British Columbia, Canada. She currently serves as a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Food Chemistry Division in the Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies where she is also faculty advisor for the ACS Jamaica International Student Chapter. In her spare time, she enjoys doing art and science outreach.
Daina Barrett
holds a B.S. from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, in food chemistry. The recipient of an Intra-Caribbean Academic Mobility Programme scholarship, she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in food and agro-processing technology, and she assists with the ACS Jamaica International Student Chapter. In her spare time, she enjoys singing.
