Our team at the Pre-college committee continues with activities geared to complete our goals for year two. We identified Goal 3 from the strategic plan as our guiding goal for our committee.
Goal 3, Identifying and communicating Value (continue in 2026)
We will continue working towards this goal by collaborating with other divisions and/or committees. We have worked closely with the Program Committee to shape our contribution to the Teachers Day program at the ACS National meetings. In addition, we are working on an award for High School Laboratory Safety that aligns with the Safety Committee's mission.
Theseare the activities we have been working on by month
February 2026
- Newsletter Updates
Included the announcement of the 2026 James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching, and the posting of pictures from a high school teacher's class in action!
- ACS Spring 2026 Participation
- The committee plans to gift two AACT memberships to two lucky attendees at the ACS Spring 2026 Teachers Day symposium.
- The Pre-College committee is organizing a symposium on "Greening the General Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum ". The two high school educators scheduled to present will receive a financial incentive from the Division of Environmental Chemistry ($125 each) and from the Division of Chemical Education ($125 each)
- BCCE 2026 Updates
The Birds of a Feather proposal was submitted.
- ACS Fall 2026 Updates
- Teachers' Day Symposiums from the Pre-College Committee updates
- New Symposium proposals were submitted for the conference’s Teachers Day: Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities, Chemistry & Art, and Lab Safety in High School; one more was submitted to the regular programming symposium, “Bridging the Gap: From Educational Research Theory to High School Classroom Practice”.
March 2026
The month of March found us at the ACS Spring 2026 Conference, where our responsibilities took us to the Teachers Day symposium and presiding over the “Greening the General Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum” symposium.
- Teachers Day Symposium notes,
Teacher's Day - Morning Event 9:00 AM to 12 noon with lunch served.
- Presentations: There were multiple presenters. For example, Vernier included a hands-on experiment using the UV-VIS wireless spec. Another presentation was given by the United States Chemistry Olympiad’s current mentors. They were looking to recruit new high school mentors.
- Audience Demographics: There were around 35-40 high school teachers in attendance. Half were from California and New York and were relatively new to teaching (1–3 years). The other half were local educators. Notably, most of the teachers we spoke to paid their own way to the event.
- Experienced Educators versus New to Teaching educators; half of the attendees were experienced educators who were either presenting at the conference or drove in for the Teachers Day event only.
- Support and Organization, Members from AACT and the Chem Ed Division Program Committee were in attendance to support the event.
- Catering: A buffet lunch was provided for attendees, continuing the conference tradition.
- Symposium: "Greening College General Chemistry Labs"
The symposium was held in collaboration with the ENV CHEM division. Attendance was low (about 12), likely because the location was further away from other Chem Ed symposia. The audience consisted mostly of lab instructors and a few high school teachers. The presentations were excellent, and many presenters shared details via QR codes.
Four Laboratory Safety Institute memberships were awarded to attendees.
April 2026
- BCCE 2026 Birds of a Feather "Getting to know your Pre-College Committee" was accepted. BCCE 2026 will take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, July 27-30, 2026
- Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) proposal for an Award on Lab Safety for high school teachers. - Jim Kaufman, from LSI, gave us a brief presentation on the goals for the award. We asked him questions about the criteria for the Awrad. He mentioned that there is a Lab Safety Award, sponsored by LSI, for college-level researchers. He recognized that this was the start of a conversation on the proposal. Dr. Kaufman offered a complimentary assessment of our own lab's safety protocols! He encouraged our team to email him at jkaufman@labsafetyinstitute.org
- AACT liaison member, Laura Trout, was in attendance to our April meeting.
May 2026
We have no activities to report, yet there were many ongoing.
June 2026
- BCCE 2026 – Birds of a Feather July Meeting was confirmed
B495: Getting to Know Your Pre-College Committee
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Venue: Memorial Union: Capitol View (4224)
All members of the committee will attend except for Katherine Mehltretter
(teaching a summer course)
- BCCE 2026 AACT/PCC Social - Happy Hour was confirmed. for Monday, July 27, 5-7 PM. Contributions to Raffle Prizes are already included in the budget.
- ACS Fall 2026 – Teachers’ day program will have AACT Membership and ChemEd Division memberships to be gifted, possibly 2 LSI memberships.
- Update on current projects:
- Laboratory Safety Award (in-progress, currently in revision by donor)
- Multiyear grant for High School Teachers looking to update their laboratory curriculum
- Updates to the Operations Manual (from Operation Manual Workshop). The updated file will be sent for approval after the BCCE 2026 meeting.
- Update Newsletter- Important dates for Grant applications/ PD courses. Advertisement to call for new volunteers for our committee flyer to be ready for BCCE.
- Upcoming Activities: Requests for Symposia ACS Spring 2027
Presentation on Pre-College Committee Mission at the ACS Spring 2027 Sunday Teachers Program
- Budget 2027
The Budget was approved
July 2026
- Contribution to the ACS Spring 2027 in collaboration with the Program Committee: Proposal for Teacher Day Symposium ACS Spring 2027
Title or Topic of Suggestion Symposium
Teachers’ Day Symposium: Bridging the Gap from Research Theory to Pre-College Practice
- Scheduled our August Meeting for Sunday, August 23, 2026, Zoom Meeting from 7 to 7:30 pm EDT
- Completed Nomination for the Outstanding Committee Member, and sent a letter of support for a member of another committee for her invaluable support to the pre-college committee.
New Ideas proposed:
- Design a template to write an award for the James Bryant Conant Award for High School Teaching
- We are looking into engaging sponsors outside the ACS to provide financial assistance to high school teachers interested in presenting their work at the various meetings held throughout the year (ACS Spring & Fall, CHEM ED, and BCCE). Must check with the Div. treasurer to find out if it is possible.
- Invite other committees from other divisions to attend our monthly meetings to share ideas and find ways to support each other's members.
I would like to take this opportunity to send our sincere thanks to Dr. Pamela Clevenger for her invaluable support to our committee. She never hesitated in generously offering her time, advice, and wisdom in support of our efforts to involve our pre-college educators in the Division of Chemical Education activities. We have learnt a great deal from her;. Thank you so much.Pam, for all you do!
We requested $800; the expenses are still ongoing due to two more meetings that the committee will be attending: the BCCE 2026, July 26-30, 2026, and the ACS Fall 2026 in Chicago.
We provided membership for the Division of Chemical Education, AACT, and the Laboratory Safety Institute, along with laboratory kits for teachers . The ACS Spring 2026 Conference offered the opportunity to take our high school teacher presenters to dinner in Atlanta to show our appreciation for their participation in the symposium that the pre-college committee presided. These teachers made the trip out of pocket (travel & lodging)
There are still two more events for which similar expenses are expected. We will have the full total expenses by the end of the ACS Fall 2026 conference.
See attachment below.
The teachers from the ACS Spring 2026 in Atlanta were grateful for all the financial support and the opportunity to network with like-minded educators over dinner. The memberships were appreciated as meaningful prizes for the winners. The memberships will allow them to access valuable resources to enhance their practice in their classrooms.