As I write this (mid-September), we have been back in school now for four weeks and are fortunate that our students have been present in person and there have been very few setbacks. Everyone is masking and we have already surpassed the expectations of most people in continuing to meet face-to-face.
Soon the autumn season will coax its way into our backyards! Some of us will be able to witness nature putting on a brilliant show of yellow and orange thanks to carotenoids and anthocyanins. Trees will shed their leaves so they can conserve water and nature will yet again make way for new growth with grace and beauty.
I ask all members (especially ones reading this letter!) to take a minute to vote in the 2021 SVACS elections. This is your chance to have a say in who represents you in leading your local section. The section is run by an Executive Committee (ExComm) consisting of 5 officers (Chair, Chair Elect, Past Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary), 7 Councilors and 7 Alternate Councilors. We have nominated a phenomenal slate of candidates described on pages 4-6 of this newsletter. Petition candidates have also been welcomed to involve new faces in the local section activities. You needn’t be a member of the ExComm to attend our monthly meetings. All of our monthly meetings are open to the public and we encourage you to attend, participate, and speak up!
Our section strives in many ways to support science teachers, especially important under the current conditions of shifting teaching modes. One program is the Bubble Grant that provides K-12 teachers with funds for teaching science in their classrooms. Teachers are dealing with issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, so we have extended the deadline for submission of proposals to November 1st. A flyer is available on page 12 in this newsletter. Please share the flyer with your friends, family, and colleagues in K-12 science education, and encourage them to apply for funds to support classroom activity that helps catch up after the lost year.
In October and November, we join chemists across the country in sharing chemistry with the public via National Chemistry week (NCW). NCW occurs annually and is the biggest ACS community outreach event. We will be running a program at Redwood City Public Library on 13 November. This year’s theme is “Fast or Slow … Chemistry Makes It Go!!”. 2021 NCW activity revolves around the exciting world of reaction rates, including how temperature, pressure, concentration, the presence of a catalyst, and more parameters affect how fast or slow a reaction happens.
We are working on bringing back our super popular ‘Teach the Teachers’ program. This Saturday workshop for middle school science teachers elaborates on the NCW theme and provides teachers with the materials and practice for running a series of experiments in their classrooms. This has normally been an in-person, hands-on workshop, and, hard to believe, was our section’s last in-person event before we went into shelter-in-place in 2020! Seems like such a long time ago… We are figuring out a safe format for reinitiating the popular workshop, not losing sight of our goal of doing our best to support teachers and bring science to students.
Also by popular demand, we are making a limited number of classroom-size kits available to teachers who are interested in bringing our Water Quality Citizen Science program to their schools. Please feel free to reach out to me at jssheth@syr.edu for more details.
Your Silicon Valley ACS section Executive Committee continues to provide an exciting array of programs for the end of the year. Chair-elect Stephanie Benight is finalizing plans for those virtual events. For example, on October 21, Dr. Mike Idacavage of Radical Curing will speak to us about photopolymers in coatings, inks, and 3D printing. Stephanie is also working with EnCorps on a presentation of the EnCorps mission of facilitating professional scientists to change career direction into K-12 education. Last but not the least, I’m happy to report the 2nd Bay Area Chemistry Symposium is planned to take place virtually on 5 November 2021. A huge shout-out to Matt Greaney and his remarkable team for making this happen. The event will feature keynote talks from leading scientists in SF Bay area academia and industry as well as a series of short talks from postdocs, students, and industry scientists that highlight the exciting science happening in the Bay area. Don’t forget to register for this event, designed to bring together local scientists and institutions for networking and expanding our outlook!
This Fall, the ACS ChemLuminary Awards will be presented at a virtual event during National Chemistry Week. In the past, SVACS has been recognized in numerous ChemLuminary categories for our robust outreach activity. We hope you can attend and cheer on SVACS as a finalist in several 2021 categories, and learn about activity in other ACS sections across the country. More information can be found on page 4 of this newsletter.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or any of your other SVACS representatives with questions, comments, or requests. We love hearing from our members and strive to best serve your needs.
Jigisha Shah
