Protons. Neutrons. Cyclotron. Electrons. These were only a few words in 302 questions asked of 16 sixth- through eighth-grade students from two counties who participated in the eighth annual, You Be the Chemist Challenge this week at Seneca Grade School. Eight middle schools from Oglesby, Mazon, Minooka, Seneca, Morris and Coal City participated. By the time the regional competitions are over, about 12,000 students from 19 states will have participated.

Before the contest, Mark Biel, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, presented a check on behalf of Air Products and Chemicals to teacher Glen Flodstrom (Washington Junior High, Oglesby). His students have won many of the state's previous competitions.

The national competition will be Monday, June 25, at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. State winners will have the opportunity to visit the Franklin Institute and the National Constitution Center, an interactive history museum.

Fran Ogden, science teacher at Seneca High School, was the question reader for the evening. Accumulated each year by teams of scientists, graduate students and others who work through the national contest organizers (Chemical Educational Foundation), the questions are saved in question banks and not used again for five years.

"The banks get bigger and bigger each year as it gets harder to stump the students who come to this contest," the event's facilitator, Patricia Neff, said.

Five judges took turns asking the students questions. Once a question was asked, they had 15 seconds to raise their hands before holding up a multiple choice answer. There were 10 questions in each round.

Barium, one of the answers, provided some humor to the evening. "What do you do with a dead body?" Byrne asked the students and audience. "You Bar-i-um."

"This is a very big deal," Mazon-Verona-Kinsman science teacher Darcy Welsh said. "This event is a great way to recognize kids. The chemical industry is very big in Illinois and it's one of the major employers, so this is a very good way to generate interest in our kids."

First place was worth $500; second place, $250; and third place, $100. All contestants took home a $25 gift certificate and a bag of donated items from Aux Sable Liquids, Exelon-Dresden, Flint Hills Resources and Akzonobel.

"I hire a bus to take all the contestants and their fans to the state competition," Event Coordinator Patricia Neff said. "We'll be touring the UOP Research Complex (a petrochemical technology firm with headquarters in Des Plaines). They will probably visit their electron microscope room, glass blowing and knock labs. This is a great way for students to see research in progress."

Seneca Grade School South Campus Principal Shane Severson was proud of all the students.

"We are honored to host this event every year and always glad to help out Pat (Neff) and all of the event sponsors," he said. "We look forward to hosting future competitions that promote kids using their brains.

"Meet the Chemist is a wonderful way to promote academics. We're just very proud of all the efforts all the students made in this competition. We're looking forward to the school's students moving on to the April 3 state competition."

Second place regional competition and first place La Salle County: Lyle Marshall, Seneca Grade School, eighth grade.
First place regional competition and first place Grundy County: Conrad Goffinet, Minooka Junior High, eighth grade.
Third Place regional competition and second place La Salle County: Aaron Kamke, Waltham Elementary School, eighth grade.
Second Place Grundy County: Jared Roth, Saratoga Middle School, seventh grade.
Third Place Grundy County: Nick Micetich, Coal City Middle School, eighth grade.
Third Place La Salle County: Jakob Selquist, Parkside Junior High, eighth grade.
Alternate for Grundy County: Joey Rivera, Coal City Middle School, eighth grade.
Alternate for La Salle County: Grant Granby, Seneca Elementary, eighth grade.

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Chemistry challenge 'a wonderful way to promote academics'