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Westminster College American Chemical Society Creates Website to Highlight Science Education Outreach Programs

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Posted on Tuesday, February 18, 2014

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The Westminster College student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) recently created a new website to showcase the student chapter's activities and outreach programs.

View the website at https://sites.google.com/site/wcaacs/home. It was created by student Tyler Umstead, vice president of the chapter. It includes links to the outreach projects and the organizations the chapter collaborates with, including Project Malawi and Origins outreach. This year the chapter is focusing on chemical education for all ages.

Project Malawi is a collaborative effort between Westminster, Seton Hill College and Allegheny College to create hands-on chemistry kits to send to Kalibu Academy High School in Malawi. Each chapter is responsible for developing one kit, which includes equipment and disposables, along with the necessary reagents and safety equipment when appropriate. An Inter-Chapter Relations Grant from the American Chemical Society was awarded to help fund this collaborative project.

Origins: The East Side Neighborhood Connection is an after-school program for children in kindergarten through 12th grade in New Castle. It provides activities and connections between the kids and their community. During the Fall Semester the ACS Westminster chapter members helped the kids from Origins with making liquid nitrogen ice cream, and with a color changing milk experiment. 

"Outreach is at the heart of our organization," said Westminster ACS Chapter President Katherine Francois. "One of our major goals is to get people - whether Westminster students, the community, or beyond - informed about science. Showing others the work that we do helps reinforce our love for science and gives people a better understanding of what it means to be a scientist."

Westminster ACS Chapter Adviser Dr. Sarah Kennedy said, "Westminster's student affiliate chapter of ACS has been very active lately, and this new website showcases the work. Our students are reaching out to kids of all ages through the Origins program and by going to local high schools.  These activities give our students confidence that they can explain chemical concepts and shows them the need for chemical education at all levels." 

Kennedy continued, "The Malawi project has opened our students to learning about a different culture also.  These experiences help students become better citizens and chemists because they become aware of needs outside of their own."

Upcoming chapter events include making liquid nitrogen ice cream during Lil' Sibs Weekend at the College in March, and an Earth Day activity with Origins' children in April.

Contact Kennedy at 724-946-6289 or email for more information.