Science labs can be a great, fun learning experience for all students to implement what they are learning in class into real use. They are done once every few weeks in Central Catholic’s chemistry classes and are engaging learning opportunities for students. However, safety should always be prioritized to ensure nothing potentially dangerous occurs. The two chemistry teachers at Central Catholic that work to make this happen are Dr. Vallor and Dr. Ballesteros.

Dr. Vallor advocates and stresses safety as the number one priority in his labs. This allows the hands-on experiences the students receive in the labs to become valuable learning tools. Dr. Vallor says that he “prepares most of the lab beforehand” so there won’t be any non-essential activities the students have to do before partaking in the lab. He also stated that he “moves around a lot”, and tries his best to “keep his eyes all over this class” in order to make sure no students are misbehaving or putting themselves in dangerous positions. Upon entering every lab, each student must immediately put on an apron, safety goggles, and gloves so that none of the students accidentally contact any of these potentially harmful chemicals. However, if all safety precautions are made and the teachers instructions are followed, students should experience no issue with safety.

These labs provide an excellent opportunity for students to gain additional understanding of concepts that are discussed in class. Dr. Vallor said the labs are “the perfect way to get students actively engaged and involved” and “draws students in more because they are looking at information they actually collect, rather than what they are simply told through a textbook.” Dr. Ballesteros added that the hands-on element of the science labs helps young men to learn the material without just memorizing and that “seeing the reactions can be very exciting for students.”  

The chemistry students who reap the benefits of the science labs at Central Catholic are aware of the academic opportunities the labs provide. Moses Yanas, a junior at Central Catholic High School who has already completed a few labs these year, stated that “hands on experiments are much preferred over reading a boring book” and that he prefers these labs “way more than day to day work.”

To promote these labs and the all the fun that chemistry has to offer, the science department recently held an event after school filled with experiments, reactions, and many more cool science activities. This event, “Mole Day”, held on October 23 after school in the cafeteria, proved that chemistry can be not only extremely fun but also interesting. The chemistry science labs at Central Catholic are closing the gap between academic success in education and pure hands-on fun.

All in all, chemistry labs are very fun and engaging ways of educating students and applying many things that are learned into an observational experience of the wonders of science and how they actually take place.

Mr. Cassler
Mr. Cassler
Mr. Cassler
Mr. Cassler
Mr. Cassler
Mr. Cassler