Every year since 1984, the American Chemical Society has sponsored the United States National Chemistry Olympiad. The program begins with high school students taking local, multiple-choice exams in March.
“It is brutal,” AP Chemistry teacher Mr. Jones said. “It’s a 60 question, multiple choice exam and it’s rough, really rough.”
From those results, local coordinators select nominees for the national exam. In April, selected students take the three-part national exam, including multiple-choice, free-response and lab
sections. This year, two of the top 12 competitors in Orange County come from Los Alamitos High School.
The top 20 students nationally will then advance to a two-week study camp in June. Based on their performance, four students will be selected to compete internationally in July. This year, the international competition will be held in Uzbekistan.
Senior Spencer Bystrom has already taken the initial test two times in the past. Both times he did well, but he was surprised to have qualified to advance to the national competition this year.
Though he no longer takes a chemistry class, Bystrom serves as the Teaching Assistant to Mr. Jones for Advanced
Placement chemistry.
“(Spencer) puts the work in,” Mr. Jones said. “He’s smart, of course. He also puts the work in. And he’s organized, he’s patient, he knows what he’s doing, he’s got a good memory. That all helps.”
In addition to being a TA for AP chemistry, Bystrom also leads the
Chemistry Olympiad club to study with others.
“Being a TA for AP Chem has helped this year,” Bystrom said. “Getting to be immersed in chemistry every day again was helpful. At our club, we do practice problems and that has actually been super helpful for me both this year and last year because when I do the practice problems, I’m the one teaching it and explaining it so I have to
understand it at a much deeper level.”
Sophomore Mason Lee also advanced to the national level, but initially
Click for the rest of the story...
