|  Last Saturday, Mount Michael
took part in this year’s
chemistry field day held by Creighton University. Participating
students arrived
in the rain at 7:45, but neither the rain nor the early time could
stop them from competing to the best of their abilities.
The day started off with an introduction and the
teams were dismissed to their individual events. The day consisted of six total
events. The first event was
Gameboard Gallimaufry which was a Jeopardy-style event. Second was Fax the Facts
where groups were given two different solution sets and they had to match themup.
The next event was Serial Dilution to A Better Solution in which teams had to
dilute a solution to a desired concentration. The fourth was Equation Balancing
Act where teams had to balance as many chemical equations as they could in 25
minutes. Next was a new addition this year called Chem Survivor which consisted
of a crossword puzzle, a chemistry maze, chemistry Jenga, and a boat float challenge.
The last event was Quick Qual in which teams had to identify solutions by performing
flame tests and other various tests to find out if particular ions were present.
Each event was presided over by Creighton staff and students. Lunch was provided
with what Mr. Musson said was the “biggest pile of pizza I’ve ever
seen!” 
After each team had a chance to compete in each
event, everyone gathered for
a show of chemistry tricks. Know as the “Melodious Musichemical Manifestation,” it
consisted of University students lighting Hydrogen filled balloons on fire
and many other interesting experiments. After they had a chance to show off
their chemistry know-how, awards were presented to the highest scoring teams.
Mount
Michael sent four teams of which three placed. Team Strontium, consisting of
captain Jeff Kucirek, and members Tim Prost,
Paul Farnya, Aaron Andersen,
and Evan Freilich, placed second overall in the Primary Division. Team Nickel,
which included captain Steve Stackhouse and members Jono Matt, Lance
Villeneuve, and David Nelson, placed third overall in the Advanced Division.
Team Lead, which was made up
of captain
Matt
Goldsmith
and
members Tim Agnew, Mike Gibilisco, Sean Cox, and Mason Tye, was given the award
for the top score for
the Chemistry
Survivor
Event.
The last team that Mount Michael sent was team Radon which was comprised of
captain
Tim Huss
and
members Tom Murphy, Grant Mathey, Tim Backes, and Aaron Lockee.
Jeff Kucirek says he had fun this year can't wait
until
next
year
to come back and
"take it all!".
- Article and photos by Evan Frelich
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