Chemistry: it’s a subject we’ve all taken or will take at least once in our lifetimes. 

“Chemistry builds off of itself, and the experiments we do are pretty interesting as well. It’s good that we see inner workings,” Natalie Patterson ‘26 said.

For some, it is just another high school class, with all the fixings of homework and exams; for others, chemistry can become a passion. 

“I’m not sure at this point if I’ll take AP Chemistry next year. I want to take a physics class because I really want to, but I still enjoy chemistry, so there is a chance I could take it in my senior year,” Ian Weiner ‘26 said.

Chemistry teacher Kerry Reilly hopes to create a learning atmosphere that will lead students toward the latter pathway. 

“I hope that chemistry becomes something that they see as interesting, as cool, as neat,” Reilly said.

On Feb. 15, she used the entirety of her Chemistry Honors periods to present 10 different chemical reactions to her students. These included the combustion of ethanol, the burning of a gummy bear and the burning of magnesium.

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media by Aditya Khanolkar

Kerry Reilly conducts a reaction which chemically combusts a glucose-based gummy bear in her Chemistry Honors Feb. 15. The reaction was conducted to provide an observation of a combustion reaction to Chemistry Honors students.

“The favorite reaction that has gone off today is probably the gummy bear reaction. It made some pretty cool sounds, and it looked pretty nice,” Colin Sun ‘26 said.

Reilly executes her style of teaching by making her class both engaging and challenging. She incorporates tougher material through experiments and observations, most of which students can participate in as well.

“I like Chemistry since Ms. Reilly makes it fun and the labs are really cool,” Drew Curl ‘26 said.