Science and chemistry blends old and new: ; Built-in labs and storage rooms aid teaching

There are lots of pluses to the new science and chemistry department at the new St. Albans High School, according to Bob Seymour, science supervisor for Kanawha County Schools.

“Every classroom (there are seven) in the science department has full built-in labs and they are top-drawer labs,” he said proudly.

“Each classroom also has a teacher’s storage room for storage of chemicals and other teaching aids,” he continued. “These labs are much more efficient and will enable the teacher to better utilize his/her time.”

The seven classrooms built for science and chemistry classes include one for physics, two for chemistry and four for freshman and sophomore science. Seymour added that each lab also includes computers, and some have hand-held calculators.

Some of the wooden furnishings in the science classrooms are a mixture of refinished furniture and new furniture. Metro was asked to pick out the difference and could not.

Seymour also saw the teaching methods available for these classes as being a mixture of old standards and new discoveries and ideas. “It’s a good blend of the old and the new,” he concluded.

Those teaching in this department include: Department Chairwoman Carol Kuhlman and Keri Welcome, chemistry: Randy Reed, physics; and Jim Crawford, Lisa King, John Miller and Chandra Toney, science.