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Cookeville celebrates National Chemistry Week to promote chemistry’s importance in everyday life

Tech Geochemistry students make pet rocks in celebration of Chemistry Week

Cookeville mayor declared the week of Oct. 22-28 as National Chemistry Week on Oct. 19 with hopes of increasing awareness of chemistry in everyday life.

“I was told we were one of the first to do this. It’s always good to bring recognition to a group that does so much for the community,” Ricky Shelton, Cookeville mayor, said.

This proclamation was motivated by Tennessee Tech’s student members of the American Chemical Society, an international non-profit scientific society founded in 1876.

“I think anything we can do to increase awareness is important. With this, Cookeville gets to know something is going on and we can reach out to more people,” Madison Dunn, president of Tech’s ACS, said.

During Chemistry Week, members of science departments around campus organized activities like bake sales, lectures and hands-on experiments focused on chemistry and how it affects Cookeville’s daily life.

The American Chemical Society recently declared Tech’s chapter as “outstanding,” citing their contribution to the local community and professional development opportunities as the main contributing factors, according to Amanda Carroll, chemistry professor and ACS adviser.

“Chemistry is everywhere. In the food we eat, in the products we use, we see it all the time, and we get kids really excited about science. When they hit middle school and it’s not as fun anymore, they still remember this. We have students that come to Tech because we visited their high schools,” Carroll said.