Fast-Paced High School Chemistry

Fast-Paced High School Chemistry is a Science course in the CTY program. It requires previous enrollment in Algebra I. It is intended as a means to get a head start on sophomore chemistry, or to skip to AP Chemistry. Its course code is CHEM, and it is offered at all five CTY sites in the continental US: Baltimore, Carlisle, Lancaster, Los Angeles, and Saratoga Springs.

Course Description

CTY Chemistry covers the equivalent of a high school Chemistry course, and, as with other CTY courses, also covers some topics included in AP Bio. The class is very much fast paced, and is also lab-driven; there are two labs almost every day.

Class History

At LMU, Chemistry has been taught for several years by Mr. Dobrenen (Mr. D), sometimes with TA Sonya.

In some unnamed site, the course was taught by Dallik and TA'd by Britt during 07.2.

Prior to 92 at Lancaster, the course was taught by Karl Brehmer, and was called Breher Chem. This class was so hard-core that students had to work through mealtimes and both activity periods just to keep up. In fact, it was traditional for the RA for the hall where most of the Brehmer Chem students lived to wait until after the HRA came around, then knock on the students doors to let them know they could turn their lights back on and get back to work.

Though students tended to walk around like zombies alot (frequently having conversations like: "What are you taking?" "Nothing! I swear!" "No, what CLASS are you taking?" "Oh, Brehmer Chem." "Yeah, I figured.") they did learn. In those 3 weeks, they learned a full year of high school chem. Not select topics in, but each and every topic and lab. There were some complaints, and around 91 the workload was scaled way back, and Brehmer stopped teaching shortly thereafter.

Frequently compared to the "Closet People" of Carlisle's Woogie (sp?), those who survived Brehmer Chem might not have had as much fun as their peers, but their sense of accomplishment and the bond that they shared made it all worthwhile. And would last a lifetime.

Students from SAR.08.2 enjoyed shouting "CHEMISTRY!!!" with their TA Brian Danielak... and continued this the following year, despite the fact that they were no longer in the class. Students from JHU.11.2 were once held captive in lab for 9 hours (not all at the same time of course) dying their own shirts with dye they made themselves. Although their legs were incredibly sore from lack of seating, and they were so cold that they were surprised they didn't suffer from frostbite/hypothermia, they were pleased with their (mostly) CTY appropriate shirt designs. Whether or not a certain shirt was an merely an accident that resulted from the dye running from an original design of a tie on the front of a shirt is still a mystery to the class.