Carroll will truly be an “Education President”. In July he addressed the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) supporting an effort to require students to complete four years of science to graduate from high school on the Recommended High School Graduation Plan and the Distinguished Achievement Plan. The Texas SBOE voted 9–6 in favor of the four years of science requirement. Students will be required to take one unit of biology, two units of physical science (choices of integrated physics and chemistry, chemistry, or physics), and one option unit allowing for an AP course or the strongly promoted earth science course.

We are privileged to have his support and leadership. Texas joins Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Virginia with its high expectation of science literacy for a diverse citizenry. Now appears to be the right time to move forward with this program across the country. If all goes well with the implementation of this graduation plan, chemistry virtually becomes a required course of study for all students in Texas beginning with the entering freshman class of 2007–2008. The precedent has been set. Let’s take this momentum across the country. Thank you, Bill Carroll!

Gifted with Conscience

Read about a fascinating woman who practices this mission of community service daily. Toni Watt’s approach is the mirror image of Carroll’s call. Every summer she brings her students into the community. We hear a lot about ‘teachers as facilitators’, but in the case of Toni Watt we have an excellent role model of a mentor who makes a difference in her students’ lives. This noble act does not come without sacrifice. She spends her work life looking for opportunities for her students and for the funding to go with it. She then gives more of herself in the summer when she and her students explore life outside of the classroom—in the industrial and research worlds. Her passion is to instill her love and curiosity of science in her students. Because of her commitment, the community, and her passion for science, Watt received the distinction of being the 2004 Conant Award Winner, ACS’s highest honor for a high school chemistry teacher.

Classroom Experiences

The latest commentaries on “cookbook” labs can be found in this issue. As Monteyne and Cracolice indicate, it is not the collection of data that is at the heart of inquiry, but how the data analysis is conducted. (See also this letter.) We need to create an environment that allows our students the opportunity to develop their thinking skills and conceptual understandings. Several articles in this issue highlight programs that enhance the students’ ability to collect data from virtual labs and evaluate the students’ use of analytical volume-measuring devices.

Ideas for bringing chemistry into the classroom are many. See an excellent lesson plan on teaching entropy analysis. Others contribute their visions on teaching chemistry using real world materials, like iron in breakfast cereal (article; JCE Classroom Activity), research advances on herbicides, differences in color between marbles and ground marbles, operating electrochemical circuits using various solutions, and using a computer mouse to measure viscoelastic deformations. See a review of Chemistry: A Project of the American Chemical Society. The efforts of teachers of chemistry can be seen down many avenues. Use these ideas as your vehicle to explore new vistas.