Science Coaches program pairs chemists with schoolteachers

In fall 2023, high school students at The Thacher School in Ojai, California, analyzed a forged artwork in their classroom that the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields had purchased. “The students used polarized light microscopy to study the fiber content of this forged Moroccan embroidery,” says Gregory Smith, a conservation scientist at the museum. Smith described to the high school students how his team used forensic science to discover the forgery. Smith and Thacher science teacher Christopher Vyhnal partner through the Science Coaches program, an outreach initiative that pairs professional chemists with teachers who are members of the American Association of Chemistry Teachers. “By bringing a coach into a classroom, students are able to interact with a scientist—sometimes for the first time—and it gives them firsthand exposure to chemistry as a career and the impact scientists make on real life,” says Adam Boyd, American Chemical Society director of K–12 education, engagement, and outreach. The Science Coaches program has grown steadily since it launched in 2010 with 32 coaching partnerships. The 2024–25 school year has about 250 partnerships.Seeing real-world applications of science helps students engage more actively with their learning, says Vyhnal. “I used to be asked all the time: ‘Why do we have to know this?’ Now that question is preempted.” He also notes that his enthusiasm for the program has rubbed off on his students. “It’s tangible for them when they see how excited Greg and I are. That just gets them engaged in a way that teaching