The "A" Teams!

    A couple thousand students from
throughout eastern Pennsylvania
showed up at the Penn State Wilkes-
Barre Campus yesterday to take part
in the annual Science Olympiad.
    These young men and women
showed off their skills in all sorts
of science related demonstrations.
     All of their efforts were very
impressive!
      That said, I felt sad I couldn't
join in the competition. I have an
extensive science background!
       I think I was about Junior
High School age when I blew up
my Chemistry set in our basement.
       Actually it was only a test tube
that exploded, knocking the set over
and spilling more than half of its
chemicals. If only I could have
perfected that mixture before it
blew. I could have made dynamite
obsolete!
      I know I watched carefully in
High School when my teacher did
a similar experiment. I believe
some glass from his test tube is
still embedded in the ceiling of the
old Hazleton High School.
     I remember learning, from that
same teacher, that you don't put
the palm of your hand on a counter
top where you've just spilled a
couple drops of acid. He was a
great teacher!
     Later on, during my broadcasting
career, I developed the character,
wrote the scripts, and acted in a
series called "Mr. Chemistry."
     It was, ironically, about a
chemist/inventor who usually got
himself into trouble. I wonder who
inspired me?
     Unlike me, or "Mr. Chemistry",
all of the students who competed in
the Olympiad seem to know what
they're talking about. Some got
prizes. But all are winners! And
they've all got the formula for
success!
      Hope we cheer for all of them
they way we would a Football team,
and that all your, and their, NEWS
is good!