The Chemathon team kicked off its season with its first practice on Jan. 9.

This year, they are returning to two teams, level one for Honors Chemistry students, and level two for AP Chemistry students. Level one practices after school on Mondays, level two, after school on Wednesdays.

The Chemathon competition is going to be held at the Chemistry Center at the University of Maryland, College Park on April 27.

Science department chair Julie Baker will be moderating the Chemathon team solo this year for the first time, following former science department chair Rebecca Jansing-Kaestner’s move to Nashville, Tennessee.

“It was a lot easier with two people because we could answer two times the questions,” Baker said. “I will definitely miss her this year.” The Chemathon teams will compete against other high schools in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

During the competition, students participate in labs, experiments, and Jeopardy. The team practices once a week in either the chemistry lab or Baker’s room.

According to junior Kirsten Kyburz, a team member, the team placed seventh out of 21 schools last year, and ranked in the top five for half of the experiments they did.

“I learned a lot from it last year. I did new things that I learned later that year in class, and it helped me understand the topic better,” Kyburz said. “We had a great time doing [chemistry] labs for fun, believe it or not.”

Caitlin Wolfarth is the News Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.