On Oct. 20, 2022, FOS 3 had their early Mole Day celebration during class time. The worldwide celebration commemorates Avogadro’s number , which is named after Amedeo Avogadro, an Italian chemist. The purpose behind the beloved tradition at CHS is to have fun and incorporate creativity while students learn the importance behind the mole.
Marcy McCormick, one of the two FOS 3 teachers, acknowledges that chemistry is challenging and abstract and uses Mole Day as an opportunity to turn learning a foundational concept — like Avogadro’s Number — into an entertaining experience.

“It’s important every once in a while just to kind of pause and have a little fun and be creative,” McCormick said.

The Mole Day celebration at CHS begins with students choosing a project relating to Avogadro’s Number. This year, a variety of different project ideas were offered to cater to different students with different interests and schedules. Project ideas included creating a song, sculpture, joke or creating a mole themed food such as “guaca-mole”.

This year, it will be a decade since CHS’s first Mole Day celebration; McCormick says that over time, projects for Mole Day have evolved vastly.

“In the past, we would just cut out the mole,” McCormick said. “The list has grown over the 10 years of what students do. Students oftentimes go beyond that list and kind of come up with their own ideas, which is super fun.”

To express her excitement for the celebration, McCormick dresses up every year as a mole — which may or may not perpetually manifest the bizarre incident that occurs annually in the window well of McCormick’s basement.

“Right around mole day, literally last year and the year before, a mole got trapped in the window well of my house in the basement,” McCormick said. “It’s like they can sense my excitement and they’re coming out to celebrate or something.”