Another demo in the books for retiring Dist. 15 teacher
As the combination of burning magnesium and dry ice begins to spit out flames Friday in a Palatine science lab, another group of Sundling Junior High students is witness to the wonders of chemistry.
Kevin Keehn has dubbed this demonstration “Death of Tinkerbell.” The longtime eighth-grade science teacher says it offers students a deeper look into the states of matter and single replacement chemical equations.
It's one of Keehn's most popular Friday Demos — weekly hands-on experiments that can and often do feature smoke, loud bangs and even rockets as chemical reactions occur within his classroom.
The Palatine Township Elementary District 15 school's current crop of eighth graders will be the last in a long line of students to take part in the beloved lessons, however, as Keehn will hang up his lab coat in June. He's retiring after 33 years of teaching, and it's an adjustment.
“More than anything it's just weird,” Keehn said. “I guess I wasn't prepared for it.”
Instead of putting his lesson plans back into a file folder, he's been throwing them in the trash. He's written quite a few since starting at Sundling in fall 1979.
“I'm keeping some stuff, but it's going to take me a week to clean out this place,” Keehn said of his classroom.