Sylmar : College Students Deck Annual ‘Chemist-Tree’

Mission College chemistry students have begun what they hope will become an annual Christmas tradition: building a “chemist-tree.”

The tree, which was unveiled Monday night in the college’s north atrium, is decorated with test tubes, beakers and flasks filled with green and red liquids. The top of the tree is decorated with a model of atomic orbitals.

“The point is to show you can be fun and creative with a demanding subject like chemistry,” said Maria Fenyes, who teaches chemistry and first introduced the idea of the chemist-tree to Mission in 1992.

“There are actually some who enjoy chemistry. This is to let people know there is beauty attached to it, too,” she said

At the unveiling on Monday, students from Fenyes’ general chemistry 101 class celebrated the nearing of the end of the fall semester and sang songs loosely based on the carols “O Christmas Tree” and “Jingle Bells.”

“O chemist-tree, O chemist-tree,

How beautiful your beakers are,

I love your shiny test tubes,

and on your boughs your atoms move,

O chemist-tree, O chemist-tree,

You brighten up our classroom . . .”

The tree will be on display at the college until Jan. 6.