The wizard of Mira Costa, Teresa Nielsen
Mira Costa’s Teresa Nielsen is named an LA County Teacher of the Year by Mark McDermott The history of chemistry has frequently been intertwined with the practice of magic. The discovery of fire, for example. When early humans who used fire encountered people who had not yet learned how to make a flame, the latter often mistook the former for sorcerers and magicians. Metallurgy and medicine both emerged from a hoodoo background populated by alchemists and witch doctors. And so the Chemistry Magic Show that has taken place at the Mira Costa High School small theater over the last six years isn’t entirely unprecedented. Each May, MCHS AP chemistry students take what they’ve learned from their studies in one of the toughest classes offered at Costa and concoct magic tricks. Their audience is students from nearby Pennekamp Elementary, who walk to Costa with the promise of magic as a lure. They are rarely disappointed. Last year’s show began with a song. Senior Xavier Dargan, strumming a ukulele, sang a buoyant song about the joys of chemistry. “Chemistry is magical, emulsions, atoms very small, elements, solutions, yeah we have it all….” he sang. There was a little Harry Potter thrown…
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