St. Mary’s third graders explore chemistry in renovated science lab

Third graders at St. Mary’s spent part of their week in a lab built for chemistry, not worksheets, stepping into the Bernard ’40 and June (Beck) Christenson Science Classroom in goggles and lab aprons as high school students led the stations.

The lesson came in a room refurbished through a St. Mary’s Ball & Auction purchase and a donor push to turn one science classroom into a true lab space. Joe Nemmers gave $100,000 in memory of his late wife, Kathy Christenson Nemmers, a St. Mary’s Class of 1973 graduate, and challenged the school to raise another $100,000 for STEM education with a matching gift. The St. Mary’s Foundation added $50,000 toward the project.

That kind of room did not come together with fresh paint alone. The classroom was described as needing cabinetry, tables, sinks, plumbing, safety equipment, electrical work and furnishings, the kind of upgrades that make it usable for real lab work across grade levels. School leaders framed the space as a cross-grade learning room, one that could serve younger students and older students instead of keeping science isolated by age.

Under the guidance of Dr. Erica Larson, St. Mary’s high school science teacher, the third graders rotated through color-themed stations designed by high school chemistry students as part of their final exam. One station had students creating rainbow chromatology keepsakes. Another showed chemical reactions that produced color changes and bubbling. A flame-test station drew the most attention as students compared the colors from different solutions, making the chemistry visible in a way a textbook cannot.

The lesson also showed what early lab access can change for St. Mary’s’ STEM pipeline. Younger students got a first look at chemistry in a working lab, while older students had to explain the science clearly enough to teach it. Larson’s students previously did hands-on lab work with Buena Vista University faculty in a forensic science and murder mystery activity, giving the high school program a track record of blending classroom content with live experiments and student-led instruction.

The project sits inside a school culture that has leaned hard on fundraising to pay for major improvements. St. Mary’s raised a record $455,650 at its 2024 Ball & Auction, then brought in $1,316,000 at the 2025 event. The 2026 Ball & Auction, tied to a $1.5 million renovation campaign for the gym entrance and first floor of the high school, underscored how central those events have become to the school’s building plans. For Buena Vista County, the deeper issue is not just that St. Mary’s has a renovated lab, but that early hands-on science access can shape readiness, curiosity and later coursework long before students reach high school chemistry.