Archbishop Riordan High School’s science department just got an upgrade with its recently established Honors Chemistry class. With this new addition, the course has been able to address two crucial challenges the school has faced academically.

“We needed one,” claimed Dr. Caroline Gochoco-Tsuyuki, the course instructor. “We had to establish an honors-level class for two things: to take care of new students coming with strong science backgrounds, and to make the leap to AP Chemistry a lot easier.”

Equipped with a passionate teacher and a schedule packed with intriguing areas of study, Honors Chemistry seems to have many benefits for enrolled students.

“It has definitely been very helpful to me because I’ve always really liked science,” said Greta Wang ’28. “This class has allowed me to expand my knowledge of science and do cool experiments that I wouldn’t normally do.”

Honors Chemistry filtrates past the basic material, producing a compound of knowledge that reaches up to material taught in university-level classes. “We are learning everything,” said instructor Gochoco-Tsuyuki. “Starting from atoms and then building up to chemical equations, stoichiometry, gasses, thermodynamics, acids and bases, and chemical equilibrium in one semester.”

It’s a whole different element compared to the regular course taught at Riordan. One aspect that really highlights the difference is the labs.

“The labs that I’m introducing are introductory college class level for these kids. They really are learning at a higher rate and they love the labs,” said Gochoco-Tsuyuki.

The students in her class can attest to that.

Nathan Cheng ’27 stated, “Doing labs with my peers helps me know how chemistry works in real life. While at the same time, it builds my collaboration skills and it makes it more engaging to do hands-on labs.”

“We get to use cool tools like Bunsen burners,” added Wang. “It helps me learn a lot better by being able to physically work with what we have been learning about in class.”

With good effort comes great payoffs. Any student taking Honors Chemistry will be prioritized above other students for AP Chemistry. The class is still in its infancy, but Gochoco-Tsuyuki has plans for the future.

“I want to expand this class beyond one block and have it become at least two by next year,” she said. “I would love to see the number of honors classes rise as the number of high achieving kids apply to Riordan. I don’t want to turn anyone away who has the ability and is willing to take on the challenge.”