On Carstens Field, a crowd of students gathered at 6:02 a.m. Oct. 23 to celebrate the mole, a unit of atomic measurement representing 6.02 x 10²³ atoms or molecules of a given substance. This is the 23rd consecutive Mole Day celebration organized by the DGN science department.
“We started this in 2003, So we’re approaching a 25 year mark here soon. The games came in maybe 12 years ago. We used to do it as a run-walk and have breakfast and sing a song. Now it’s manifested into something even bigger,” biology teacher Jeffrey Grant said. “The whole science department is invested, so we all do a little lifting so we can do a lot of stuff.”
At Mole Day, students play various games like hockey and cornhole with stuffed moles. One stuffed mole in particular begins the day by being launched out of a cannon by science teacher John Sipple at precisely 6:02.
“The cannon was constructed by some AP Chemistry students a long time ago. It is a carbide cannon, so you use calcium carbide and a little bit of water, and it makes acetylene gas. And so when you spark it, the acetylene gas explodes,” Sipple said. “It’s been around here as long as I’ve been here, so almost 20 years.”
The firing of the stuffed mole from the cannon signals the students to begin running 6.02 laps around the track. This year, sophomore Derrick Ennis caught the mole before it touched the ground.
“This is my first time here, so when I first heard the pop and saw something shot out, and originally I thought it was one of the T-shirts,” Ennis said. “As I ran, I grabbed it, and then I realized it was this completely destroyed mole. As I was running around and showing it to everybody, a teacher realized that it was the burnt mole and said that they’re going to be displaying all of them, so I had to give away my mole.”
Participating students are provided with “Mole-bucks” by staff members which they can enter into a raffle to win stickers, candy, and more. One of these staff members was the new science department chair Brian Glasby, who oversaw his first Mole Day this year.
“This is a one-of-a-kind thing that Mr. Grant has brought to life; definitely a DGN experience,” Glasby said. “It doesn’t surprise me that you all come out, even though with the weather, it’s nice and brisk. After all the days and weeks of planning and helping out, I can finally see it come to life. It’s pretty cool.”
Students studying molar measurements in DGN’s chemistry classes can receive extra credit points for attending mole day. Other students come to socialize or to eat the free food. One of these students includes senior Kevin McAleenan, who has attended Mole Day all four years of his high school career.
“This is just a thing that people in science classes do, and people who enjoy science, and I’m definitely one of those people. It’s just great to come out here and hang out with people, watch the sunrise, and play mole-related games,” McAleenan said. “I think everyone should do it at least once to see how they like it.”
