feature stories
Keeping the chemical balance
Jun 5, 2008 4:49 PM
Pitula enjoys a chat after school with students Chris Lee, Trisha Mondal and Mariya Morgaylo.
Lois Pitula, a lab specialist at Stuyvesant HS, prepares for her day by either walking or bicycling the 2.6 miles from her home to the school, unless it’s raining or snowing.
As she approaches the school building, she already knows it is going to be another fulfilling day, mainly because she can’t think of anything that might make it go wrong.
“I work with smart, dedicated teachers and students who love to learn, so there is not much else to ask for,” she said.
Teacher David Bank keeps his distance from exploding Gummy Bears as Lois Pitula fires up the burette.
Not surprisingly, the feeling is mutual. Just ask one of Pitula’s colleagues. David Bank donned safety gear as Pitula demonstrated, with a bright, fiery explosion, what happens when you throw sugar-loaded Gummy Bear candy into a test tube of potassium chlorate. As the mixture shot off a flame, Bank jumped back from the explosion in the same way he teaches his students to do.
“Lois is thorough and demanding,” Bank said. “She manages a vast amount of material and a huge budget. She keeps our heads above water.” Bank added, “If she can’t answer your question, she will find the answer for you.” Bank also said that teachers and students admire Pitula because she takes the demonstrations into their classes.
The self-effacing Pitula describes herself as “self-directed.” She has been at the school for 17 years. “I do what I have to do,” she said. “I am available for teachers and I try to make their jobs easier.” When pressed to describe the toughest part of the job, it took her a few moments to think of one because she doesn’t consider the job difficult in any way. “Well, the paperwork is time-consuming,” she finally said.
Part of Pitula’s job is to keep track of all the chemicals stored in the school and to handle the purchase orders for anything that teachers need. Her “worst fear,” she added, is hearing glass break, because in all probability, it’s another $50 burette on the floor.
She also said the administration of the school is supportive and that parents are constantly raising money to help her buy supplies.
Other teachers and students echoed Bank’s thoughts. “She is fun,” said one chemistry student, “even when she is reminding us to wear our goggles, which we sometimes forget.” Zhen-Chuan Li, a chemistry teacher, said Pitula “prepares everything for us. She works more than I do.” Pitula has also organized a “Lab Squad” of students who help her get materials ready for the classes.
“There is no typical day in the life of a lab specialist,” Pitula said. “Every day provides a unique set of challenges and responsibilities,” she added. “There are days that can be hectic and demanding, and days that are light in requirements. Because timelines and lab dates for programs are established in the beginning of the term, lab specialists can really set their own pace.”
Just another fun day at the lab for Pitula, students and teacher Steven O’Malley (kneeling front).
A day in the life of a lab specialist is probably very different for each of the 190 lab specialists, Pitula pointed out. “Workload and demands are dependent on individual schools, their program and number of classes, variety of courses offered and number of students enrolled. However, there is a common thread and that applies to our duties and responsibilities.”
Stuyvesant is not “a typical school,” Pitula said. “We have 25 Regents Chemistry classes, four classes of analytical chemistry, four classes of advanced placement chemistry and two classes of organic chemistry.”
In that environment, a lab specialist is an absolute necessity. “There are two specialists assigned to chemistry alone — I am one of them — servicing a teaching staff of nine and maintaining four well-used laboratories.”
Another aspect of her job, she said, is keeping up with new governmental mandates. “This year, I completed the mercury removal program as mandated by the state,” she said, after legislation went into effect banning elemental mercury from schools in New York State. “I surveyed every department and sub-school within our building and had all regulated materials removed,” Pitula said.
While Pitula was removing mercury, she also prepared a list of old and unwanted chemicals from both the chemistry and biology departments. “They, too, were carted off with the mercury,” she said. “What we have left makes for a cleaner and safer environment.”
This view of increased mandates was backed up by Laurie Campetella, the lab specialists chapter leader, who said: “We have encountered in the last 10 years new regulations on chemicals like mercury and lead, new procedures on chemical storage, disposal and handling regulations, new regulations on bloodborne pathogens, new ordering procedures and a yearly chemical inventory. Some of us have access to computers where all inventories have to be inputted. All these new regulations and procedures lead to more work.”
Campetella also said the workload of lab specialists has increased “mainly because there is a shortage of lab specialists resulting in a minimal number of staff in each school. For instance, one school has 2,000 students and only one lab specialist while it needs at least two and in the past had three or four lab specialists.”
Pitula discusses with teacher Zhen-Chuan Li, student Madhusree Chowdhury and teacher Samantha Daves advanced molecular shapes with new molecular model kits purchased with a $2,000 donation from the school’s Parents Association.
