Chemistry education fortunate to have Mole Day

By Correne Martin

There are 40,000 chemistry teachers in the United States. If only 10 percent celebrated National Mole Day—on Oct. 23, from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. yearly—each teacher had 100 students, and each of those students shared in the fun with parents and siblings, that would mean, per year, roughly 1 million people are influenced globally by the most important concept in chemistry: Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10²³).

Those are some pretty impressive numbers highlighting the impact of National Mole Day, which was founded in Prairie du Chien by the high school’s then-chemistry teacher, Maury Oehler, and officially celebrated by the district for the first time at the school in 1986. 

Nearly 32 years later, a wealth of memorabilia, that Oehler and his colleagues accumulated over the years, is being handed over to the Fort Crawford Museum for installation of a permanent National Mole Day Exhibit in the city of this unique phenomenon’s origination. A grand opening ceremony for the exhibit will be at the museum on Saturday, June 23, at 1:30 p.m. All are invited.

Among the items on display and catalogued at the museum will be yearly themed Mole Day artifacts, such as cartoon artwork, T-shirts, postcards, music (songs and lyrics), foundation member pins and certificates and much more.

“They’re keeping everything away from me,” Oehler said last week about the exhibit’s secretive creation. “I’m just happy we have a place for the memorabilia.” 

Oehler added, he doesn’t have a speech prepared but hopes to introduce other important people who’ve had a hand in the success of Mole Day and its foundation. Oehler anticipates appearances by the foundation’s president Art Logan, original cartoonist John Mundt, postcard artist Gari Walz, and musician Mike Offutt as well as others who’ve created the resplendence surrounding the yearly celebration.

The initial idea of Mole Day was planted in the early 1980s, over 25 years into Oehler’s teaching career. He saw an issue of “The Science Teacher” magazine, which published a chemistry teacher’s rationale for her idea of celebrating the day. Thinking it was a fantastic idea, he only mentioned it in his class that year. The following school year, in 1986, his class started small with recognition projects on Oct. 23, and by ‘88 and ‘89, the commemoration became “as big as homecoming” in Prairie du Chien. 

“I always believed a good teacher is gonna do things to make it interesting,” Oehler stated. “If kids get excited about chemistry, they learn it more easily.” This was certainly a basis for the Mole Day idea, a way of fostering enthusiasm about chemistry. 

From then on, the day of special demonstrations was observed school-wide every year. Other teachers in different subjects got involved. Students and staff would meet at a local restaurant for breakfast that day, at 6:02 a.m., of course. They made Mole food such as Mole-cakes and guaca-Mole. They stretched a poster across the western side of the high school. A 10-foot Mole was constructed from wood, a statue that would randomly “show up on campus,” Oehler pointed out. 

The celebration soon caught on around the region and across the state before stretching its way  from coast to coast. Thanks to newsletters, news releases and industry events, it grew in popularity much more than Oehler or his closest chemistry associates could have ever imagined. 

The foundation was incorporated in 1991, when Oehler’s acquaintance Terry Burrington told him he should start one. So, they put a few hundred dollars together and did just that. The initial board of directors consisted of Oehler’s children, wife Letty and friends. Today, it has grown to include nine members from five different states. 

Prior to Mole Day in 1991, Prairie du Chien cartoonist John Mundt was approached to create a Mole to represent the brand. He recollected how difficult it was to come up with the perfect character that was more iconic-looking than scientific. 

“The first several drawings, I drew him at a little chalkboard with a beaker,” Mundt said. Eventually, the yearly themes gave him more artistic liberty. The artist remembered certain pun-ny motifs, like “Mole-morial Day” and “Molar Reflections,” as being the most complicated. However, he relished in the joy of creating such themes as “Molercoaster,” “Mole the Merrier,” “Rock ‘n’ Mole,” “Pi ala Mole” and “Moles of the Caribbean.” He said “We Dig Chemistry” was the only one without “Mole” in it.

Many of Mundt’s drawings will be shown in the exhibit, including the first few and some rejected ones like a “Twilight” series that never made the cut. 

Mundt touted his observance that the entire Mole Day celebration was a collaborative effort involving the hands of many “wonderful” enthusiasts.

While the organization is a national one, it is also well-known internationally, according to Prairie du Chien Historical Society President Mary Antoine. Members, including charter affiliates, pay Mole dues yearly. Some of the originals continue doing so today, displaying their pins and certificates proudly, Oehler noted.

“We feel very honored that Maury would choose us for his archives and to put up the exhibit,” Antoine said on behalf of the society and museum, where Mole Day will be on full, permanent display in the lower building. It will sit next to the Campion Jesuit High School exhibit, where, ironically, Oehler taught science prior to his high school gig.

She noted, the exhibit could expand someday, depending on if other devoted chemists decide to donate pieces from their collections. 

“This is a celebration acknowledging the people who live in our own community,” Antoine added. Maury and Letty are longtime museum members and have also been active volunteers, along with their family, around the community. 

“The Mole Day exhibit is an example of how one man took an idea and spread it into becoming this national organization,” she continued. “I think that shares the message anyone can make something happen that’s really important and engaging to a lot of people.”

Janet Finn, a chemistry colleague of Oehler’s who taught in the Wauzeka school district when he taught in Prairie, agreed. “I just can hardly imagine that, when this started, we knew it would go ‘viral’ like it has,” she stated. 

As with the endless other exhibits at the Fort Crawford Museum, Antoine said, it will be interesting to see the associations that visitors—including tourists from faraway places—will have with this particular showcase. 

The public is welcome at the museum Saturday to congratulate and reminisce with Oehler, his family and former students and National Mole Day Foundation supporters. There will be a small, formal program at 1:30 p.m., followed by time to explore the new exhibit and socialize.