A question. An encounter. A drop.
People
Stories
- community
- value
- education
It can all start with a drop
Some outcomes can be planned. Others reveal themselves later, when something you shared has already begun to take on a life of its own.
Reading time: 3 minutes
For five years, we have been bringing chemistry into local schools. Not to tell students what we do, but to put some of what we know into their hands: an experiment to try, a phenomenon to observe, a question to explore together.
Then the workshop ends. Lab coats come off, materials are packed away, we go back to our work and the students return to their lessons.
But sometimes, something stays. And keeps going.
That is exactly what happened at the “Luigi Majno” Lower Secondary School in Gallarate.
A few months after the rheology workshops held together with our chemists, the students of Class 2G turned that experience into "From toothpaste to sauces. The story of an experience between solid and liquid — a project built on scientific exploration, hands-on learning and collaboration."
Their work received a Special Mention at the Federchimica Giovani National Award “Chemistry: the science that saves the world.”
And for us, the real value of this recognition lies in what happened next.
The experience did not end when we left the school.The students made it their own. They explored further, asked new questions and worked together, turning what they had experienced into knowledge and a story they could share.
Perhaps that is the most meaningful outcome we could have hoped for.
Creating opportunities for something to happen
For us, being part of a community means more than simply being there. It means asking ourselves what we can contribute and set in motion.
Knowledge. Experience. Time. But above all, opportunities.
Because we believe the relationship between schools and industry should not begin when a young person is ready to enter the workplace. It can start much earlier when they are still discovering what interests them, what surprises them and what they might want to become.
That is when encountering chemistry beyond the pages of a textbook can make a difference.
Not necessarily by creating the chemists of tomorrow, but by showing that behind every formula there is a way of looking at the world: observe, question, imagine an answer, experiment, get it wrong, try again.
This is precisely what the Jury recognised: the value of learning by doing, active participation and teamwork, as well as the connection created between school, the local community and industry through the involvement of Lamberti’s chemists.
It is a vision we deeply believe in.
A shared achievement
This recognition belongs first and foremost to the students.
They are the ones who turned an experience into their own project. And it belongs to Professors Messina and Cumbo, who believed in its value and helped it continue well beyond the workshop.
It is also an opportunity to thank the people at Lamberti who make these encounters possible: Cristina Demarchi, Head of the Quality Laboratory in Albizzate, and her team; Davide Secchi, Scientific Educational Manager and all the colleagues who took part in the activities.
For five years, they have chosen to share their time, expertise and passion with students.
A small gesture, perhaps.
But after five years of workshops, we have learnt that we can never know how far something we share might travel.
The chemistry of tomorrow
The chemistry of the future will be called on to answer questions for which we do not yet have solutions. It will need research, technology and new skills.
But all of that comes later. First, we need curious minds.
People willing to look at something everyone else takes for granted and ask why it works that way.
People ready to test an answer and, if it does not work, look for another one.
We do not know whether any of the students we have met over these five years will one day become a chemist or a researcher. And we do not need to know.
Our role, together with schools, is to create opportunities for them to find out.
When we first shared the story of our workshops at the Majno Institute, we hoped that the experience might become a first step towards a future in science.
Today, this award cannot tell us where that first step will lead. But it tells us something that may matter even more: that the journey did not stop there.
Because sometimes, to set something bigger in motion, it takes very little.