We Are KidChemist!

KidChemist is a program and resource that offers many opportunities for children to be involved, discover new skills, explore different career options, make new friends, receive scholarships, and expand their knowledge. Our mission is to inspire and educate children about science through hands-on experiments, enhance children’s interest, knowledge, and confidence in science, and to be a program for children to implement their imagination and curiosity.

Founded by Zahraa Mougnieh who graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor’s in Science in Psychology, KidChemist was created to go beyond the norms. During Zahraa’s college career, she had one goal – to become a dentist. While taking the numerous classes needed for her degree, she realized she was not prepared enough for chemistry growing up.

Chemistry is not an easy subject, to say the least. All of her sleepless nights of studying for chemistry classes could have been easily resolved if she had learned the fundamentals of science in a way that really made it interesting and fun growing up — the frustration was building. She tutored kids in all subjects since she was 16 years old, worked as a substitute teacher for all grade levels during college, and was a parapro at a local middle school. These experiences showed her that the very same frustration she felt was being felt by many other students. The general consensus was “why am I not being taught this in a fun and exciting way that sparks my interest, knowledge, and confidence in science”?

Science is always looked at by many students as a dreadful subject because of the way it has been presented to them. She knew she could develop a different approach. She started with her nieces, creating hands-on experiments with them at home and targeting a specific subject each week. She saw them grasping advanced concepts without them even knowing — she had made learning fun for them! Their interest in science and chemistry would only grow and, as a result, prepare them the right way for their future.

Through her self-teaching and endless studying, she was afraid of failing or not getting accepted. Applying to many dental schools coupled with these experiences taught her that failure is part of the process. Zahraa learned so much from failing and found her new passion from it. Through this journey, she created Kid Chemist, a fully hands-on program that offers children what she didn’t have.