Friesen says that at the beginning, he never dreamed Chem 13 News would become so popular. But as teachers began to realize how helpful it was to them they became devoted to it, and it has surely resulted in better high school teaching and better chemistry students, who often continued their studies on into university. These ran from 1970 to 1982, usually on a Saturday in April. Approximately 100 high school teachers would come to each one. The idea was to provide enrichment for them.
Teachers participate by sharing experiences of the art and craft of teaching.
As a result of success of these conferences a CHEM ED 87 lecture series was started, honoring Reg Friesen, and also commemorating his collaboration with the late Len Sibley, a St. Catharines Collegiate Institute and Vocational School chemistry teacher who contributed much to the organization of the early conferences, as well as to the Saturday seminar programs and the Chem 13 News concept. This was initially called the Chem 13 News exam. From a modest beginning in 1971, when 1,569 students wrote it, it grew rapidly. The number of students writing it passed the 6,000 figure in 1977. Its success has led, within the past few years, to the addition of the Avogadro Exam, named after an Italian theoretician of the early 19th century, Amedeo Avogadro.