ON A RECENT WEDNESDAY MORNING
at the Brooklyn Free School, a class was in
session. Ten students, ranging in age from about
12 to 16, sat around a table having a heated
debate about chemistry. And superpowers.
“Those elements don’t really go together,” said one boy in a
hoodie and glasses. “Or I don’t think they go together.”
“But that would make it a good power,” another boy piped in.
“Cause they’re all so different. It’d be awesome to get all those
elements together in one guy.”
“Maybe,” the boy in the hoodie replied. “Let’s say maybe.”
This was “Chemistry: The Gathering,” a class where students
were creating an “elemental” version of the popular card game,
BY L U C AS K AV N E R