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A science teacher at Hermosa Montessori Charter School has won a $2,500 grant to add a new topic to her existing curriculum.

Starting next school year, Kari Debbink will be able to teach the science of photoluminescence to students, an idea that was prompted by a curious student.

"I was looking for a project the students would be interested in," Debbink said. "The students wanted to learn about glow sticks and how they work. They know things glow, but they really don't know how."

Photoluminescence describes the process in which a chemical absorbs photons and radiates them back out. The process can last for seconds or minutes. The energy in the emission of photons comes in the form of light, which is what makes things glow, called fluorescence or phosphorescence.

Debbink said she won't devote an entire semester or year to the subject, but it will be woven into existing material.

The grant will help pay for materials used to study the properties of photoluminescence, Debbink said. Some of those materials include resource books, chemicals and other laboratory items.

Without the grant, the subject would be very difficult to teach at the school, said Principal Sheila Stolov.

"Arizona is one of the lowest per-pupil expenditure states," Stolov said. "Grants are a way that we can add to what is a pretty rich curriculum, but is pretty challenging with the dollars the state gives us."

This will be the first time Debbink has taught photoluminescence.

"I've answered the question many times but never formally talked about it in class," she said.