"To confess the truth, Mrs. B., I am not disposed to form a very favorable idea of chemistry, nor do I expect to derive much entertainment from it." That 200-year-old statement by Caroline to Mrs. Bryan, her teacher, appeared on the first page of Jane Marcet's pioneering secondary school textbook, "Conversations on Chemistry". It was published 17 years after Antoine Lavoisier's "Elements of Chemistry" and 2 years prior to John Dalton's "A New System of Chemical Philosophy". Caroline's classic comment foreshadows what many students have expressed since chemistry appeared as an early 19th-century school subject. Post-"Sputnik" efforts to capture students' interest and engagement, or, in Robert Mager's words, "approach tendencies", can be regarded as contemporary responses to Caroline's views. This is a summary of several collaborative initiatives and experiences since "Sputnik's" launch intended to stimulate student involvement in their learning. Among these are the Chemical Education Material (CHEM) Study project, the Chemical Bond Approach (CBA) project, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Chemistry (IAC), "Chemistry in the Community" (ChemCom), "SourceBook", and the National Science Education Standards. (Contains 1 note, 1 figure and 2 tables.)