Ready, set, apply!

The folks who bring the world to Monterey County now want to send us out of space.
The Lyceum of Monterey County is taking application for its first ever "Space Adventure" camp -- a five-day class that will take students to the NASA Ames Research Center (and take a flight simulation class!!!), the Naval Postgraduate School (and take special guided tours of robotics, lasers, satellites, labs); and the Ching Planetarium.
So, if you are going into 5th, 6th, or 7th grade, write an essay explaining why you should be chosen to be in this planetary program, and send it to the folks at Lyceum. Deadline to apply is May 15. Happy travels!

Greenfield girls are gearing up for a day of healthy and informative Sunday. A group of teenage girls organized a conference that will touch on delicate topics such as reproductive health, drug and alcohol prevention, and self-esteem and emotional health. The free event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Greenfield Community Center (YMCA) at 1351 Oak Avenue in Greenfield. Registration is required, so contact Tobi Marcus at the Women’s Fund of Monterey County at (831) 375-9712 x125 or tobi@cfmco.org.

And speaking of South County, a new class is being offered for Spanish-speaking families to create their own digital family album. Free!! Classes began Monday, but there's probably room for more people to start next week. The group meets from 3 to 5 p.m. at Gabilan Elementary School, Rm 27, 330 N. Walker Dr, Soledad
Lunes, 3pm - 5pm / 26 April - 21 June. Llame al 831-678-6300 or 831-869-6055 para más información. O presione aquí.

Of artists and inventors...

Kudos to Francesca Flores and Makena Ehnisz, students at Santa Catalina Middle School, who have been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers for their whimsical photographs and will be honored at Carnegie Hall. A pretty impressive feat, considering that a record 165,000 pieces of art were submitted for the competition this year.
Francesca, an 8th grader, will receive a gold medal for her photo Evening Windows. Makena, a 7th grader, will get a silver medal for her photo Wind Swept. You can see the photos here.

And speaking of geniuses -- artistic or otherwise -- the Monterey County Fair wants young inventors to come up with your most creative innovations for their fall fair. Grab a copy of Jo Mora's "Chippie de Munk: The Great Inventor" and get inspired to enter in any of the fair's five categories:
* Dude Beagle’s Nut Cracker – Build a Working Nut Cracker
* Grandpa Gopher’s Marshmallow Shooter - Build a working Marshmallow Shooter.
* Terry Pin the Turtle’s Wind Generator – Build a working wind Wind Generator
* Brother Jack Rabbit’s Ready to Launch Rocket – Build a working rocket. Rocket Launch will be held during the Fair.
* Chippie De Munk’s Flying Machine Contest – Build a working paper airplane/glider. Kit to be provided to entrant. Glider competition will be held during the Fair.
Fair promoters are adopting Tom Friedman's recent statements regarding our economy: "We might be able to stimulate our way back to stability, but we can only invent our way back to prosperity.” So boys and girls, go on and invent some prosperity for us!!!! For more information about the contest, click here.

Earth to earth

Following a tradition he began a few years ago, Jerry Gleason will take a team of five students from the East Salinas afterschool program (L.I.F.E.) to the 2010 Tech Challenge at Tech Museum in San Jose this weekend. The group had to devise a "robot" to mount two rocket thrusters on a immobile model satellite to kick a piece of "space junk" out of earth orbit from a simulated base on the International Space Station. They will have three minutes to accomplish this task.

Here is a photo of the 5 member team: Bryan Escamilla, Jonathan Duenas, Antonio Pedraza, Nestor Garcia, and Guillermo Montano -- all of them students from Fremont Elementary.

What Mr. Gleason teaches these children goes beyond mechanics and aerodynamics: he's teaching them how to dream. My sombrero goes off to him.

But you don't need to orbit the earth to care for it -- as demonstrated by hundreds of children who celebrated Earth Day this week. The fun continues this weekend when Lagunita School, one of the smallest schools/districts in the county, hosts its FIRST EVER recycling event fundraiser on Saturday. The newly formed Lagunita School Foundation is hosting the fundraiser to help pay for the renovations needed for the Library/Media Center. You'll have a chance to see A&S Metals' notorious "Car Crusher," the SVSWA's "Bag Monster," educational booths and crafts, a "Whack the Car" game, and refreshments sold by the Lagunita Parent Teacher Association.

Lagunita School is located at 975 San Juan Grade Road outside of Salinas.