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.