March 12, 2009

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Simonds holds science fair

Simonds Elementary School is following President Barack Obama’s hopes to build the science and math education of students. That was proven on March 4, when the school held its sixth annual science fair at the Almaden Community Center.

Lockheed engineer Anthony Quivers interviews Akhil Sawhney, whose project on maglev trains won first prize among fourth grade projects. Photo by Joel West

The fair included 128 exhibitors and 101 projects, 30 percent larger than a year ago and the school’s biggest fair ever. All of the exhibitors received feedback from the 32 volunteer judges including 11 from Lockheed-Martin and five from Quixlver, Leland High School’s robotics team. All the exhibitors received a science-related gift and prizes were awarded to first-, second- and third-place projects for second through fifth grades.

First place for second graders went to Robert Dasch, who did a project on air pressure. Second place went to Nicholas Andrews for static electricity and third to Kyle Ness for action versus reaction. Third grade prizes went to Colin O’Rourke and Sohrob Rouhani for their first-place project on building stability with a tie for second place going to Alex Qin for conduction and Che Eun Kim for freezing different water. Rahul Natarajan and Navodit Rastogi took third place for greenhouse gasses.

Fourth-grade prizes went to Akhil Sawhney, who took first place for magnetic forces. Alyssa Avalos won second for her project on plant growth and Stephen Acomb and Parsa Rouhani took third for spoiling fruit. The fifth grade winners included Katie Lindsley and Katy West, who won first place for drying fruits and vegetables. Hiromu Ikeda took second for visualizing sound and Sarah Bellinger and Brianna Waddell received a third-lace for their project on gravity and friction.

Simonds PTA paid for the fair, which was run by five volunteers of the science fair committee. Laurie Christian-Neff kept track of all the student entry forms. Lisa Cundall purchased the prizes and awards. Teresa Ness managed the set-up, check-in and cleanup. Tracey O’Rourke arranged the exhibit layout and wrote the prize ribbons and committee chair Joel West ran the judging and publicity.

Leland Booster ‘Denim To Diamonds-2009’ to benefit athletic programs

The Leland High School Booster Club, made up of parent volunteers to support the athletic programs at the school, are staging their first athletic fundraiser on Friday March 20 at St. Anthony’s Church on McKean Road.

The event starts at 6:30 and runs until midnight. The event, which costs $55, includes dinner catered by the Sonoma Chicken Coop, dancing to the sounds of local band Free Fahlen as well as silent and live auctions. Former San Francisco 49er, Super Bowl champion and Leland alum Brent Jones will be on hand.

Leland freshman Lauren Kuechle won the art department contest to design the ‘Denim to Diamonds’ event logo.

“It is a huge understatement when I say these are difficult times to try and raise money, said event chair Mary Lee Jones. “As everyone struggles through, so do the sports programs at every school due to lack of funding either from the district or school itself. The booster club believes strongly that athletics are an integral part of the educational experience and its place needs to be secure. That is why a dedicated group of parents have been working very hard to pull this event together, to ensure the funding for needed items, services and capital improvements to the athletic program in total.”

In the past, the booster club has financed new seating for the football stadium, which Measure F funds did not cover. The club also funded a new weight room along with the remodel of the mini gym allowing more groups of athletes to train. It also has provided and had installed padding for the walls just under the basketball standards, a trainer to attend to the injuries of athletes and to help with that a new ice machine was purchased so plenty of ice would be available when needed to help treat injuries. Future wish list items include a new state-of-the-art sound system for the main gym and tackling the issue of a pool that is not official size for league meets and water polo matches.

“Being our first event, we decided to start small and really try and do it right,” Jones said. “We can handle up to approximately 245 people and with about a little more than a week to go we are nearly sold out. Our vision for the event is that it will be a good time for all who attend, raise some much needed funding and grow the event in the years to come so that it will be one that everyone wants to attend.”

The school’s art department held a contest among students to design the logo for the event. It was won by freshman Lauren Kuechle. “Lauren loves art, but it’s just a hobby. Right now she’s a freshman, enjoying basketball at Leland,” according to her mom, Yuri Kuechle.

For ticket information contact Cathy Sheehan at cathysheehan313@yahoo.com.

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