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Schools

Science Expo Inspires Local Students

The 2nd Annual Environmental Science Education Expo puts on the best of the valley's student projects.

Nearly 100 students participated in the Environmental Science Education Expo at the Cal State San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus Friday.

Students were invited in honor of their participation in award-winning science fairs.

“This is a day in which the children can be celebrated for their accomplishments in science, and an opportunity to inspire them to continue pursuing environmental science,” said expo coordinator Laura Morphey, who is also a science teacher at Coachella Valley High.

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To honor the students acheivements, their science projects were on display throughout the day. The students also participated in various worshops, with speakers from local enviromental organizations.

One topic titled "Radioactive Environment" captivated the student's attention due to the recent disasters in Japan, Morphey said.

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A special workshop held at the expo invited the top science students from the Coachella and Palm Springs unified school districts to discuss “City Planning and Sustainability” with Paul Lin developer/creator of Paradise Valley, Calif., and the community development director for Desert Hot Springs, Martin Magana.

“This workshop is a unique opportunity for students to contribute their knowledge of the environment and scientific technologies to a real world situation,” Morphey said.

Four students who were invited to this workshop were from the Cathedral City High Mathematic Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) Club. This club will become an official class at CCHS next year, led by teacher/advisor George Howell.

“We were invited to enter the Empire Solar Challenge by West Valley Water District, and the students actually met the CEO of the company today,” Howell said.

Junior Jill Thetford, Sophomore Miriam Marcias, and Freshmen Lawrence Sarte and Jose Reyes were an integral part of a 15 student team who built a 16-foot boat equipped with solar power technology.

The team placed sixth out of seven in the race that took place mid-March.

“Considering this was our first year entering the competition, we had a lot to celebrate having not come in at last place,” said Jill, who served as the team’s Skipper. "We are looking forward to entering the competition again next year."

"It was a fun project, and a good teamwork experience,"said Miriam, "We really enjoyed repairing the boat when we encountered problems, we were like a pit crew in Nascar!"

The boat was on display in front of the campus’s Indian Wells Theatre.

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