Twenty-six other students won blue ribbons and will advance to the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair this month.

Awards were determined by teams of local scientists, business people, teachers and other community members. The judges viewed student project displays, then interviewed students to determine the quality and thoroughness of their research.

Top honors went to:

Allen Chu of Maria Carrillo High who presented a project called “Is there a correlation between short-term memory and IQ?”

Jessica Conrad of Maria Carrillo High who presented a project called “Are Wi-Fi radio waves harmful?”

Cameron Crook of Maria Carrillo High who presented a project called “Are phytoplankton affected by a decrease in light?”

Samantha Royall of Mary Collins at Cherry Valley who presented a project called “Which type of water filter is best, sediment or carbon?”

Each of the students earned $100 for themselves and $100 for their school, along with a telescope donated by the NASA outreach program at Sonoma State University.

Two other students earned a trip to the regional and state competition.

Kathleen Cuschieri of Maria Carrillo High’s presentation of “How does what everyday people find attractive compare to what the media advertises as attractive?”

Tiffany Wei of Maria Carrillo High presented “What type of music affects people the most in terms of speed and accuracy when working on math problems?”

More than 100 students participated.

Other students receiving 2010 Science Fair blue ribbons:

James Arietta

Maria Carrillo High

Hormone effects on plants

Jacob Austring and Sean Snyder

Technology High

Do rocket fins affect trajectory and speed?

Arthur Baney

Technology High

Computerized simulation of genetic selection in evolution

Shyla Barry

Mary Collins at Cherry Valley

Fabric dyes—natural vs. synthetic

Michael Beard

Healdsburg Junior High

Out in the cold

Stella Brown

Mary Collins at Cherry Valley

How do different light sources affect the growth of plants?

Lena Eiger

Kenilworth Junior High

The cloud chamber

Michael Goodanetz

Valley Oaks High

Bacon or cookies?

Sophia Grubb

Rancho Cotate High

Surface adsorption effect on protein denaturation by alcohol

Husna Hadi

Technology High

Effects of engaging in cellular conversations while operating a motor vehicle

Ellie Haiman and Jared Martino

Technology High

Effects of temperature and light on algae growth

Sam Hauptman

Maria Carrillo High

Brain freezes

Yanelly Jimenez and Acacia Garcia

Valley Oaks High

Yanelly and Acacia’s music project

Brianna Lehane

St. Francis Solano

Who has a cleaner mouth: a dog or a human?

Caitlyn Long and Kevin Miller

Technology High

Subliminal messages, a new form of mind control

Danielle Maillard

St. Francis Solano

Yummy visions

Colin Metcalfe

Maria Carrillo High

Effects of lowered temperatures on the adaptability of bacteria

Michael Setchko Palmerlee

Maria Carrillo High

Plants and pollution

Garrett Soiland

Jewett Academy

Effects of an enhanced carbon dioxide atmosphere on plant growth

Andrew Strachan

Rincon Valley Middle

Optimizing a Lego NXT drag racer

The regional bees determined which students will advance to the county spelling bee scheduled for March 29. First and second place winners at that competition will advance to the statewide contest May 15 at Sonoma State University.

Check out the following winners who advanced to the county bee:

South County Regional

1–Lilly Reinstein, grade 6,

McNear School

2—Calvin Jin, grade 6,

Harvest Christian School

3—Grace Cutting, grade 5,

St. Francis Solano School

4—Erin Martin, grade 6,

Two Rock School

5—Sarah Jane Catarozoli,

grade 5, Valley Vista School

North County Regional

1—Taylor Wang, grade 6,

Strawberry School

2—David Donaldson, grade 6,

John B. Riebli Elementary School

3—Sienna McDonald, grade 6,

Alexander Valley Elementary School

4—Dhyana Brylka, grade 5,

The Healdsburg School

5—Reny Grothen, grade 5,

Binkley School

Central County Regional

1—Anthony Martensen, grade 6,

Madrone School

2—Emily Lu, grade 5,

Marguerite Hahn Elementary School

3—Kevin Bailey, grade 6,

Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School

4—Bianca Hillegas, grade 6,

Hidden Valley School

5—Paul Gamboa, grade 6,

Albert F. Biella Elementary School

West County Regional

1—Lana Tan, grade 6,

Guerneville School

2—Noelle Heron, grade 5,

Salmon Creek Charter School

3—Acacia Mueller, grade 5,

Salmon Creek Charter School

4—Amandeep Singh, grade 6,

Bellevue School

5—Whitney Nguyen, grade 6,

Roseland Elementary School

________

Law Week is coming again and this time with a record number of presenters from the local legal community.

This year’s theme is “American Jury: We the people in action” and will be held March 14-19.

Interested schools and teachers are invited to call or email coordinator Rebecca Gallagher to sign up to have a member of the legal community come to your classroom and give a talk on the ins and outs of the American jury system.

Gallagher can be reached at rgallagher@scoe.org or 524-2947.

I have covered Law Week in the past and typically students treat the experience in part like a career day question and answer period, but also hit the speakers with some day to day “how to” questions about the legal sytem.

Sponsored by the Sonoma County Office of Education and the Sonoma County Bar Association, the project last year focused on the concept of habeas corpus or the legal means to challenge unlawful detention.

When I can get our archive search up and running, I’ll post links to past stories about law week. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here is the link to past stories: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090223/ARTICLES/902230897

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080502/NEWS/805020381

State schools chief Jack O’Connell and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday morning signed the state’s application for Race to the Top federal funding.

“The Race to the Top application outlines how we intend to make systemic changes to our education system in order to accelerate the development of a highly skilled workforce, fuel future innovations, and maintain California’s standing as a leading world economy,” O’Connell said in a statement.

The Obama administration is making $4.3 billion available for the program which gives money based on a competitive application. California altered its education laws in advance of submitting its application in a move backers said would make California more competitive.

But support is deeply divided. In Sonoma County, not all districts signed on in support. Santa Rosa and West Sonoma County are among the districts that opted out, while Windsor, Petaluma, Bellevue and the county office of education are pursuing the program at this point.

According to O’Connell’s office 46.5 percent of school districts, representing 58 percent of the state’s school children, have signed on in support and are eligible for whatever money California may receive.

 For past blog entries on this topic click here: http://extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/11651/from-sacramento-some-race-to-the-top-answers/

http://extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/11624/santa-rosa-says-no-thanks-to-obama-plan-money/

Organizers of the 2009 Youth Symposium & Youth Career Fair is looking for local employers to participate in their annual job fair.

There is no cost to participate.

The event will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Veterans Building, 1351 Maple Ave. in Santa Rosa. Employers are asked to arrive by noon.

About 75 employeers and 450 youth are expected to participate.

Sponsors include Sonoma County Office of Education, First Community Bank, Kaiser Permanente, Empire College, Sonoma County Workforce Investment Board and the Sonoma County Employer Advisory Council.

For more information and to sign up, contact Mehroz Baig at 565-7283 or mbaig@sonoma-county.org

09-career-fair-registration-form1