Science specialist a winner

Debby West, Oak Park Unified School District’s science specialist, will be honored at the Friends of Oak Park Schools Education Foundation’s “Friends Play Together” game night.

West led a team of Medea Creek Middle School and Oak Park High School students to victory in two science competitions earlier this year—the Ventura County Idea to Impact Challenge and the USC/Quicksilver QuikSCience program.

Oak Park teams won first place in both school divisions. An Oak Park High School team entered a project called “A is for Algae,” which focused on learning about marine algae and growing a potential biofuel.

Team members for the QuikSCience competition were Michael Ebert, Steffan Kim, Nirupam Nigam, Avyay Panchapakesan, Vivian Rotenstein, Amos Too and Tiffany Wu.

First place in the high school division for the Idea to Impact Challenge was awarded to an Oak Park High School team project called “The Whale.”

The project looked at ships that strike and kill whales in the Santa Barbara Channel and threats to whales around the world. The team raised $1,500 for the American Cetacean Society by selling ceramics made at the OPHS lab, conducting bake sales at elementary schools and through other activities.

Rebecca Gordon, Kathleen McGeegan, Kayla Sadwick, Sam Hirsch, Justin Orens and Jacob Wyner competed in the high school Idea to Impact project.

Medea Creek Middle School students in the Idea to Impact competition also won first place for their project “Paper or Plastic? Neither!” The team examined the hazards on the marine environment associated with plastic bags and how people should use to reusable bags.

Middle school team members honored were Jessica Ji, Yael Karoly, Katherine Kim, Paula Martin, Irena Yang and Jianna Zeolla.

Other Oak Park middle and high school teams won honorable mentions in both competitions. Members of the 14 teams gave lessons to other students, which engaged more than 1,500 students in Oak Park schools. All teams also performed community service related to their projects.

Oak Park Unified School District Superintendent Tony Knight expressed gratitude to West and to Friends of Oak Park Schools for funding the science specialist position and supporting science education in Oak Park.