LAKEPORT — Each year in Sandy Cornell”s sixth grade classroom, there is a student who has never seen the ocean. For her, and a parent who took it upon herself to seek out and win a grant for sixth grade science camp, that fact testifies to the awe and importance of the annual, three-day educational trip to the ocean in Fort Bragg. Each year, educators work hard to find the resources for students to attend the camp.
“For some, it”s the first time to actually see that massive ocean ? it gives you goose bumps. It”s awesome,” Cornell said.
This year, finding funds for science camp will be a little bit easier. On Monday, Terrace Middle School received a $5,000 grant from the medical technology company Medtronic, Inc. in Santa Rosa, a global leader in developing stents, a devise that opens up arteries.
The grant application was written by Sugar Mejia, the mother of two Terrace students. Since last fall she has applied to about 15 different corporate grants, but was turned down each time until she found Medtronic. She had never applied for a grant before.
“I am a mom, if you are then you will know that you are willing to ask anyone for anything for the sake of your children. There are some great kids in Lake County, unfortunately, many come from economically challenged situations. The $100 to attend ? for some kids, they were not even going to go home and ask. This really takes the pressure off the kids to try to generate some funds,” Mejia said.
Sixth grade science camp began with one very expensive, four-day trip to a camp in Sonoma County in 1997. That was the first and last trip until it was “resurrected” six years ago, this time to MacKerricher State Park at the Pacific Environmental Education Center in Fort Bragg, according to Terrace Principal Jill Falconer.
For the past two years, it has been a three-day and two night trip. Previously, the trip was just one night. Of the 129 sixth grade students, each are able to attend because of fundraising scholarships. “Fundraising is massive. It gets to be hard, but we have great support from parents,” Cornell said.
And the Medtronic grant will relieve much of that pressure, Falconer said.
“It”s very exciting. They did say that four percent of their employees live in Lake County, so they wanted to make sure that they give to Lake County,” Falconer said.
Medtronic Public Relations Manager Rich Fischer said the company receives many school grant applications, and the fact a parent applied “goes to show the involvement” of parents and educators at Terrace.
Yearly, the company donates $3.7 million to education, giving priority to areas where employees live and work.
“As a company that”s built on science and technology, improved health will depend on the next generation of scientific innovators,” Fischer said, adding that Terrace “met all the criteria for the types of educational programs” Medtronic supports.
“We look at everything from how well it is evaluated to does it serve economic disadvantaged students ? by and large we want to ensure as many students as possible have access to the better science programs that are out there,” Fischer said.
Sixth grade teacher Stacy Holland said the camp relates directly to the sixth grade earth science curriculum. “I think a student said it perfectly ? it made her textbook come alive for her. That”s absolutely the way it is, it”s not just a picture anymore ? they can feel it and touch it,” Holland said. All sorts of educational experiences come to life as naturalists lead the class on hikes through the pygmy forest, to ocean life in the tide pools and botany in the sand dunes, Holland added.
She remembers two students viewing the coast for the first time. “It was a thrilling moment ? it”s this incredible experience they”ll remember forever,” Holland said.
Medtronic is a medical technology company with headquarters in Minneapolis, developing technology such as insulin pumps and stents. Its Santa Rosa location has about 1,200 employees.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
