2 Local Students Win Trips to Space Camp

Two San Fernando Valley elementary school students have won trips to the U.S. Parent/Child Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.

Of the 22 entrants in the annual LA’s BEST Celebrate Science Fair held last weekend, only three were selected for the top honor: a trip to NASA’s space camp. The 19 runners-up will get free trips to the Woodcraft Rangers Science Camp at Stanley Ranch near Castaic Lake.

LA’s BEST is an after-school enrichment program for kids who live in neighborhoods identified as vulnerable to drugs, gangs and crime.

Henry Calderon, 10, from Canoga Park Elementary School, won judges over with his detailed presentation, savoir-faire and homemade chick incubator, said Coco Mendoza, coordinator for the program at Canoga Park Elementary.

“His presentation was awesome,” Mendoza said. “He had made little booklets explaining how he built the incubator and how the eggs hatched, and he memorized his whole speech. He also let the judges touch the chicks.”

Henry made the incubator out of a cardboard box. He cut a square from the front and placed a piece of glass over the space to form a window. Inside, he placed a 60-watt light bulb, lots of cotton and water, and several fertilized chicken eggs--which hatched right on schedule.

For his efforts, Henry will be rewarded with an all-expenses-paid trip to space camp from June 27-30. He plans to travel there with his older brother.

Manny Garcia, 10, a student at Napa Street Elementary School in Northridge, also impressed judges with his memorized speech and an illuminating project that compared three historical views of how the solar system functions.

“What we know in science changes,” Manny said in his speech. “Ptolemy told us that five planets revolved around the Earth, and Copernicus told us that nine planets revolved around the Sun.” Now, satellites have led scientists to question whether Pluto should actually be considered a planet, he said.

Manny plans to take his grandfather to space camp.