Burbank students come together for a field day

More than 400 Burbank students participated in dance, science, cooking and sporting competitions Thursday afternoon at an annual after-school field day event.

Students from Walt Disney, Providencia and George Washington elementary schools, along with Luther Burbank Middle School, involved in the After School Education and Safety Program gathered at Luther for the event.

Among them was 9-year-old Maian Maouas, a fourth-grader at Washington, who was competing in the Science Olympiad, in which she would be given the task of making a marshmallow catapult out of spoons and sticks.

“I’m the launcher — I’m going to try to fling the marshmallow on one specific spot” Maian said. “I wanted to do science because I heard we do a lot of building and I’m into that.”

Meanwhile, 10-year-old Faith Pereira was participating in the dance competition, for which she has been practicing since December.

“We stretch, then make some new moves up and put the song all together,” Faith said, adding that her favorite part was jumping while roaring at the end of her dance.

Inside, Daniela Guzman, 10, and Sabine Saavedra, 9, both fourth-graders at Disney, were preparing for their cooking competition, in which they had to make a palatable dish out of salsa, pasta sauce, bread, asparagus, canned beans, corn and cheese.

Jennifer Shaughnessy, who coordinates after-school activities, said the program gives kids an opportunity to mingle with students from other schools.

“It teaches them teamwork, respect, responsibility and how to work as a team,” Shaughnessy said.