| News - Friday, May 16, 2008
Of Note
Local Scouts earn Eagle status
An Eagle Scout Court Of Honor for Rob Flagler and Adam (AJ) Whitehouse was held April 5 at St. Clare's Episcopal Church on Hopyard Road. They were recognized for achieving the highest honor awarded to a scout in the Boy Scouts of America movement. It is said that only 2 percent have earned this earn this prestigious recognition since its inception almost 100 years ago.
Both are members of St. Clare's Charter Troop 908 in the Twin Valley District of the San Francisco Bay Area Council.
The ceremony included an Eagles' Nest, where all Eagle Scouts were invited to participate.
Flagler earned his rank with a culminating project of building bat habitats at the Harvest Park Middle School Ecology Garden. Rob earned 21 merit badges during his scouting career. He is a recent graduate of Amador Valley High School and is attending Las Positas College and will continue his education at Sonoma State University. He plans to be a math teacher.
Whitehouse started at age 6 as a Tiger Cub in Pack 911 and earned his "Arrow Of Light" before bridging to Troop 908 in March 2000. His Eagle project objective was to transform an unused patch of land adjoining the play area at St Clare's Preschool into an attractive paved patio for the teachers and other staff to relax. The project also included six planter boxes for the preschool classes to enjoy planting and tending their seedlings. Whitehouse held a yard sale to raise $600 needed for project materials. The hugely successful sale accrued an excess of $700 which was donated to St Clare's to help pay for the large group transport for its first venture with Corazon house building projects in Mexico.
Local Big O Tires franchisee donates to pediatric cancer
Big O Tires stores in Pleasanton are among the tire company's franchisees who have combined to donate $50,000 to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.
Alex's Lemonade Stand was started by a young girl named Alexandra "Alex" Scott at age 4, who while suffering from neuroblastoma, a form of aggressive childhood cancer, began raising funds for research with her own lemonade stand. In August 2004, at the age of 8, Alex died. By that time, more than $1 million had been raised to help find a cure for all kids with cancer. The charity continues to grow in funds raised and donated to research by millions of dollars annually. To date in excess of $18 million has been raised.
Dave Cherry, franchisee of the Big O Tires stores in Pleasanton, has, is shown with Liz Scott, mother of Alexandra Scott, originator of Alex's Lemonade Stand.
Cub scouts develop recycling program
Cub Scout Pack 909 has developed a recycling program that has so far netted them $80 for 180 pounds of bottles and cans.
The group from Valley Christian Elementary in Dublin started the recycling program at the school to help the environment by preventing non-degradable garbage from sitting in landfills. Parents of the Wolf Cub den spoke with the Amador Valley Industries recycle coordinator Debbie Jeffrey about their idea. She explained how a special Dumpster would be placed on school grounds specifically for CRV value bottles and cans. Once the dumpster is filled, AVI is called. A truck picks up the Dumpster, hauls, weighs and dumps and returns it school grounds. The payment is based on weight, and a $25 hauling fee is subtracted from the final check.
Parents then had to win the support of Valley Christian Principal Jeri Schall, who agreed on the plan. AVI then made their required site visit and a location for the Dumpster was determined. The scouts then purchased five recycle bins to be placed inside the school for easy collection. Parents and scouts are responsible for changing the (internal) collection bins.
Last month, the scouts received their first check for $83 for 180 pounds of bottles and cans. For information on how to start a similar program, contact AVI at 479-9545.
BofA recognizes two high school students
Two Pleasanton students were among 32 local high school seniors who were recognized recently by Bank of America's 60th annual Achievement Awards program, a rigorous half-day oral and written competition.
Students participated in four general study areas: applied arts, fine arts, liberal arts or science and mathematics. John Palowitch of Amador Valley High School received first place in the fine arts category, earning $2,000 in prize money. Karin Bouche of Foothill High School received an honorable mention in the fine arts category, earning $500.
A total of $28,000 was distributed to 32 students who competed in the San Jose event. It was one of 10 achievement award competitions held across California. Finalists were selected from more than 15,000 competitors statewide, based on outstanding academic and extra-curricular achievements.
Foothill grad's paper published in 'Parasitology Research'
Tyler Saxton, a Foothill High School graduate who now attends Laffayette College in Easton, Pa., recently published research in "Parasitology Research" under the guidance of chemistry professor Joseph Sherma and biology professor Bernard Fried.
The research involved extracting parasites from snails. These parasites, he said, are good models for studying other diseases and parasitic infections which commonly affect humans in developing countries. Saxton has worked with Fried since last summer and has three other projects in press.
Saxton is pursuing a degree in biology and plans to attend graduate school to earn a master's degree in biology. He hopes to work as a wildlife biologist.
Wolfe graduates from Naval Academy
U.S. Navy Ensign Lauren C. Wolfe, daughter of Timothy and Kay Wolfe of Pleasanton, graduated May 23 from the Unites States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. She graduated from Foothill High School in 2004.
Wolfe successfully completed four years of intensive academic, physical and professional training, resulting in a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in English. As a graduate of the Naval Academy, Wolfe completed a four-year, total immersion program where a strong, balanced academic program, focused on the educational needs of the Navy and Marine Corps, is superimposed on a strict, professional military training environment emphasizing the development of leadership skills. Following graduation, Wolfe has been assigned to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. for training as a naval aviator.
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