EAST Facilitator Receives Amgen Award
 Santa Ynez Valley Union High School teacher and EAST facilitator, Ronald 'Chip' Fenenga recently received the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence. Mr. Fenenga was one of nineteen teachers in the nation honored at the 14th annual awards ceremony held on May 26th in Thousand Oaks. The following is from an Amgen Press Release: Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), the world's largest biotechnology company, today announced the 19 science teachers who are this year's recipients of the 14th annual Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence. This award is designed to recognize and honor extraordinary science teachers in K-12 public and private schools in communities where Amgen operates. Those selected are teachers whose exemplary science teaching has had demonstrated results in student learning. The awards will be presented at dinner events in May and June... Amgen established the teacher awards program to demonstrate the company's commitment to advancing science education. Since the program's inception in 1992, Amgen has awarded more than one million dollars to educators who have made exceptional science-teaching contributions and who have had a measurable impact on the lives of their students.
"Amgen is proud to honor these 19 distinguished teachers, who remind us that skilled educators play a critical role in inspiring the next generation of citizens and future scientists. We hope this recognition and grant support for the teachers and their schools will continue to advance innovative approaches to science education," said Jean Lim, Associate Director of Philanthropy at Amgen. [Continued...]  (Left to right) Norm Clevenger, Ronald Fenenga, Kim Merz at the AASTE awards ceremony. You can read more about Chip Fenenga and the other teachers honored at Amgen's AASTE webpage. To view more images check out our Amgen photo gallery.
Aqueduct Developments Attract Attention
EAST Students Find A Piece of History
The following is a Santa Ynez Valley News article written by Glenn Wallace and available online. It appeared on the front page of the Thursday paper on April 14. "The Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) class at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School had a very good year in 2004.
Students working on the Mission Santa Ines Aqueduct Mapping project found their work included in the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society museum, published in three magazines, had been awarded the Geospatial Solutions Outstanding Project Award -- beating out college and U.S. Army entries -- and received the California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation.
Tuesday morning, EAST students presented evidence of their latest accomplishment, tracking down remnants of the lost dam, built in the early 1800s, that fed the aqueduct.
"We wanted to finish the story we started last year," said project member Erik Glendinning.
EAST teacher Chip Fenenga reported that geographic information science (GIS) data, along with historic records found by students Erin Gnekow and Breanna Schlags, indicated that a dam was built along Alamo Pintado Creek to feed the Mission's aqueduct. Yet even after tracing the path of the aqueduct, "We could not find the dam when we looked in 2004," said Fenenga.
The final piece of the award-winning project seemed lost in the passage of time.
That changed on Thursday, March 24. Six students , armed with GPS units and cameras ventured into the creek bed near the Creekside housing development for another attempt to find the dam..." Continue reading this article at syvnews.com Copyright 2005 Pulitzer Central Coast Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.
EAST Conference Spotlighted in Valley Living
EAST Conference Banquet
 (Left to right) The 2005 SYV EAST Conference team: Erin, Mr. Fenenga, Eric, Liam, Breanna, Clay, Dalene, and Emily. At this afternoon's banquet and awards ceremony, we received first, second and third place in the Trimble competition. The Isla Vista Cliffs project received first place in the ESRI GIS competition. Mikey Carlson's School Safety project won first place in the Bentley competition for his use of MicroStation. Overall, our school received the second place Founders' Award. The sponsors were very generous and we left with numerous prizes as well.
EAST Conference Begins
SYV EAST students Clay Garland, Eric Glendenning, Liam Keane, Dalene Faul, Breanna Schlags, Emily Garland and Erin Gnekow departed Santa Ynez at 6:30am and arrived in Sacramento at noon. After setting up the EAST booth, the team ate lunch at Pennisi's Deli. Later, numerous presentations were made and preparations began for the next day's work.  (Left to right) Breanna, Liam, Eric, Mr. Fenenga, Emily, Clay, Dalene, and Erin pose at the SYV EAST booth display.
Wardriving Awareness Project Gets Media's Attention
Today, the Santa Barbara News-Press featured SYV EAST student Danny Mazza and his " wardriving" project. Danny wants people in the valley to keep their wireless internet connections safe from hackers by following a few tips he lists in William Etling's "Valley Living" article. You can read the complete News-Press article online.  Image Copyright 2005 Rafael Maldonado/Santa Barbara News Press.
Students Find More Clues in Mission Aqueduct Mystery
Today brought more developments in the Mission Aqueduct Project. Santa Ynez Valley EAST students Tim Manchester, Kenny Wilkins, Erik Glendinning, Greg Bridgeman, Krista Armenta, Breanna Schlaggs and Alyssa Massey have been searching for a lost aqueduct dam in the Alamo Pintado Creek ever since a member of the community sent in a forty-year old picture that featured a structure. Today, students believe they have located the missing dam. The students used Trimble GPS units to mark the location of the dam's remains. Additional research will be conducted before a conclusion is made. Tim, Breanna and Erik were part of the original sixteen member team that won the Governor's Historic Preservation Award in 2004.  (Left to right) Tim Manchester, Erik Glendinning and Kenny Wilkins examine an exposed dam in the creek.
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