The Coalition for Excellence in Science Education (CESE), is recruiting volunteers and donors to aid in their mission of promoting science in local schools.

The coalition creates and refurbishes science kits for five local school districts, including the Los Altos and Mountain View-Whisman districts. Its projects benefit nearly 750 teachers and 17,000 students in 26 schools. Retirees from Silicon Valley companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Agilent Technologies form the volunteer base.

The organization is based in a warehouse in Mountain View with a budget of approximately $60,000 a year.

President Pat Castro said the organization always needs new volunteers to staff their programs. The time commitment for the volunteers is flexible and training is expedited.

For more information, call Pat Castro at 964-1043 or e-mail castropat@cs.com.

Correction: The photo of CESE volunteers in the Aug. 2 issue of the Town Crier misidentified Pat Castro as Pam Thomas in the caption.