Schools

/Town Crier Eighth-graders at Blach Intermediate School feel the disorienting effects of Drunk Busters goggles at a recent alcohol education class led by Officer Ryan Langone of the Los Altos Police Department. The goggles, which distort students’ vision, are designed to mimic the effects of intoxication on perception, motor control and response time.

Eighth-graders at Blach Intermediate School reeled, weaved and stumbled recently, simulation goggles strapped to their faces, as participants in a program intended to teach students about the dangers of drunk driving.

Facilitated by Officer Ryan Langone of the Los Altos Police Department, the alcohol and drug education program, which also operates yearly at Egan Junior High and district high schools, uses specialty Drunk Busters goggles and carts to simulate the impairment experienced during alcohol or drug intoxication.

Photos Courtesy of Sivaram Krishnan
Mihir Srivastava, from front left, Aeshon Balasubramanian and Ajay Krishnan demonstrate their FIRST LEGO League invention – the Safehive – for customer Richard Lacampagne and his daughter, Lisa.

The attack was swift and merciless.

Within 20 minutes of a local beekeeper setting up hives in Los Altos sixth-grader Ajay Krishnan’s backyard for a demonstration, predatory ants had them surrounded.

Photos Jane Ridgeway/Town Crier
Adult volunteers, above at right and below, at Egan Junior High School Thursday bear witness to the eighth-graders’ showcase of their accomplishments. More than 175 community members stepped up to interview students. At the Viking Showcase, Egan students presented on their personal passions, ranging from traditional academics to surfing.

Egan Junior High School students strutted their stuff Thursday at the annual Viking Showcase, a massive joint undertaking that gives eighth-graders the opportunity to reflect on their time at Egan while sharing what they’ve learned with members of the community.

Personal passion drives the showcase, leading to presentations on everything from traditional academic subjects to the joy of surfing.

It was a bustling Friday morning at Ventana School in Los Altos, but students en route to their classes, and the parents dropping them off, stopped to listen.

The flowing tones of a Mozart piano sonata filled the echoing parish hall, drifting through the open doors and throughout Ventana’s small campus, drawing listeners.

Jane Ridgeway/Town Crier
Sophomore Alger Tovar treats Alta Vista High School’s resident goat to a garden-grown snack.

Horticulture, animal development, nutrition, sustainability: Science students at Alta Vista High School have learned a lot this year.

All that, and one more thing: When Oreo, Alta Vista’s resident goat, is mad? You get out of the way.