Field Trips

UCI offering science, math program to teens UC Irvine is inviting students between grades eight and 12 to apply for a math and science summer program geared for talented teens called California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science. Students will run lab experiments, conduct field work, attend lectures given by UC faculty and participate in course-related field trips. Tuition is $1,212 for California residents, which covers room and meals in university residence halls, transportation costs and other expenses for most field trips.

COSTA MESA A $5 fee will be added to each program for nonresidents. BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB Boys and girls ages 6 to 18 can head over to Eastside Costa Mesa for the club's summer program. The program runs Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aside from being able to participate in a variety of the activities at the club, participants also have the option of going on two field trips a week. Participants need to be members of the organization, a $50 annual fee. The summer program is $75 per week and additional fees may apply for field trips.

About 25 Orange County high school students will graduate today from a leadership program sponsored by Newport Beach resident and super agent Leigh Steinberg. The summer program, called the Leigh Steinberg Leadership Institute, is run by the Orange County Human Relations. The graduation ceremony will be held at 1:45 p.m. in the Argyros Forum, Room 201, at Chapman University in Orange. Steinberg has pledged to donate $100,000 to the summer program, which attempts to train students from different economic, social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds to better deal with human relations issues.

The Newport Sea Base begins its Junior Aquatics Camp and summer programs Monday, offering children a chance to enjoy the water in various ways this summer. The weekday, weekend and evening programs are designed for children 6 to 18, and include training in sailing, canoeing, kayaking and fishing. There are also courses in aeronautics, oceanography and first aid. The weeklong Junior Aquatics Camps run from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday each week through Aug. 17, excluding the week of July 4. For $215, the camp includes an introduction to numerous water sports, visits from the Newport Harbor Patrol and field trips.

"I'm looking forward to the classes, especially language arts." Julia Garcia, 11 Costa Mesa "My grades, so I can go to Renaissance Club and get free [homework] passes." Christina Garcia, 11 Costa Mesa "I can't wait to play sports -- basketball and soccer." Fernando Barajas, 11 Costa Mesa "I can't wait to get to TeWinkle because of the Science and Engineering Club. It teaches you about science and engineering and you get to go on field trips -- fun ones."

The Daily Pilot visited children at the Balearic Community Center and asked, "What's your favorite part of winter camp?" "It's not so hot out and you don't sweat." Cameron Hartely, 11 Costa Mesa "When you get to hang out with your friends and go on field trips with your buddies. Sometimes your buddies are people you don't like, but you get to know them." Preston Patterson, 7 Costa Mesa "You get to go on rides and have fun with your friends."

"I like that we play a lot of games and go to the beach." TAYLOR CONNOR, 11 Redlands "I like that we come outside and go to the beach and swim." CAMERON OLIVER BROWN, 11 Houston, Texas "We spend a lot of time on the beach and make a lot of new friends." JESSICA PENUNURI , 13 Corona del Mar "The field trips. We just went to Raging Waters and we also wen to an L.A. Sparks game and we're going to Disneyland." JENNY PENUNURI , 10 Corona del Mar "My favorite thing was the Angels game.

What is more exciting to a 12-year-old than getting to see the Pacific Symphony Orchestra perform with Mickey Mouse as the conductor? A lot. But listening to music in comfy chairs beats school work any day. Well, that's how my sixth-grade class felt about our annual field trips to the Orange County Performing Arts Center. It was a day to dress up in "fancy clothes" and wear our dresses, slacks and button-down shirts. We girls even brought purses and finally had a reason to wear our shoes with the slight heel -- the ones we convinced our moms we were old enough to have.

Did you know that birdwatchers travel here from all over the United States to catch a glimpse of the light-footed clapper rail? This timid marsh bird is one of Newport Bay's celebrity species, but it is quite camera shy. In contrast, the bobcat is at home on the stage, and will calmly, and in the middle of the day, walk across the patio of a neighboring home with its cubs in tow. In all, nearly 200 species of bird, nearly 80 species of fish, and...

Residents at Costa Nuporté Elegant Senior Living, a retirement home in Costa Mesa, celebrated Christmas in old-fashioned Victorian style. On Friday, the home held its fourth annual Christmas Tea Party. It was a once-a-year opportunity for the senior residents to socialize and drink tea from antique cups and pots as they enjoyed homemade pastries. Celebrating Christmas with a tea party was Vicki Gibbons’ idea. The activities director wanted to start a tradition of an elegant but simple yuletide celebration.

St. Joachim School’s largest annual fundraising auction event, Caliente, will begin at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 7 in the school’s Nevin Hall, 1964 Orange Ave., Costa Mesa. The evening will begin with a cocktail hour and silent auction; dinner and dancing will follow. The event also is a celebration of the school’s 60th anniversary. Alumni, parish members and neighbors are invited to celebrate at the party. Dinner will be catered by El Ranchito; auction prizes include trips to Marquis Los Cabos, Mauna Lani, Hawaii and the Four Seasons Wailea Maui.

Incoming freshmen at Newport Harbor High School who enrolled in its Da Vinci Summer Program, part of the school’s math- and science-focused Da Vinci Academy, spent Monday building boats that would float in the school pool. The experiment isn’t as easy as it sounds. These boats were far bigger than a breadbox; they each had to hold a student. To further complicate matters, the students were only given two construction components: cardboard and packing tape. Before heading out to the pool, the kids broke up into small groups, then determined who would be their boat’s “captain.

If there were ever a way to put kids from Wilson Elementary School out of their element, taking them to Sage Hill School, a private high school in Newport Beach, was it. It started with the chartered buses that took them there, students said. The buses had big windows, TVs and even bathrooms on board. Off the 73 Freeway and into the rolling green hills up Newport Coast Drive toward the school, 9-year-old Luis Barrera said he was afraid the bus was going to tip over on the turns.

Sitting under the sun in an Irvine agricultural field, the Andersen Elementary School fourth-graders were tired, achy, dirty and sweaty from farming ... and it had only been 90 minutes. “It must be awful doing this every day for 11 hours,” said Lisa Hamilton, 10, as she struggled to peel the quickly drying mud from her sneakers. “I can’t imagine doing this all day.” That may be the exact kind of reaction teachers were hoping for Tuesday. Lisa, by far one of most energetic at this point in the day when so many others were now dragging their feet, said she had a new understanding of what César Chavez was fighting for all those years ago when he created the United Farm Workers of America.

Dozens of kids and counselors in bright yellow shirts took over a section of Balboa Beach on Monday, signaling the beginning of Newport Beach’s 2008 Summer Day Camp. The camp put on by Newport Beach’s Recreation & Senior Services department is open to kids ages 6 to 12 and will run weekly until the end of August. Both the staff and kids are excited, because weekly field trips are planned to go along with the twice-a-week treks to the beach. “It’s your typical summer day camp but better because we have the advantage of the water,” Racquel Valdez, recreation supervisor, said.

Newport-Mesa school board members will discuss a plan Tuesday to provide web-based educational videos to students as part of a partnership with KOCE-TV. The station would provide the instructional videos to students at Mariners, Newport, Newport Heights, Rea and Wilson elementary schools. The roughly $3,000 contract would keep the service in place through Aug. 30 of next year. Newport-Mesa is also prepared to accept its second of 10 annual $250,000 checks from the Irvine Co. to fund teachers for the district’s expanded science program.

School is quite literally a day at the beach for Costa Mesa High School teacher Cristen Rasmussen’s marine science class. Students spent time Wednesday at Little Corona Beach barefoot with their pants rolled up, wading through the chilly waters of Buck Gully, a small stream that empties into the Pacific. The class measured levels of dangerous chemicals in the water and learned how human actions affect the fragile beach ecosystem. There are squeals as one teen finds a gym sock in the creek, but the real shock comes when students find above-normal levels of phosphate in the water through chemical testing.