In other news
Lab volunteer Allison Valdez and Food Depot employee Fred Santistevan work together during Bring Your Turkey to Work Day.
Laboratory Food Drive brings holiday cheer
The 2017 Laboratory holiday food drive was a great success, with enough contributions from Lab employees to distribute 500 turkeys and 500 boxes of food to families in need across Northern New Mexico.
“Five hundred families will have a better time over the holidays because of the generosity of the people at the Lab and our partners,” says Selena Valencia, who coordinated the drive. “Groups and individuals across the Laboratory really come together to make this great effort happen.”
In addition to the 12,000 pounds of food and the turkeys collected during the drive and on Take Your Turkey to Work Day at the Lab held on November 20, employees donated gift cards used to make up any gaps in what was needed. Los Alamos National Security, LLC; Cray Computing; and Stewart Title also supported the drive.
The Food Depot collected and sorted the food before distributing it to the thirteen agencies who made the final deliveries to the families. The partner agencies are San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen (Española), Taos Feeds Taos, Wings for Hope (Santa Fe), St Vincent de Paul (Abiquiu, San Juan, Chimayo, Española and Pojoaque), LA Cares (Los Alamos), North Central Food Pantry (Questa), Samaritan House (Las Vegas), St. Elizabeth’s Shelter (Santa Fe), Knights of Columbus (Española) and The Food Depot (Santa Fe).
The team from Chamisa Elementary in Los Alamos placed third in the Race Competition at the Electric Car Challenge.
Electric Car Challenge motors ahead
Approximately 300 middle school students competed in the 2017 Electric Car Challenge on November 18 at Van Buren Middle School in Albuquerque. A team from Berrendo Middle School in Roswell took overall first place in the competition, which is now in its 11th year. Carlos Vigil Middle School in Española took home the Perseverance Award.
The challenge gives middle school students the chance to form a school team to design and build a small model racecar powered by a battery and motor, learning science concepts and teamwork as they work on the project.
“I really like how everyone gets to work with the car and make a design,” says a student from Chamisa Elementary School in Los Alamos, whose team took third place in the Race Competition.
The challenge was sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Security, Los Alamos Public Schools, Albuquerque Public Schools, Sandia National Laboratories, and Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Dr Dennis Embry talks to educators at the Northern New Mexico Conference on Education.
Education conference looks to build a positive culture
The LANL Foundation hosted the 18th Northern New Mexico Conference on Education on November 10 at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, with the theme of building a positive culture from classroom to community. Keynote speaker Dennis Embry of the PAXIS Institute discussed his work and shared best practices in socio-emotional support, and strategies for cultivating positive classroom and school culture.
Educators from the across the region attended the conference, and breakout sessions included coaching from the LifeBound organization for instructors and counselors who work with middle and high school youth, and discussions with local educators about their own successes in the classroom. Los Alamos National Laboratory was proud to be a sponsor of the event.
