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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2020)
T he C olumbia P ress 4 January 17, 2020 Miniboats: Students launch GPS-equipped boats Continued from Page 1 It fits into the state’s man- date to provide more STEAM education. Students in the miniboat program hit all of those fields: science, technol- ogy, engineering, arts, and mathematics in addition to international exchange. Having STEAM skills can lead to lucrative careers, said Alisa Dunlap, Clatsop County regional business manager at Pacific Power, which sent en- gineers to Warrenton Grade School to help students in the design process. “We are excited to support Tuesday’s event is a “miniboat summit” with a program dedicated to students from three enriching the education schools presenting their of young learners and boats, conducting a spar- empowering them to try kling cider christening, new things and explore then handing them off to their creativity,” Dunlap be launched in the ocean. said. “Miniboats ... have the Following the 2011 power to create substan- earthquake and tsunami tial and lasting impact in Japan, debris from — in the community the country washed up Above: Students consider solar-powered running and well beyond,” said on Oregon and Wash- lights for their boat. Below: Stan Co and Jon Con- Nate Sandel, the muse- ington shores. One of nelly of Pacific Power supervise boat builders. um’s education director. those items, a fishing “We’ve seen these boats vessel, is now on dis- capture the imagina- play at the maritime tion of our students, but museum. The boat and also many people from its journey across the around the world, who ocean was the inspira- encounter the boats, tion for the miniboat help with a rescue, or program. simply follow the boats’ Since it began in 2017, progress online.” 1,213 students on both In late November, San- sides of the Pacific have del traveled to Japan to been involved in the deliver boats to students launch of 24 miniboats, trav- Elementary in Scappoose, there and take part in launch- eling a total of 55,236 nautical Richmond Elementary in es from Japan. All of those miles (and climbing daily). Portland and Wy’east Middle boats can be tracked on the Last spring, a tiny island School in Vancouver, Wash. museum’s website. in the Republic of Kiriba- ti recovered a sailboat de- Clatsop County seeks appli- the medical community, signed and built by Portland fourth-graders, who had it cants to serve on two advi- monitors coordination of ser- launched off the coast of Mex- sory committees, the Ambu- vice resources and dispatch ico. It took 472 days to cross lance Service Area Advisory procedures and reviews ser- Committee and the Human vice area boundaries. The the 11,000 nautical miles. Other schools that have Services Advisory Council. group meets four times a The ambulance committee year. The vacancy is for a launched boats include Hil- da Lahti in Knappa, Gearhart gathers information from two-year term. Elementary, Otto Petersen service users, providers and The human services panel advises county commission- ers on developmental disabil- ities, mental health and alco- hol and drug abuse services. The council meets at 3 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month to identify needs, es- tablish priorities for publicly funded services and assist in selection of service providers. The vacancies are for two- year terms. Members of both commit- tees will be appointed by the county commissioners. Ap- plications are available on the county’s website or from the County Manager’s Office, 800 Exchange St., Astoria. County committees have vacancies Looking for an investment? Warrenton UPS Store’s owners are retiring and it’s for sale. Location and all contracts and leases to carry over to new owners. To learn more, call Cindy at 503-791- 3972 or D.B. at 503-741-5977.