Success & Service: Science instructors, Enochs students get grant for Great Valley exhibit

Enochs High School science instructor Dave Menshew, Modesto Junior College chemistry professor emeritus Steven Murov, and Enochs High science students received a $2,000 grant from the American Chemical Society. The collaborative opportunities grant will be used to design and install an exhibit entitled “Exploring Matter” that will be built this summer at the Great Valley Museum on MJC’s west campus.

It will include mulitple age-appropriate features that probe the properties of matter. The centerpiece will be a 12-element identification challenge involving elements encompassing electrical conductivity, magnetic attraction, luster and color. Other activities will involve mass and metric perception studies, density studies of canned colas and how Velcro works.

Oakdale grad now an Air Force major

Stacey R. Vierra, a 1991 Oakdale High graduate, is now a major in the U.S. Air Force and also received the Air Force Medical Service 2015 Outstanding Competent Medical Authority of the Year award from the Air Force surgeon general. Vierra is the daughter Frank J. Vierra of Oakdale and earned her master’s degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2008.

El Concilio adds board member

El Concilio has added John Freeman Jr. of Stockton to its board. He is a district manager with the California Water Service Co., overseeing a staff of 65 people who serve 220,000 in Stockton and Dixon.

Habitat benefit concert today

The 24th annual Ecumenical Choral Concert benefiting Habitat for Humanity, Stanislaus County, will be held in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church, 850 16th St., Modesto, beginning at 4 p.m. today. A free-will offering will be taken, with proceeds going to the nonprofit. The concert will feature choirs from Modesto and surrounding cities. The first half of the program includes anthems performed by the individual choirs. In the second half of the concert, the choirs combine to sing seven anthems.

Turlock Christian musicians shine

Students from Turlock Christian School participated in the California All State Music Education Conference in San Jose last month. Rosie Rojas, an eighth-grader, was chosen as a trumpeter; Mariah Canton, also in the eighth grade, was chosen as an oboist. Eighth-grader Sam Johnson also auditioned for the conference, at another event in Bakersfield; he plays the euphonium.

Carnegie centennial gets sponsor funding

The nonprofit Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock is celebrating its 100th year since Andrew Carnegie funded a library that opened in September 1916. A fire in 2005 nearly destroyed the building, but it was restored and reopened as an arts center. Sponsors for the centennial celebration include the Turlock Fruit Co., Associated Feed & Supply, city of Turlock, the Credit Bureau Fund of Stanislaus County, Off Center Thrift & Gift and Garton Tractor.

Modesto sales manager honored with Swiss trip

Mike Carter, Verizon’s retail solutions manager in Modesto, was named to the company’s President’s Cabinet. The honor includes a six-day, five-night trip to St. Moritz, Switzerland, later this month. The honor goes to the top 1 percent in sales in 2015, out of nearly 28,700 sales representatives nationwide.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Success & Service: Science instructors, Enochs students get grant for Great Valley exhibit."