Seniors (right to left) Samantha Zanini and Eden Mcculloch guide their first group of elementary students around to each of the stations. Photo by: Paris Carmody
Discovery Day is a themed event that Ventura High School puts on every year and is put together by Chemistry teachers Karen Reynosa and Woody Maxwell. Every year Discovery Day is held primarily in the Main St gym, as well as room 63 and 64, the dance room and on the softball field, for a total of two days.
This years theme was “All About the Robots” and was held on Wednesday, Feb. 28 and Thursday, March 1. According to Reynosa, 13 elementary schools attended Discovery Day at VHS this year, with 1,200 students in total.
Every year, two high school seniors help organize and coordinate Discovery Day. This year, seniors Ingrid Navarro and Paulina Tadeo were in charge of planning Discovery Day and they held various meetings, picked the theme, worked with tour guides and teachers and made decorations.
In order to put on this event for elementary school students, VHS students must volunteer to be either a teacher or a tour-guide. Students who sign up to be teachers have their own station where they educate the elementary students for both days, whereas the tour guides take the children around to each of the stations and commit to one day.
After asking Reynosa how this years Discovery Day compares to the last couple of years, she said, “Every year is just a great experience, but this year was probably the most fantastic because basically the teachers designed amazing centers and the tour guides were really energetic and really made the kids feel welcome.”
Seniors (right to left) Carolina Kirkpatrick, Stella Vizzo and De La Cruz all enjoyed being tour guides for this years Discovery Day. Photo by: Paris Carmody
Maxwell added, “The music and science people went and modified the lesson, in the middle of it, to make it better which we’ve never seen before. So that was like taking ownership of what was going on and it was a real pleasure.”
All grades are able to participate in Discovery Day. Senior Sydney De La Cruz shared, “This is my second year doing discovery day. I really liked it last year and I really liked this year too, the kids are really cool and funny, it’s always a good atmosphere.” Cruz also shared, “My favorite part is the kids, they all have such different personalities.”
When asked how she enjoyed Discovery Day, senior Carolina Kirkpatrick laughed and said, “Kids say the darndest things.”
