Community briefs: Ravenswood robotics at world championship, Bike to the Library Day – The Almanac Online

The Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School robotics team in Dallas, Texas at the VEX World Championship in April 2024. Courtesy Ravenswood City School District. Ravenswood robotics team makes it to world championship

The Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School robotics team students made the division finals at the VEX World Championship in Dallas, Texas at the end of April.

The best part of the trip is when they unveil the new game and I go to dinner with the students and listen to all the ideas flying around the table and they start drawing pictures on napkins, said teacher Tina Collier, who leads the team, in a Ravenswood City School District newsletter. I carry a small sketchbook now to allow for everyone to participate in their first unofficial brainstorming session.

Senior citizens who own property in the Las Lomitas School District have until June 3 to apply for an exemption from the $311 parcel tax passed by voters in March 2007.

To qualify for the exemption, the property owner must be over 65 years old by July 1, 2024 and live on the property they own within district boundaries.

Contact district administration at 650-854-6311 for the application form.

The Menlo Park Safe Routes to School Program, in collaboration with the city library, will hold a Bike to the Library Day on Thursday, May 16, from 2-5:30 p.m. at Menlo Park Central Library, 800 Alma St. May is National Bike Month.

There will be helmet giveaways, bike skills courses, reading sessions, pedal-powered spin art, a bike repair station, helmet fitting station, food from local vendors, a SamTrans bus and more.

Representatives from SamTrans, Caltrain, WheelKids and others will be onsite.

More information is available at menlopark.gov.

Angela Swartz

Sudden Oak Death is an exotic disease that threatens the survival of tanoak and several oak species in California coastal forests. The SOD Blitz Project will be surveying the trees of Woodside, Portola Valley and Los Altos Hills from May 17 at 10 a.m. through May 20 at 6 p.m.

SOD Blitz invites the community and local citizen scientists to get involved in detecting the disease on bay laurel and tanoak leaves by collecting samples. All participants are required to take a 30-minute training course. To sign up and participate, visit tinyurl.com/SODBlitzProject.

Jennifer Yoshikoshi

Grab some free, nutritious compost for your Garden at the City of Menlo Parks compost giveaway event all day Saturday, May 11, and Sunday, May 12. Free compost is available while supplies last.

You can find the compost in the Burgess Park parking lot at the intersection of Alma Street and Burgess Drive. Compost is self-serve, so bring your own containers, trowels and gloves.

This compost comes from your residential green organic carts at home and at work, according to a city of Menlo Park event listing. The food scraps collected from the green carts are sent to two commercial composting facilities where it goes through a process where it breaks down back into a soil-like product.

Learn more about housing resources at the city of Menlo Parks Housing Resource Fair on Saturday, May 11, from 1-4 p.m. The event will be held at the Ivy Plaza, located at 410 Ivy Drive in the outdoor space near the Belle Haven Child Development Center.

The event will offer information on affordable housing in Menlo Park, housing rehabilitation support, and more. Housing organizations at the event will include the Samaritan House, Project Sentinel, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, Rebuilding Together Peninsula and HIP Housing.

There will also be raffle prizes, a childrens activity table and snacks.

Eleanor Raab

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Community briefs: Ravenswood robotics at world championship, Bike to the Library Day - The Almanac Online