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6th graders learn about being green at Planet Party
Brunn-LT
Victorian Brunn, shown in photo, is sharing chair duties for the 2013 Planet Party Day with Patty Page. - photo by ROSE ALBANO RISSO

There will be one group of sixth graders that will not be riding the school bus to the annual Planet Party on Thursday, April 4, at the Manteca Unified Office campus.

The students, along with their teachers, will be walking from Stella Brockman Elementary School in the Villa Ticino subdivision off South Airport Way to the event site just a few minutes on foot away. In the process, they will be learning about how walking helps reduce air pollution.

Some 2,000 sixth graders throughout Manteca Unified will be learning about how to become better stewards of their environment by taking part in 15-minute interactive presentations on various topics such as clean air, impacts of commuting, renewable energy, recycling, and water conservation among many others.

Topics on how to keep the air clean for present and future generations will be featured by event sponsors such as Valley Clean Air Now, Commute Connection, and South San Joaquin Irrigation District.

Conservation and agricultural presentations will be given by J.R. Simplot, the Micke Grove Zoo, California Waterfowl, and the California Department of Fish and Game, among others. PG&E, SSJID and other businesses will have displays and information about energy. The students will learn about recycling in the display booths of Epic Plastics, Onsite Electronics, Owen-Illinois, and other businesses. Teaching the students about the latest green innovations will be such business participants as Ricoh, Shred-It, and the San Joaquin County Public Works. Water conservation and other hydrologic issues will be presented in the booths of the cities of Lathrop and Manteca, SSJID, and MCR Engineering.

The major sponsors of Planet every year are Frito Lay, PG&E, Gen 7/American Modular Systems, CBC Steel, Allied Waste Services and Valley CAN.

The sixth-graders from the various schools will be arriving at intervals at the Planet Party site which is the grounds of the Manteca Unified district offices on the northwest corner of Airport Way and Louise Avenue. Planet Party co-chairpersons are Victoria Brunn and Patty Page.