It was party day Thursday for some 2,000 Manteca Unified School District sixth graders.

The celebration was a about earth or more precisely ways to be a better steward of the planet.

Planet Party Day took place at the district office complex at Airport Way and Louise avenue.

Manteca Unified Director of Nutritonal Services Patty Page noted there were 10 booths and 36 presenters that were apart of the outdoor event broken into 15 minute sections. 

“The more fun we have in the process, the more they will learn,” she said. 

She added that the program was fortunate to have many supporters from the community and other volunteers to make the day possible. Twenty-five students from each high school were also on hand to assist with the five-hour event. 

The sixth annual event featured everything from green education to the Ag Department having goats on display.

Thinking outside the box, the Nutrition Education Department set up a bicycle that students took turns riding with a plastic blender container filled with a smoothie blend watching as the vibration mixed the smoothie recipe. Each student was then offered a small cup of the berry delight. 

Tony Barros, energy coordinator at MUSD explained the workings of a 2013 Nissan Leaf battery operated sedan to crowds of curious students. 

Students were quiet as he explained the workings of the car, mileage and electricity stations available when it ran out of power.

State Game Warden Jim Starr talked to students about water in the state and more interesting to them his Diamondback Air Boat that can skim up river at speeds reaching 40 miles an hour. Starr, who lives in Manteca, said the bottom of his boat is covered with Teflon that makes for a smoother ride as it almost lifts off the water. 

The students were served box lunches on site prepared by the Nutrition Education Department.