March 26, 2008 > Newark students saving the San Francisco Bay Newark students saving the San Francisco Bay Submitted By Tom Collett Newark Memorial High School's (NMHS) Marine Science and Technology (MaST) Institute will host two open houses of the first and only student-run aquarium featuring animals from the San Francisco Bay. On Tuesday, April 3 and May 1, MaST student docents will be spreading the message that our bay and ocean, which are essential to our survival, need protection. Each event will be held in the NMHS STAR Lab Aquarium from 7 - 9 p.m. NMHS student docents will be giving presentations about their research and will display marine life from our own backyard. The program will give the community a fantastic close-up look at the variety of sea life found in the San Francisco Bay and central coast. The director of MaST, Tom Collett, is expecting the events to be well attended. "We have a lot of outstanding exhibits and activities planned, and I'm super excited to give the community this opportunity to learn about stewardship of the environment," he said. Some of the opportunities visitors will have include touching live tide pool animals, viewing live plankton under microscopes, driving underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV), and learning about ongoing student research. Newark Memorial's MaST program is an innovative educational outreach program where high school students educate the community. These students teach local elementary school classes about marine science or astronomy during the school day. They also run the STAR Lab Aquarium and host open houses for the community. For further information, contact Collett at (510) 818-4364. NMHS STAR Lab Aquarium Open House Tuesday, April 3 & May 1 7 - 9 p.m. Newark Memorial High School STAR Lab Aquarium 39375 Cedar Blvd., Newark (510) 818-4364 Free