This team is certainly not nearly as well known as the Dodgers, the Lakers or even the local high school teams.
This team is the Del Air Rockhounds Education Team and it's all about education.
The six-member team, led by
Maxine Dearborn, is fast becoming quite well known among teachers and students of second- and fourth-grade classes in the Valley.
The Del Air Rockhounds Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The Education Team members are volunteers who donate their time to introduce students to the beauty and wonder of rocks and their formation, as well as many types of fossils.
The students get to view up-close the many exhibits such as a tooth from a mammoth, a replica of a sabre-tooth cat and petrified dinosaur dung. They get to ask questions and have hands-on experiences they might not otherwise have.
In just three months (February-April), the team will have visited 15 public and private schools in the Valley, teaching the students about the earth sciences.
By the end of April, team members will have spoken to more than 2,000 students.
Capistrano Street School PTA invited the team to present its program to the entire school. The team spoke to more than 400 students in two days and scored big with the grade-school audience.
The Del Air Rockhounds Club does not charge for the school presentations, however, donations are gratefully accepted. A recent donation enabled the team to purchase several magnifying glasses for the students to use, making the exhibit an even more hands-on experience for future classes.
Anyone interested in learning more about the club is invited to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at the United Methodist Church of Northridge, 9650 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, visit
www.delairrockhounds.blogspot.com or e-mail DelAirRockhounds@gmail.com.