Come and be inspired by UCLA Women's Gymnasts - with 5 Olympians at UCLA, including Beijing Olympics' Silver Medallist, Sam Peszek, this Sunday, March 16, 2014, at 2pm at Pauley Pavillion

Watching UCLA women gymnasts in action at UCLA's Pauley Pavillion at their last meet against Stanford was like being at the Olympics at a fraction of the cost :)  After all, UCLA has 5 Olympians on their team, including Sam Peszek, who won the silver medal at Beijing Olympics.  If you want to learn more about how demanding training for Olympics was while doing regular high school (instead of homeschooling as so many top gymnasts and ballerinas do), here's a three-part youtube series to see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP3cMXChaxc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvW44Y96Fws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYCedLD0mU0

We saw a floor routine by Sydney Sawa that was judged a perfect 10!  The UCLA Head Coach, Ms. Kondo, was a former professional ballerina!  We also saw a special end of the meet performance by an aerialist who happened to be born without legs which was awe-inspiring indeed.

Learn  more about the Ms. Val here and her transition from being a ballerina to coaching gymnastics:
http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/234782-UCLA-Gymnastics/video/175293-Valorie-Kondos-Field-From-Ballerina-to-Head Coach
http://dailybruin.com/2010/10/14/gymnastics_coach_valorie_kondos_field_took_john_woodens_teachings_from_the_court_to_the_mat/

You have to watch these videos to see how amazingly strong the gymnasts are, in a completely different way that lithe ballerinas are very strong.   These are two perfect 10 routines :) from UCLA this season on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkNQ6nhUiSM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gkgf4BNZSU
(then see her team-mates imitate Sydney Sawa here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S79o97qbclw)

So, we are going again to see UCLA's final home meet this Sunday, March 16, compete against two other teams, Utah State and Bowling Green, in a tri-meet.  UCLA is now ranked 7th and will go on to the NCAA championships.  Gymnasts are also nationally ranked for their best apparatus. "Five Bruin gymnasts are ranked this week - Olivia Courtney (No. 9 on vault), Sophina DeJesus (No. 11 on bars), Samantha Peszek (No. 5 on beam, No. 16 on bars), Danusia Francis (No. 2 on beam), and Sydney Sawa (No. 6 on floor)."  Read more at:  http://www.uclabruins.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30500&ATCLID=209434383

You might even catch sight of UCLA's team manager, the London 2012 Olympic gold medalist and UCLA freshman Jordyn Wieber, who has just turned professional last year and is not eligible to compete for UCLA, but she still trains privately.  Read more at:  http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/q-a-olympic-gymnastics-champion-250038.aspx

Here's a youtube of a conversation between two Olympians, Sam Peszek interviewing Jordynn Wieber at; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3V1F1EHE_Q&feature=youtu.be

If you have never been to a women's gymnastics meet, it is run in the same order as at the Olympics. There is usually a routine going on on some apparatus for each team.  Yet, it is not confusing as the scores for each team is announced just before their next routine.  You might catch a perfect performance, and you will certainly see falls and nerves, and every gymnast doing their best for their team.  But it is always exciting and inspiring.

Last time, we wore blue to cheer UCLA.   This Sunday, it is a Bruin Blackout!  UCLA will be wearing black leotards for the first time in almost 10 years, and fans are encouraged to wear BLACK this time.

If you would like to join my group's fieldtrip to see the UCLA women gymnasts, please email me at reallykf@gmail.com as we can accommodate more people in my group and you will be pleased you did.  I am hoping to get more UCLA poms poms and might have some posters or folders as souvenirs.

If you are bringing younger children, children two and under do not need tickets.  While the meet is going on, you can also leave your seats and walk around, get snacks (or bring your own), use the restrooms, or go and take photos with the cut-outs of the gymnasts.  If you are coming to UCLA for the first time, go to the fee-free Fowler Museum on campus after 4pm for an hour before they close.  Or drive over to Westwood Blvd and Wilshire to enjoy the now-free Hammer Museum to enjoy their collections.

Finally, if you cannot attend this event live, please note that this event will be telecast live!  
Fans not in attendance can watch Sunday’s meet on a live video stream at www.pac-12.com/videos/ucla. Video footage will focus on UCLA as three events are running simultaneously. Live stats will be available atuclabruins.com, and live updates can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.

Arena Map
View the Pauley Pavilion arena map by CLICKING HERE.

Parking
Pauley Pavilion is easily accessible from Lots 4, 7 and 8 ($12 per vehicle). Click HERE for a detailed map of parking structures. The main UCLA campus map with additional parking information is located HERE.

Directions
Directions to a number of on-campus UCLA facilities can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Have a great day watching UCLA women gymnasts compete, at home or at Pauley Pavillion.

UPDATE:   Here's the youtube of the perfect 10 on the beam by Danusia Francis :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ5rgaVIlM8

Saturday, March 8, 2014, from 9am to 12.30pm at El Camino College's ONIZUKA SPACE DAY - meet a NASA astronaut and Do, Observe, and Have Fun with Science

Enjoyed seeing the movie Gravity??  Now you have a chance to ask a REAL NASA Astronaut, DOUGLAS H. WHEELOCK, what is fact/real science and what is fiction/Hollywood creativity!  He will be sharing his experiences from his 178 days in space at the space station and all the real problems he had to deal with in HIS unplanned space walks to fix damages.  Colonel Wheelock also "responded to an emergency shutdown of half of the station’s external cooling system and was the lead spacewalker for three unplanned EVAs to replace the faulty ammonia pump module that caused the shutdown. His efforts restored the station’s critical cooling system to full function."  Read more about this real astronaut hero at:  http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wheelock.html and if he doesn't talk about this, ask him about it either at the auditorium presentation at 9am, or in the "meet-the-astronaut" session if the astronaut has time to stay.  Over the years, we have met many real astronauts and seen many different presentations, including those from Japan.  Onizuka Space Science Day is held annually to honor the Challenger crew, one of whom was Astronaut Onizuka, whose family is present each year.

Known Space Debris 

                  


This is our favorite science event of the year because, unlike JPL's open house, your children can participate in egg-drop contests (and win a 2014 Onizuka Space Day t-shirt if your egg survives unbroken from a drop from the top of a three-storey building), paper airplane contests, and many interesting physics and chemistry demonstrations, an excellent planetarium show where you will remember what you learned from a professor and what you will see on March 9 nightsky), and many more (see the list below).  The Astronaut's presentation and all sidewalk science tables require no tickets, so even younger children can enjoy these hands-on activities.  Sessions are recommended for 5th graders and up, but any younger children who love science will benefit and my kids have been doing the egg drop contest since younger elementary grades.  If you see the egg-drop contest, be prepared to have your lunch while watching the survival of the best protected eggs in free fall.  We enjoy seeing new designs each year :)  I also volunteer each year to draw a happy face  :)  on the eggs for the session my children are in.

This event is free (parking is $3) and so are session tickets, and, having done this many years, it is best if you come early if you want to get the most popular session tickets.  I usually get there before 7am (yes!) because I make a group reservation for my friends and families coming for the first time.  I can collect up to 6 tickets for each session (so 12 per topic since the sessions repeat) at the beginning of the line since I stand in line before 7am.  There are 800 free In-and-Out lunch tickets only, and the line is pretty long by 8am when official check-in happens, and the most sought after tickets are taken quickly.  So, if you would like to join my group, I am happy to get tickets for your top two choices of session tickets.  Please note that the session reservation is on the first-come, first allocated tickets --- I can only get 6 tickets per session.

I would also be very happy if you would donate a suggested $10 per family towards our Orang Utan fund which will go towards creating a child-friendly website to share more about Orang Utans, their environment, and what we can do to save the species.  You can see this very gentle ape species in the "Red Apes" enclosure  at Los Angeles Zoo. The Orang Utan donation is optional, and much appreciated.

If you want me to get your session tickets ahead of time, you don't need to stand in line at all.  You can come as late as 8.45am before the astronaut presentation at 9am (usually delayed a bit if check-in takes longer) and meet me at one of the inside doors to the auditorium where the ONLY water fountain is to pick up your tickets if you don't meet me outside earlier via phone contact.  Please email me at reallykf@gmail.com for your three top choices of session tickets, your cell contact, and what time you can arrive at El Camino College.

Here are details from various sessions and logistics of the day for Onizuka Space Science Day Program 2014:

See Tonight’s Stars, Planets, and Constellations - Planetarium Show

PARTICIPANTS MUST BE ON TIME – PLANETARIUM DOORS SHUT PROMPTLY AT THE START OF THE SHOW!

Let’s Do Launch! (Rockets)

NASA Mars Missions

Chemical Magic Show

Paint Making – Prussian Blue

Dude, Where’s My Air?

Hypothesis Game

Satellite Demonstration

The Buzz on Space “Bugs”

Rad Reptiles

The World of Insects

Rock and Fossil Discovery Zone

Solving the Mystery of the Owl’s Dinner

Paper Airplane Contest*

Egg Drop Construction*

Puzzlers in Everyday Physics

Let’s Take a BirdWalk!

ROV’s and the Deep Ocean

Robotics Demonstration

Get Your Hands on Chemistry

Paper Airplane Contest*

Egg Drop Construction

Puzzlers in Everyday Physics - Recommended for grade 6 and older

WARNING – PARKING PERMITS REQUIRED FOR 2014

PARKING PERMITS ARE REQUIRED! – PLEASE PURCHASE A $3 DAILY PERMIT AVAILABLE AT THE ENTRANCES TO THE PARKING LOTS IN THE YELLOW DISPENSERS

The day will begin at 8 a.m. with check-in at the Marsee Auditorium located at the corner of Crenshaw Blvd and Redondo Beach Blvd in Torrance. Parking is located south and west the Marsee Auditorium.  See map at www.elcamino.edu or www.elcamino.edu/about/directions.asp

Parents, adults and siblings below grade 5 are asked not to select tickets to the breakout sessions for themselves. Adults will be able to stand in or outside of the classrooms or you may enjoy our outside demonstrations. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Again, we want the students to access the breakout sessions.    

After selecting your sessions, find a seat in the Marsee Auditorium by 9 a.m. for our morning presentation featuring our astronaut.  The first breakout session will run from 10:45 to 11:30 and the second session will begin at 11:45 and end at 12:30. Lunch will follow the second session and the Egg Drop Competition will be presented during lunch.

HAVE A GREAT DAY RAIN OR SHINE!!