On November 3rd, juniors from Acalanes, Las Lomas, Miramonte, and Campolindo headed out for the 2024 Fall Acalanes Gifted and Talented Education (AGATE) trip to Monterey, California. Each year, the AGATE program gives students a chance to display research for a specific topic relevant to two academic disciplines and a theme from their trip. This year, students focused on different aspects of the Monterey region from its diverse marine wildlife to its agrarian landscape. Each project also incorporated subjects ranging from physics and filmmaking, to geology and history.
Social Studies teacher Paul Verbanszky, who has been going on the trip for roughly 20 years, is an AGATE coordinator alongside Chemistry teacher Stephanie Verbanszky. He notes that what makes the AGATE program so unique is “it’s an opportunity for students to be with like-minded students who love to learn, discover, and explore.” He also shared that students from all four AUHSD schools are able to participate, but do so as “AGATE students” above all else.
One Campo student who took part in AGATE was junior Maddie Collins, who discovered many interesting facts on the trip. “I learned that the first California constitution was written in Monterey and it was the first constitution to be written in both Spanish and English.”
For her project, Collins explained that she combined the surrealistic style of Salvador Dali and the ecology of Elkhorn Slough. A swampy region in Monterey, Elkhorn Slough was the site of a kayaking trip the group went on as a way to inspire possible ideas for their project topics.
Junior Liam Harju took the kayaking trip to heart, finding inspiration in an unlikely animal. “I saw there were these sea otters that would wrap themselves in the kelp to not get washed away in the tide and I was interested in how the tide was caused.” From there, Harju decided to combine the disciplines of “physics of the tide” and “the history of Spanish exploration in Monterey.”
The Monterey museum of History and Art was another key aspect for the development of students’ projects. For example, Collins saw a Salvador Dali exhibit completed after his time studying in Monterey. From there, she decided to make a mobile in the style of Dali representing the trophic levels of the Elkhorn Slough animal food chain.
Alongside efforts for their projects, the Monterey trip allowed students to foster many impactful memories. From cave exploring and museum tours, to a game of beach volleyball, AGATE students took part in a broad array of activities to further discover Monterey’s complexity and cultivate their creativity. Verbanszky said,“My favorite part of Monterey, as nerdy as it sounds, was going to the historical sites. There’s so much rich California history in Monterey.”
Combining a trip with four different schools in the Acalanes Union District may seem like a daunting task, but students shared that it was a great way to make new friends and meet new people.
As for those who wish to go on the trip in future years, Verbansky explains that students who show they may be good for the program are nominated by their sophomore teachers and that after applying, are placed in a lottery system. “I wish we could expand AGATE to more students, but there’s only so many [students] we can take.”
