GSA Helps Fund New Mobile Science Lab – SSWoW

The Grower Shipper Association of Central California (GSA) is among the sponsors of a new mobile science lab that will serve Kindergarten through 12th-grade students in Monterey County. The Salinas Science Workshop on Wheels (SSWoW) is housed in a 40-foot Monterey/Salinas Transit (MST) bus retrofitted into a science lab. SSWoW will provide hands-on applications of science and engineering to local students.

“Understanding and interpreting science is an important life skill as we make decisions to improve our health, our communities, and our environment,” says Christopher Valadez, President of GSA. “Science education at a young age helps foster improved understanding and may result in a student deciding to pursue a career path in a scientific profession, like agriculture.”

In addition to funding, GSA reached out to MST to help secure the donation of the bus. The SSWoW will be in Salinas at MLK Jr. Academy school on Sanborn Road on Saturdays and the Steinbeck Library on Tuesdays.

Valadez says that the importance of science in agriculture and in helping to create an early opportunity to unlock hands-on science for area youth are among the numerous reasons for supporting this program. “From plant breeding, understanding disease and pest pressures to mechatronics, individuals who’ve developed an interest in science and who gain requisite skills will contribute to the evolution of food production and the footprint of agriculture from this region. Assisting local youth with a direct opportunity that can spark and nurture scientific interest is aligned with our mission of advancing solutions that benefit families, food, and farming in our region.”