Hannah Parker
Assistant Managing Editor
The West Basin Municipal Water District awarded the Mira Costa Solar Boat Club and Costa science teacher Trevor Oystrick the Division III Water Reliability Award on Saturday at the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility for their participation in the West Basin Solar Cup Boat Building and Racing Competition.
West Basin is a wholesale water agency that provides water to 17 cities within the Los Angeles County and focuses on providing recycled water and educational programs. The West Basin Water Reliability Program’s goal is to reduce dependence on imported water by providing drought-proof water supplies.
“I became very interested in the West Basin Municipal Water District because they promote what I believe in,” Oystrick said. “I believe in doing what we can in order to protect the environment and to utilize our resources in a non-wasteful way.”
The West Basin Solar Cup Boat Building and Racing Competition took place at Lake Skinner in Temecula, California, where teams raced their boats on the water. Costa’s club won seven awards in the rookie division.
“I am hopeful that they [students] will beat their times this year. As far as winning, it will be hard because they will be in the veteran division in which some teams have been competing for 20 years,” Oystrick said. “Overall, I’d like to see a faster speed in the sprint and a few more laps in the endurance.”
Oystrick has taught at Costa for seven years and currently teaches Biology: College Prep and Advanced Placement Environmental Science. Oystrick’s involvement with West Basin began two years ago when he received a flyer promoting involvement with the Basin, he said. Costa’s Solar Boat Club participated in the District’s 2017 Solar Cup, sponsored by West Basin and the King Harbor Marina.
“We were very lucky to receive the funding and support [for the project] that we did,” Oystrick said. “The students were very involved and worked hard to build this boat from scratch.”
Oystrick was initially hesitant to accept the award for himself, because he believes that the students deserve credit for the solar power boat they built from scratch, he said.
“I was hesitant to accept the award because the students did most of the work,” Oystrick said. “However, it was nice to be honored. I hope to see the club to continue to do amazing things. Each boat is made with the same materials, but just constructed differently. Hopefully they think out of the box in order to construct the most efficient boat this year.”
The club is now a part of the engineering class taught by Costa math teacher Leanne Weaver.
“Engineering is all about how we can make things better,” Oystrick said. “I think the students will continue to do that in the engineering class and by doing so, build a great boat.”
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