Building a solar-powered boat

Three young men from Camp David Gonzales, a juvenile detention facility in Calabasas, make sure all systems are in order as they prepare to launch their solar-powered boat in the Solar Cup. The Southern California Metropolitan Water District and local water agencies sponsor the boating competition in which students build solar-powered boats and race them over a weekend.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Math and science teacher Ty Kastendiek checks the rudder on the Camp David Gonzales entry into the Solar Cup boat-racing competition. After the race, Kastendiek said: “I’m proud of my boys -- they held it together, never got down. I saw them grow up today.”
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Three incarcerated youths from Camp David Gonzales and their math and science teacher, Ty Kastendiek, right, prepare to launch their solar-powered boat for the first time. Kastendiek doesn’t know why his students are at the probation camp, but he said he chose the three on his boat-building team because they were quiet and smart and seemed like good kids.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Teacher Ty Kastendiek, center, helps his students guide the solar-powered boat they built into the water at Westlake Lake in Westlake Village a few days before the Solar Cup. The competition, which began in 2002, was held at Lake Skinner near Temecula.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

One of Ty Kastendiek’s students from Camp David Gonzales, a juvenile probation facility, pilots his team’s boat in Westlake Lake. This was the student-built boat’s maiden voyage, a test run before the Solar Cup competition among 40 Southern California high schools. When the race was over Sunday, the team from Camp David Gonzales hadn’t finished in first place, but they hadn’t lost either.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)