A couple of wonderful Tucson education stories

by David Safier

Francisco Orozco, who just graduated from Tucson High, is something special. The guy has racked up all kinds of honors for his scientific work.

[Orozco's] research into how enzymes can increase biofuel production has received national recognition. He's cleaned up at major science fairs across the country. There's a good chance his research will be published.

It sounds like Margaret Wilch, who teaches honors research methods at Tucson High, is something special as well. Orozco decided to drive into Tucson High from Three Points — it's almost halfway to Sells — because of the work he saw by her students at science fairs.

"Every project that was from Tucson High stood out so much at the regional science fair," Orozco said of what he saw in Wilch's students, and why he had to be in her class. "Prestigious projects. Amazing notebooks. They were just really, really, really high-quality projects."

To recap: an inspirational teacher at a public school — and not the usual places like University High or Catalina Foothills High, but Tucson High — made a huge difference for this student, and I'm sure she's inspired many others as well. Francisco will be attending UA, and he'll arrive knowing something about the place. Thanks to Wilch's class, he's already linked in with a lab at UA.

It's a great story. Congratulations, Francisco, and best wishes. And thank you, Ms. Wilch, for your insprirational work.

In another story, UA got an $800 million contract from NASA, which is a follow-up to the $428 million it got to work on the Phoenix Mars lander. This time the money is for a "robotic space mission that will visit an asteroid and extract a sample that could provide clues to the origin of life on Earth." This is wonderful for UA and for Tucson, with all kinds of spillover benefits.

NOTE: The story about Francisco Orozco was written by Josh Brodesky, who is generally not a favorite here at BfA. Though I have some minor quibbles with the column, it tells the story very well. I applaud Josh for shining a positive spotlight on this deserving young man, his teacher and Tucson High.