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• Abrahamson Printing presses two families together in Lodi

• As Stockton eyes growth, the greenbelt movement in Lodi stalls, hits hurdles

• Locals weigh in on greenbelt

• Local school, friends mourn death of Lockeford soldier

• Festival of Fly Fishing in Lodi

• Galt teacher Debra Crane honored for engineering program

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (72)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (38)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (30)

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Galt teacher Debra Crane honored for engineering program

Nearly a decade ago, Debra Crane heard about a unique national program aimed at getting high schoolers excited about engineering careers.

"I want students to be exposed to a variety of adventures in the hope that something will capture their interest and become a lifelong passion," she said.

For this, Crane has received special recognition from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation and 3M for her outstanding efforts in inspiring students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

She is one of only 10 Project Lead the Way teachers from around the country to receive this recognition.

"It is pretty cool, just to be recognized for something you do every day," said Crane, who lives in Herald. "You realize someone's noticing."

Among the prizes for the "Building the Future" award is $1,000 cash. The teacher will also travel to Texas next month to be formally recognized by the foundation.

Galt High School, too, will receive a new interactive classroom whiteboard and digital projector.

"It is a great honor to have one of our teachers recognized this way," Principal Charles Howell said. "Not only was Debra Crane honored, (but) Project Lead the Way has given us scholarship funds for students to join her at the awards conference in Texas. We are very honored to have our students honored as well."

D.J. Sinkes, Matt Hunt and Jon Rogers will accompany their teacher next month.

Crane, who founded Galt's program in 2001 with only 75 students, currently teaches introduction to engineering, digital electronics, computer integrated manufacturing, and civil engineering and architecture to all grade levels. Today, there are close to 150 students enrolled between Galt High and Liberty Ranch High schools.

She said she feels she has made a difference in getting high schoolers excited about engineering programs.

"We now have quite a few going on (in college engineering programs)," said Crane, whose husband, Roger, teaches engineering at Bear Creek High School in Stockton.

"We had several end up in the Cal Poly program, which is one of the hardest. We've even had kids who have graduated and work in engineering now. Some have come back and said they wouldn't have thought about the career had they not come through the program," said Crane.

Before becoming a teacher, Crane worked in the architecture industry for 13 years. She heard about Project Lead the Way at a teacher consortium in the early days of her 11-year career at Galt High.

At the time, a drafting teacher was lobbying for a computer lab at the school, and the school needed the reassurance that it was going to be used for more than making floor plans, she said in an earlier interview.

Project Lead the Way seemed just the right fit. Howell is excited to continue the program's growth. In the spring, the school plans to begin a construction project to turn four classrooms into a 2,000-square-foot engineering/prototype lab. It will be paid for with a $900,000 grant from the state.

"We are looking forward to even more recognition and awards from this program as students continue to stretch the limits of engineering and design," Howell said.

By honoring outstanding educators, the "Building the Future Awards" program strives to attract, motivate and reward the achievements of talented educators.

"We believe that it is important to recognize the valuable work these educators are doing," executive director Bart Aslin said in a written statement.

"By educating today's youth, they are truly 'Building the Future' for tomorrow's leaders and a vibrant workforce. Our children need role models like Debra Crane — teachers who are dedicated to showing youth the rewards of technology and science."

Project Lead the Way, a New York-based non-profit, engages U.S. students by training middle and high school teachers to create hands-on, project-based curriculum that prepares students for academic and professional success in math and engineering fields.

The teachers, who are required to complete an intensive two-week summer training program in order to teach the courses, emphasize creativity and context-based learning so that kids don't just see "math" and "science," but instead understand how to apply math and science to real-life problems and innovations.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.