The grand reopening of Bishop Diego High School’s $1 million, state-of-the-art science wing was a hands-on affair with students from the school’s STEM Academy conducting experiments while invited guests chatted with instructors and roamed the labs and classrooms enjoying appetizers and wine.

The lab experiments ranged from crushing cans with atmospheric pressure, boiling water at room temperature in a lower pressure environment to demonstrating how a Kundt’s tube causes flames to dance when bombarded with sound waves.

An interactive, up-to-the-hour solar power display was unveiled that allows Bishop students to track how many kilowatt hours of energy their new solar modules are producing. The general public can access this information by clicking on the Solar Technology icon on the Bishop Web site. The solar tracking display quantifies the amount of power being generated and gives equivalent percentages of reduced emissions, reduction of carbon footprint and impact that the equivalent number of planted seedlings would have on the environment.

A plaque with the names of the many generous donors who contributed to the renovation was unveiled Thursday evening, as well.

Click here for more information about Bishop Diego High, 4000 La Colina Road.

— Ashley Snider is admissions director at Bishop Diego High School.