Students headed to national TOYchallenge

Toy team -- The Walnut Creek Intermediate student team of Brenda McIntire, Heather Larsen, Megan Gemar and Natalie Horan -- also known as ""The Silver Squires"" -- is headed to the 2006 TOYchallenge national competition in San Diego this month.

The contest asks kids to hone their engineering and design skills by creating their dream toy, so the Silver Squires have dreamed up a game called ""So You Want To Be A Genius?"" The game involves answering questions in categories like science, entertainment and sports to advance through a series of circles tied together by hemp rope in a triangle. It can be played both on land and in the water, said team coach Paula Costa.

The TOYchallenge was created by Sally Ride Science, a group founded by the first American woman in space to encourage girls' interest in science, math and technology. At least half the members of a TOYchallenge team must be girls.