Winners of Emergence Contest Meet the Live Mojave Max

Fifth grader Ryan Cicchitti and his entire class  visited the live Mojave Max on Friday, May 19 at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Visitor’s Center. Ryan is the grand prize winner of the 2006 Mojave Max Emergence Contest.  The grand prize he received was a field trip for him and his entire class to Mojave Max's habitat at the Red Rock National Conservation Area and a class pizza party.

County Manager Thom Reilly welcomed the students to the visitor’s center.  He  thanked the fifth graders of Roger Gehring Elementary School for their participation in the contest and their interest in our local environment.    

Mojave Max made his late debut on April 3 at 11:32 a.m.   Ryan guessed 11:35 a.m. of that day.  The exceptionally cool spring temperatures in Southern Nevada contributed to his latest emergence on record.

The winning student and his class also received Mojave Max Olympic-style medals and Mojave Max T-shirts, CD’s, and educational activities.  Kim Underwood, the teacher of the winning student, received a new personal computer and a giant traveling trophy was awarded to the school for one year.

Mojave Max is a live desert tortoise living at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  Like all other Southern Nevada desert tortoises, he enters a burrow to brumate, the reptilian form of hibernation, every winter and emerges every spring. Ryan Cicchitti predicted the closest to the precise date and time that Mojave Max actually emerged, making him the official winner of the 2006 Mojave Max Emergence Contest. 

The Mojave Max Emergence Contest has provided unique support and encouragement to the winner and his family this year.  Ryan’s father passed away two years ago, and Ryan and his mother had been grieving.  As Ryan and his mother supported each other during this difficult time, the community of Gehring Elementary and the Clark County educational backdrop provided strength and support.  Librarian Leonard Duck sought out the Mojave Max Program and encouraged all of the students of the school to learn about the desert and enter their predictions for this contest.  Ryan continued to remain active and involved in the activities of his school.

On April 7, Clark County officials visited Ryan at his school and announced that he was the winner of the 2006 Mojave Max Emergence Contest.  “Nothing like this has ever happened to me my entire life,” Ryan exclaimed upon hearing the news. “Maybe my luck is finally turning around.”  

This year was an exceptionally special celebration as Ryan and his class traveled to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to receive their grand prize.

This contest is sponsored by Clark County , the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Clark County School District and is designed to encourage students to study the Mojave Desert , learn about the behaviors of desert species and better understand the relationship between weather and our environment.