BioCurious

Mission Early College High School (MECHS) is a public secondary education and college immersion program in Santa Clara, California, United States that serves students in grades nine through twelve. MECHS is a dual enrollment partnership between the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) and the West Valley–Mission Community College District (WVM). It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Mission College (Mission or MC) is a public community college in Santa Clara, California. It is part of the West Valley–Mission Community College District. The land the college is on was bought between 1966 and 1967. Mission College opened for its first year in 1975. In 1979 it had grown to "3,500 students, 8 administrators, and 73 instructors".

Old Ironsides is a light rail station in Santa Clara, California operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) as part of the VTA Light Rail system. Old Ironsides is served by the Orange Line and is the northern terminal of the Green Line. Immediately west of the station site is a pocket track and double crossover, allowing Green Line trains to switch between tracks and enabling the storage of three, 3-car trains to mobilize trains quickly after the end of an event at Levi's Stadium.Old Ironsides station is closed for up to 60 minutes after the events at the nearby Levi's Stadium to prevent crowds from overwhelming the station. VTA's Great America station (which is located closer to the stadium) has additional facilities to handle large crowds.

Gold Striker is a wooden roller coaster located at California's Great America amusement park. Built by Great Coasters International and designed by Jeff Pike, Gold Striker was the park's eighth roller coaster which opened to the public on May 31, 2013. Its 174-foot-long (53 m) tunnel is the longest in the world to be featured on the first drop, and it was marketed as the "tallest and fastest wooden coaster in Northern California". The roller coaster takes on the theme of the Old West and references the California Gold Rush of the 19th century.

Our Lady of Peace Shrine, also known as the Immaculate Heart of Mary Shrine, is a Roman Catholic shrine and landmark of the Diocese of San José, located in Santa Clara, California. The most notable features of the parish are the 32-foot statue of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Demon is a multi-looping roller coaster at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois and California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. Both coasters opened in 1976 as Turn of the Century, when each Great America park was owned by Marriott Corporation. Following the 1979 season, they were slightly modified and renamed Demon, which introduced a new theme.

RailBlazer is a steel roller coaster at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. Manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, the single-rail roller coaster opened in June 2018. RailBlazer is the ninth roller coaster at California's Great America, and features a 90-degree drop, three inversions, and an off-roading adventure theme. RailBlazer is also the second coaster in California to have a drop of 90 degrees or more. The first one being Hangtime at Knott’s Berry Farm. RailBlazer was one of two prototype single-rail coasters to open in 2018, the other being the Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, whose layout is a mirror image of RailBlazer's.

Patriot is a floorless roller coaster located in Hometown Square at the California's Great America amusement park in Santa Clara, California, United States. The roller coaster originally opened as Vortex on March 9, 1991. It was a stand-up roller coaster designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard.Vortex last operated as a stand-up coaster on September 5, 2016, and it reopened as Patriot on April 1, 2017. The ride was converted to a sit-down configuration featuring new floorless trains and a new color scheme.

Firefall was a Top Spin located at California's Great America. Manufactured by HUSS Park Attractions, the ride was originally located at Geauga Lake under the name Texas Twister. It was the first of its kind in North America. Upon the park's closing in 2007, the ride was relocated to its sister park, California's Great America, where it reopened in 2008. When it was moved, its original ride program was slightly modified. The ride featured a wall of water fountains which rose in front of the vehicle as it swung, giving the illusion that riders may get wet. Its finale sequence featured the bubbling water via pneumatic devices before catching on fire through the use of methane gas. The ride was set to the same soundtrack composed for the defunct ride The Crypt at Kings Dominion.

California's Great America, commonly known simply as Great America, is a 112-acre (45 ha) amusement park located in Santa Clara, California. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, it originally opened in 1976 as one of two parks built by the Marriott Corporation. California's Great America features over 40 rides and attractions, and one of its most notable is Gold Striker, which has been featured as a top-ranked wooden roller coaster in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards publication. Other notable rides include RailBlazer, a single-rail coaster from Rocky Mountain Construction, and Flight Deck, an inverted coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard. The park appeared in Beverly Hills Cop III and Getting Even with Dad, both films were released in 1994.

Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun) is a steel inverted roller coaster located at California's Great America in Northern California. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, Flight Deck made its debut March 20, 1993 as Top Gun. This was Bolliger & Mabillard's second inverted coaster behind Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great America. The third inverted coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard opened a little under two months later at Six Flags Great Adventure. Flight Deck at California's Great America isn't quite as tall, nor as fast or long (in length) as its partner, Afterburn at Carowinds. Flight Deck was also featured in a commercial for Excedrin in 2007.

Great America is a light rail station operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Great America is served by the Orange and Green light rail lines. Great America is named for the nearby California's Great America theme park and is the closest station to Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers. From the station platforms, the entrance to Levi's Stadium is a 0.2-mile (0.32 km) walk and the entrance to the Great America theme park is a 0.4-mile (0.64 km) walk. Improvements were made to the station ahead of the July 2014 opening of Levi's Stadium, including adding an “event only” side platform south of the eastbound track. During normal operations, this platform is not used and gates prevent access. After the end of a game, the platform is opened and used for eastbound and southbound departures, while the normal island platform is used only for westbound departures. During very busy events, the new platform has multiple gates, and customers are asked to queue in different lines based on their destination to facilitate rapid loading of trains.A pocket track was also added between the Reamwood and Old Ironsides stations, enabling the storage of three, 3-car trains to mobilize trains quickly after the end of an event at Levi's Stadium.Despite the similar names, this station is not the recommended transfer point for the Santa Clara – Great America station used by Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) commuter rail and Capitol Corridor inter-city rail trains as the walk between the stations is about 0.6 miles (0.97 km). VTA advises passengers to use Lick Mill station, which is only 0.2 miles (0.32 km) away from the ACE/Capitol Corridor station.