“Your kids could be slumped down in their desks at school, snoring through yet another period of rote book learnin’. Or they could be in Doug Olsen’s science class at Sakai Intermediate School, using a Martian colony simulator – complete with working solar panel – to study the energy requirements for successful colonization of another planet.That they have access to the latter – purchase price, with all its mind-expanding possibilities: $1,600 – is a tribute to the efforts of the Bainbridge Education Support Team, better known as BEST.We wanted to call readers’ attention to the second annual BEST Night Out fund-raiser, 6-9 p.m. Dec. 5 in downtown Winslow. Proceeds will help pay for special programs and materials for island students, resources that would otherwise be beyond school district funding. And we must say, we’re impressed by the resources BEST provided last year. A (very) brief sampling, from the organization’s fall newsletter:* An incubation unit (chiller and aquarium), water quality kit and other equipment to support grade schoolers’ study of the life cycle of coho salmon, from egg to fry, including the raising and releasing of the salmon ($1,640).* Copies of the reference book The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court, for the high school’s Advanced Placement government and American studies classes ($800);* A trip to Blake Island for fourth-graders, to study Northwest native culture ($500);* Hi-tech equipment for instruction and learning, like Boxlight AV presenters, Hewlitt-Packard scanners and Deskjet printers, and digital video cameras. Other BEST grants – and with $150,000 raised last year, the list is indeed long – include continuing education for Bainbridge teachers. This year’s primary focus will be supplemental literature – about 3,800 new books – to boost language arts education, with another hefty grant going to support elementary-level Spanish instruction.The organization had its annual phonathon earlier this month, and we’re told that checks are still rolling in. Now comes BEST Night Out, in which participating restaurants and businesses will pledge 20 percent of their till over a three-hour period. And while we generally eschew lists of merchants contributing to local fund-raising events (the numbers tend to get unwieldy), we have a keen interest in seeing this event take root. So here you go:This year, participating restaurants include Bainbridge Island Sushi House, Bainbridge Thai Cuisine, Four Swallows, Island Grill, Madrona Waterfront Cafe, Pizza Factory, San Carlos, Simon’s Chinese Cuisine and Winslow Way Cafe.And merchants: Bad Blanche, B.I. Cycle Shop, Berry Patch, Blinx, Calico Cat, Dana’s Showhouse, Eagle Harbor Books, Fox Paw, Lindsley’s, The Traveler, and Winslow Wine Shop.So keep BEST Night Out in mind as you make your dinner or shopping plans, 6-9 p.m. Dec. 5. Last year’s event raised $1,000; the goal this year is a five-fold increase. We think islanders can do it. To find out more about the event or the organization, call Bryan Wiggins at 780-9277, or check out the organization’s website, www.bainbridgebest.org.It’s fun being part of an organization that can dole out big chunks of money, BEST board member Ellen Bush told us this week said. People are so grateful.So too should be the parents of youngsters in our public schools. Our students are getting a fascinating array of tools with which to learn – many thanks to BEST – and we’re confident they’ll put them to good use. “