Students Teach Lesson in Giving

--Youngsters in one of Colorado’s poorest school districts raised $115 toward a Christmas gift for children in Mexico City--a new public school to replace one of the more than 200 destroyed in September’s two major earthquakes. “Even though we live in one of the poorest counties and school districts in the state (of Colorado), the teachers’ and students’ enthusiasm and commitment to help the less fortunate was, needless to say, more than what I could ask for,” said Evan Valdez, principal of Centennial Elementary School in the San Luis Valley. “It is ironic that it takes a mishap or disaster of sorts to make us aware and appreciate the abundance that we possess,” Valdez said in a recent letter accompanying a check sent to the state Department of Education. The money raised by Centennial’s 230 students is part of $15,000 contributed by children in 70 school districts across Colorado. It is to be used to replace Alberto Carrera Elementary School in Mexico City, which serves 1,000 students. Contributions ranged from checks for hundreds of dollars raised in bake sales and other events to a bundle of yellow pencils given by fourth-graders in Boulder.

--First Lady Nancy Reagan, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Mother Teresa of Calcutta top the list of women most admired by the American people, as determined by the latest of the annual Gallup Poll surveys conducted since the late 1940s. The three are followed in this year’s voting by the 1984 Democratic vice presidential candidate, Geraldine A. Ferraro, and by Princess Diana, wife of Britain’s Prince Charles. Next is former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane J. Kirkpatrick. Seventh-place honors go to Betty Ford, followed by Queen Elizabeth II. Rounding out the top 10 are Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Respondents in this survey are asked to give their choices without the aid of a prearranged list of names. This procedure, although opening the field to all possible choices, tends to favor those who have been in the news. Frequently mentioned but not included in the top 10 are, in alphabetical order: Shirley Chisholm, Jane Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Coretta Scott King and Barbara Walters.

--Singer Peggy Lee, suffering from complications from double-bypass surgery 12 weeks ago, spent Christmas Day in a hospital bed but was expected to go home before New Year’s Day. Lee, 65, underwent the surgery Oct. 7 in New Orleans and was operated on again two weeks later when an infection developed. She was flown to St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica on Dec. 9.