When Friend Choked, Scout Was Prepared

FRIENDS FOR LIFE: Timothy Lawrence, a fifth-grade Boy Scout at Williams School in the Hawthorne School District, was honored recently for rescuing a classmate who was choking on a piece of apple.

Timothy, 10, was eating lunch when classmate Aisha Watson, also 10, began coughing.

“I asked if she was choking, but she kept gasping for air,” Timothy recalled this week. “I tried hitting her on the back, and then I did the Heimlich maneuver on her, and it just popped out.”

Satisfied that she was OK, Timothy finished his lunch and

left for the playground. His parents didn’t learn of the incident until later that evening, when Aisha and her parents dropped by his home to offer thanks.

“I just went over to thank him for saving my life and stuff,” Aisha said.

At a school assembly March 1, school officials and the Hawthorne Fire Department gave Timothy a plaque and certificate in honor of his deed. Although the principal congratulated him for his quick thinking, Timothy remained nonplussed by the attention he has received.

“I didn’t think it was that big,” Timothy explained. “To me, it was nothing.”

BLACK SCHOLARS: Four South Bay seniors were among 600 outstanding black students nationwide who have earned Achievement Scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

Two of the students--Leslie M. Parker of Carson and Charles I. Morton IV of Torrance--attend Chadwick School, a private, K-12 school on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The other winners are Jessica G. Williams of Carson, who attends Banning High in Wilmington, and Christopher P. Brooks of Inglewood, a student at Brentwood School in Los Angeles.

The students competed against more than 90,000 black students for the awards, which are aimed at increasing the educational opportunities of black Americans. Judges consider test scores, academic achievement, students’ activities and evidence of leadership in awarding the scholarships, spokeswoman Elaine S. Detweiler said.

Parker, Williams and Brooks will receive one-time scholarships worth $2,000. Morton’s award, which is sponsored by the Boule Foundation Achievement Scholarship, is a four-year scholarship of at least $2,000 annually.

SUMUS NUMERUS UNUS: Members of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School’s Latin Club have good reason to proclaim “We’re No. 1.”

For the fourth year in a row, the students last week captured the sweepstakes trophy in the statewide Latin convention sponsored by the California Junior Classical League.

The convention, which took place at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, featured a number of competitions, including contests testing students’ knowledge of such areas as Latin grammar, mythology and daily life. More than 30 schools from around the state competed for the title.

Student delegates elected Peninsula High junior Christine DuRocher and sophomore Julie Shin as president and secretary of the league next year, an honor that entitles the high school to be host of next year’s convention.

“This is a tremendous responsibility,” said McNair Maxwell, an adviser to the Peninsula High Latin Club. “The students will plan a banquet and dance for 1,200 people and have to provide housing and hotel rooms for hundreds of people. The convention takes a whole year of planning. And it is all student-run.”

VETERINARIAN-TO-BE WINS AWARD: Century Cable TV has awarded Charla Meyer, a senior at Redondo Beach Union High School, a $1,000 tuition scholarship that recognizes outstanding academic performance and community service.

Meyer, an aspiring veterinarian, was one of 55 students nationwide who received an award from the Century Cable Cares Community Scholarship program. She was a member of the school’s Science Olympiad team and volunteers at a local pet clinic, cleaning cages, walking dogs and grooming animals.

“We hope that Charla continues to participate in volunteer service within her college community and at home,” Century Cable TV Manager Nigel Ives said. “We wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors.”

Items for the weekly Class Notes column can be mailed to The Times South Bay office, 23133 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 200, Torrance, CA 90505, or faxed to (310) 373-5753 to the attention of staff reporter Kim Kowsky.