Temple to Fete Director of Nursery School

Helen Rieder, director of Burbank Temple Emanu El Nursery School, will be honored June 5 at the temple’s annual dinner dance.

Born in the former Czechoslovakia, the Auschwitz survivor has served the congregation and the Burbank community for 30 years. From her beginnings as the oldest of nine children, to the loss of all but one relative in the Holocaust, to her stint in the Israeli army, Rieder has shown a remarkable spirit that inspires those around her, her friends say.

“She’s so wonderful with the children. She’s always got the right thing to say. She’s a wonderful mentor for the teachers as well, said JoAnn Young, educational chairwoman for the temple. “She’s very serious about her Judaism. She takes it to heart. She’s a very devoted person, but the bitterness is not there at all. To be able to show the community at large a little taste of Judaism and what Jewish people are all about, that seems to help her because there was so much hatred when she was growing up.”

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Westlake Village resident Karin Kracker’s essay on the historic Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. the Board of Education won her a $1,000 scholarship to UC San Diego, where she will be a freshman. Kracker’s essay was chosen from more than 100 finalists in the contest sponsored by UCSD’s Thurgood Marshall College.

Valley University Women, which awards scholarships to high school graduates throughout the Valley based on grade-point averages, part-time jobs and school and community service, has given awards of $1,500 each to 12 students.

Recipients are Joanne Cabanting and Seijiro Hori of Reseda High School; Cecilia Garcia, Joanna Donald and Linda Truong of Monroe High School; Polina Friedland of Grant High School; Richard Jemio of North Hollywood High School; Jacqueline Lopez and Renee Thompson of Van Nuys High School; Julie Masi, a sophomore at Pierce College; David Mendoza, a freshman at UC Berkeley, and Thomas Phillip of Birmingham High School.

The Glendale/Foothill Division of California Retired Teachers has chosen four students working toward teaching degrees at Glendale Community College to receive $750 scholarships. The scholarships, from the Myers/Andersson scholarship fund, will go to Yvette Hassakoursian, Douglas Lindsey, Jessica Naranjo and Virginia Sarkissian.

The Burbank City Council awarded six local residents with the Older American Volunteer Service Award as part of Older Americans Month.

Tillie LaCarre, Peter Merlo, Bettie Neale, Viola Trumble, Jeanette Varnum and Evelyn Zortman were honored at the council’s May 10 meeting.

Opal Nance, longtime volunteer with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in Burbank, received the Outstanding Older American Award.

Two Crescenta Valley High School seniors have been chosen as semifinalists in the National Hispanic Scholar Recognition Program. Joseph Guerra and Andrew Lane were among 3,000 students honored in the program, which helps identify Latino achievers to colleges and universities. Twenty Mission College students recently were awarded scholarships ranging from $100 to $1,000 at the college’s Honors Reception for more than 650 outstanding students.

Duc Huynh of Sylmar took the $1,000 Sylmar Women’s Club Scholarship and $200 in other awards. Other winners were Luz Rangel, Matilde Lerma, Patricia Byrd, Karla Fasick and Mary Long of Sylmar; Priscilla Sue Ottley of Montrose; Elvira Ramirez and Antonia Piscitelli of Tujunga; Rafael Cardenas and Yolanda Burns of Pacoima; Samatra Phillips of Van Nuys, Leesa Martinez of Arleta, Donald Farnsworth of Lancaster; Shaune Fosterbrown and Juanita Garcia of San Fernando; Robyn Brown of North Hills, Rosalia Munoz of Mission Hills, Martha Sanchez of Granada Hills, and Stacey Stanwick of Canoga Park.

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