Students Have Peak Experience

It’s not easy to climb five mountain peaks in one day, but the 700 students at Sierra Canyon School did just that recently in the first of five projects underway in their Base Camp: Planet Earth study.

Each of the “mountain peaks” was located right on the Chatsworth campus. The students used topographical maps and compasses to take the proper route to the parts of the campus representing the summits.

Once “on top,” students created and tested equipment they would need to survive in the particular ecosystem they were visiting.

School Director Ann Gillinger said that the all-school study allows older students to teach their younger counterparts about the world’s life zones, using science, writing and other skills.

“At the end of the study, each classroom will make a multimedia presentation about the area of the world they’re studying,” Gillinger said. “It’s an incredible adventure.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Pledging to Help: Twenty students from Evergreen Continuation High School in Sylmar recently stepped out of rented limousines, their baggy pant bottoms scraping along the pavement. The teens--some former gang members and dropouts--then took their seats at KCET-TV’s phone banks for the public television station’s quarterly pledge drive for new members. The students, who participate in the Volunteer Center Assistance League of Southern California Teen Outreach Program, will return to the TV studio in January to get another taste of culture while lending a helping hand to their community.

Spreading Cheer: Sunny Brae Avenue Elementary School in Winnetka has just added about 4,000 books to its library collection, thanks to donations from book lovers at Round Meadow School in Hidden Hills. The Round Meadow students will also deliver about 1,000 holiday-wrapped toys to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles today as part of the school’s community service effort.

KUDOS

Tooting His Horn: Chaminade College Preparatory junior Juan-Carlos Dominguez-Gary, 16, will high-step his way through Europe this summer when the Northridge student joins the 1999 Spirit of America National Honor Band on its performing tour. The trumpeter will join 100 students nationwide on the 14-day visit to Austria, France, Belgium and other countries.

EVENTS

Auditions: Friday is the deadline for submitting applications for auditions to Los Angeles County High School for the Performing Arts’ spring semester. The Cal State L.A.-based public high school, which specializes in performing and visual arts instruction, will hold auditions Jan. 17 on campus. For information, call (213) 343-ARTS.

In Concert: Band, choir and ensemble students at John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills will present their annual Winter Concert at 7 o’clock tonight in the Little Theatre. Tickets cost $2 . . . Sepulveda Middle School in North Hills will feature 240 music students in a holiday program tonight. Dinner is available for $4, one hour before the 7 p.m. show . . . Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills will present holiday concerts tonight and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Steven Capretta Gymnasium. The cost is $4 . . . American Sign Language students will perform in their annual holiday program at Granada Hills/CSUN Magnet High School in Granada Hills on Thursday. Deaf and hard-of-hearing students from Mayall Street Elementary, Chase Street Elementary and Mulholland Middle schools will attend the 10 a.m. concert.