Trip to Capitol Fits the Bill for 4 Students

After months of planning their legislative agenda and studying parliamentary procedure, four West Valley students joined nearly 2,000 of their peers at last week’s 50th annual California YMCA Model Legislature and Court in Sacramento.

Calabasas High School juniors Kapil Mahendra and James Low, both 16, brought a students’ rights bill that they sponsored before their fellow “legislators” in the Assembly and Senate chambers at the state Capitol. Calabasas High School’s Anand Mahendra, 15, and Brett Hitchcock, also 15, a Birmingham High School sophomore, served on the Technology Committee at the four-day event. The students also met with Gov. Pete Wilson and state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, among other state leaders.

“These kids get to learn about democracy firsthand,” said Dave Powell, executive director of the West Valley Family YMCA. “As adults they’ll be better informed about the political process.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Bards of Calabasas: Shakespeare is alive and well at Viewpoint School, where 20 ninth- through 12th-graders recently participated in the school’s annual Shakespeare Recitation Contest.

Reciting a maximum of 20 lines from any of the Bard of Avon’s plays or poems, the students were cheered on by their friends and teachers at the lunch-time event.

Senior Molly Matrisciano won the competition with a speech by the Jailer’s Daughter from Act 3 of “The Two Noble Kinsmen,” and will now proceed to the countywide competition later this month. The event is sponsored by Great Britain’s English-Speaking Union.

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All Ears: Disneyland visitors were entertained last weekend by the Lawrence Middle School Band, an award-winning musical ensemble that’s been generating excitement under the direction of teacher Jeremy Chung. The group was recently selected to attend a national concert-band competition set for later this year in Florida, and will also perform at Walt Disney World. The school’s booster club will hold a rummage sale at the Chatsworth campus Feb. 22 to raise money for trip expenses.

EVENTS

Let Freedom Ring: Students at Emelita Street School will express their thoughts about freedom at the school’s 19th annual “All for Freedom Assembly” on Thursday. The Encino students will wear hats and ribbons and will present posters at the gathering, which will feature speeches and songs reflecting on black history, women’s rights and other freedom movements.

KUDOS

Optimistic: Three juniors from the Granada Hills High School Math, Science and Technology Magnet were honored recently at a Northridge restaurant, where they received medals for their winning entries in the Optimists International Freedom Essay Contest. First-place winner Timothy Young of Canoga Park now advances to the district competition, where he will vie for a trip to the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge, Pa., and for a share of a $10,000 college scholarship.

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Shining Bright: Pacoima Middle School science teacher Alex Koperberg was recently honored for his popular “Mr. K’s Extreme Science” program by being chosen for a KNBC-TV Crystal Apple Award, which acknowledges a talented teacher every Friday on the evening newscast. Koperberg was selected from a pool of hundreds of student-nominated teachers.

Class Notes appears every Wednesday. Send news about schools to the Valley Edition, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax it to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to diane.wedner@latimes.com