Students to Try Jack Sprat in Mock Murder

The trial of Titan v. Jack Sprat will be called to order Thursday morning at Laurence 2000 School’s Kids’ Court in Van Nuys. The mock court--an elective class at the elementary school--will decide the guilt or innocence of Jack Sprat, charged with the theft and attempted murder of Goldie, the cholesterol-lowering goose.

Attorney Lauren Wolke, the Kids’ Court coordinator, will lead the 22 costumed fifth- and sixth-graders through the trial process, during which they will learn about ethics and law in a creative atmosphere.

“This is a learning experience in which we explore real-life situations in a hands-on manner,” Wolke said. “It also inspires young people to learn about public speaking.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Calling All Hands: Neither slime nor ink nor dirt deterred a group of Serrania Avenue and Woodland Hills Elementary School students from dipping their hands into some unusual experiments at the recent Math & Science Family Field Day in Woodland Hills.

Twenty teacher-supervised science stations were set up for the students and their families to learn about chemical reactions, making ice cream, fingerprinting and more at the National Science Foundation-sponsored event.

EVENTS

Local Bards: Drama Club students from Hale and A.E. Wright middle schools, along with fellow thespians from St. Mel, Pomelo Drive and Welby Way elementary schools, have completed rehearsals for the Los Angeles Shakespeare for Children presentation of “The Tempest.”

The 25 students, ages 8 to 14, learned Shakespearean dialogue for the play, which is running through June 14 at Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills. Admission is free.

KUDOS

Top Scholars: Eighteen Valley high school seniors have won $2,000 National Merit Scholarship Corp. awards, based on academic records, national test scores and other qualifications. In all, 2,200 students out of 14,000 national finalists received the coveted scholarships.

Local winners are: Ji Son, Burbank High School; Lauren Frank, Calabasas High School; Alison Kim, Glendale High School; Caneel Fraser, Eric Green, Anne Kaufman, Jane Kim, Marco Duranti, Mia Edwards, Tamara Ma, Carol Peebles, Heather Farkas and Samuel Miller, Harvard-Westlake School; Benjamin McKean, Oakwood Secondary School; Benjamin Kwak, James G. Marsden and Michael Saji, North Hollywood High School; Jung Kang, Granada Hills High School and Jennifer Sherman, Viewpoint School.

Next week: College-sponsored National Merit Scholarship Winners.

Leading the Way: Cleveland High School junior Deborah Yim was awarded a $1,000 Asian-Pacific Youth Leadership scholarship at a Glendale luncheon recently. The 16-year-old student was honored for her leadership qualities and community activism. Deborah has donated an additional $500 honorarium to the Asia and Pacific Islander Council of the San Fernando Valley.

Sweet Music: Five of Balboa Gifted Magnet Elementary School’s top musicians, under the direction of teacher Phyllis Newman, won $200 each at a recent Los Angeles City Elementary Schools Music Assn. competition at Cal State L.A. Allison Roy, Philip Bloom, Emily Chen, Kieran Gupta and Angie Chiang will use the scholarships to further their music education.

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