Gifted Students Spend a Week in Washington

Danny Hidalgo and Philip Lee usually spend their weekdays at the Los Angeles Zoo, up to their elbows in science experiments for their North Hollywood High School Zoo Magnet program. But the two highly gifted students exchanged their lab coats for business attire recently when they attended the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C.

Philip, 16, of Northridge, and Danny, 18, of Sylmar, were among 300 exceptional students worldwide who were selected by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council to attend the weeklong event, designed to interest student leaders in government service.

The pair attended a briefing at the State Department, and Danny accompanied Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills) to a House Judicial Committee meeting.

“I loved the behind-the-scenes aspect of the experience,” Danny said. “It was exciting walking down the halls of Congress, hearing the bells ring and seeing the senators running to the sessions. I got a powerful impression of what it’s like to work on Capitol Hill.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Sharing Books: Second-and third-grade students at Dearborn Street Elementary School in Northridge had the chance to relax in the shade of ash trees on campus recently, letting their imaginations run wild. But no one’s complaining, least of all the 60 Holmes International Humanities Magnet and Middle School students who celebrated Read Across America Week with their younger counterparts at the two-day reading event. The older students brought their favorite books to read to the eager bibliophiles, including several they had written themselves.

Write On!: First-grade teacher Tracey Temblay believes no one is too young to be published, so her students at St. Michael and All Angels’ School in Studio City write and illustrate vignettes in their notebooks every day. These short stories are then transformed into books, complete with dedication and about-the-author pages. By year’s end, the young scribes will take home eight of their “published” works.

Teaching Tolerance: Actor Allan Rich brought his We Care About Kids program to Northridge Middle School recently, where 180 members of the school’s Institute for the Study of World Peace attended a two-hour town meeting on race relations in America. Panel members included KCBS newscaster Larry Carroll and American Indian activist Russell Means.

EVENTS

Sweet Cause: Recess is serious business for Bonnie Gould’s fifth-graders, who have been busy selling cookies at the midmorning break to raise $250 for a field trip to see the Thousand Oaks Civic Center production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The Chatsworth Park Elementary School students have been studying the Holocaust and listening to their teacher’s oral rendition of the young girl’s experience in hiding during World War II.

Parent Workshop: Parents seeking information about special-education programs and services available to students in Burbank, Glendale and La Canada are invited to attend the Special Education Local Plan Area conference Saturday at Jordan Middle School in Burbank. Alice Parker,director of the California Department of Special Education, will be the keynote speaker, and 30 exhibitors will be on hand to assist parents of children with special needs. For information, call Sarah Napier at (818) 241-3111, Ext. 387.

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