Alaska Visitors Cross Cultures at Madison

When the 30 visitors stepped into Madison Middle School’s math and science room to check out the iguana habitat, they knew they weren’t in Barrow, Alaska, anymore. The close encounter with the reptiles was only one new experience in a day packed with firsts for the eighth-graders and their chaperons, who live 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The Alaskans, who raised $28,000 to make the Southern California trip, participated in a Cinco de Mayo dance celebration at the North Hollywood school, during which the Inupiat students got to demonstrate some fancy footwork from their own heritage. The visitors also checked out Madison’s animation program and computer lab, where they exchanged e-mail addresses with their new friends.

“The experience was a real eye-opener for our kids,” said Harry Talbot, Madison’s Title I coordinator. “They got to look at history from a part of the world they knew nothing about. It was a culturally broadening experience.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Down to Earth: Students at Louisville High School celebrated Earth Day recently by raising more than $3,000 to adopt 30 acres of rain forest in Belize. The Woodland Hills students sold ecology-themed T-shirts to aid The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt-an-Acre program, through which the school has now adopted 72 acres of the endangered land.

Bag It: In observance of St. Ferdinand School’s Ecology Week, its 90 middle school students recently gave San Fernando’s Las Palmas Park a make-over. The students painted trash barrels and the graffiti-tagged walls at the park and collected trash on their walk to and from the school. They are also collecting cans for a school recycling program.

Read All About It: Students, teachers and parents at Noble Avenue Elementary School in North Hills recently celebrated Young Authors’ Day in the new school library. The students’ individual and class books were on display for parents, who were invited to read to their children at the event.

All’s Faire: Northridge Middle School recently held its second annual International Faire, hosted by the school’s Institute for the Study of World Peace. The Institute--whose purpose is to teach tolerance--offered culturally diverse information booths run by students from a variety of countries. Participants were treated to music, food and games.

KUDOS

Future MDs: Thirteen exceptional students from the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys will join 350 fellow leaders in San Francisco this summer for the National Medical Leadership Forum. The students, from Campbell Hall and Oakwood high schools in North Hollywood, Van Nuys High School, Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, and William S. Hart High School in Newhall, will spend 10 days in seminars with prominent doctors and scientists, who will discuss breakthroughs in genetic, cancer and AIDS research, among other health topics.

Scholars: This week, the San Fernando Valley Opportunity Through Education Scholarship Fund will award $44,000 to 26 Valley students. The awards, $2,000 for students attending a four-year university and $1,000 for those attending a two-year college or trade school, will be presented Friday to students who are committed to community service in addition to maintaining a solid academic record. The fund was created by former parole officer Patricia Franco in 1995 with a $500 grant.