Program Helps Grant Seniors Attend College

Fifty Grant High School seniors who hadn’t planned to enroll in college are reconsidering, after participating in a special program that allows them--and students from 15 other schools citywide--to take high school classes and receive credit for them at Santa Monica College.

The Van Nuys students, who have limited English skills, are touring the school today and will meet with counselors to lay out a course of study, in the hope that they will enroll in college next fall.

“Most of these students hadn’t considered themselves college material,” said Grant teacher Sandra Okura DaLie. “This program has opened up opportunities for them that they had never previously considered.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Dance Partners: Megan Reisel, a UCLA graduate student in dance and ethnology, wanted to bring her university experience to the community, so since February, she has trained dancers at Van Nuys High School Performing Arts Magnet. The 11 culturally diverse students involved in Reisel’s community-outreach program will show off their new skills at an evening of creative dance May 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door.

Olympic Feet: More than 300 students recently competed in the Glendale Unified School District’s Elementary Olympic Games at Hoover High School. The students, representing 19 schools, participated in a number of track-and-field events, including the 100-yard dash, team relays, soccer shoot and smash ball. Balboa School, which accumulated the most points, was awarded the Gold Cup.

Sing Out Loud: It’s cool to be a nerd at Holmes Middle School. At least that’s the case for the lucky International Humanities Magnet students who got to perform in the joint Los Angeles Opera/Holmes production of “Nerd-Landia.” The original piece--about peer pressure and other teen issues--was commissioned for the Los Angeles Opera’s school outreach program and made its debut with student actors and the opera company’s performers last week on the Northridge campus.

KUDOS

Winning Educators: Gail Bluestone, a counselor at Sun Valley Middle School, and Jonathan Kenion, the band director at North Hollywood High School, have each been awarded $2,000 for excellence in teaching by the Fullment Fund, a nonprofit organization that matches mentors with at-risk children. The pair, along with 15 other honorees, were nominated for the award by current or former students, who presented them with the checks at a Scholars Day Luncheon at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

“We want to give kids in our communities, who are often under-supported, some hope for the future,” Bluestone said.

Optimistic: “My Commitment to the Future,” a four-minute speech by seventh-grader Katie Crisalli of Simi Valley, landed her the top prize recently at the 1997-98 Optimists International oratorical contest. The 13-year-old from Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth was awarded a $1,500 scholarship.

EVENTS

Cultural Exchange: Hundreds of students representing 30 countries will celebrate International Day beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Rinaldi Adult Center in Granada Hills. The multicultural event will feature stage performances, ethnic foods and classrooms decorated with the art and textiles from the students’ native lands.

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