Tide Turns for Science Students

With tide-pooling conditions expected to be perfect in the South Bay this weekend, 65 Granada Hills High School science students will join marine biologists at the Southern California Marine Institute in San Pedro on Saturday for the Valley school’s third annual intertidal field study.

Equipped with funky clothes, waterproof shoes and a host of scientific tools, the marine biology and advanced-placement environmental science students will spend the day identifying and counting plants and sea animals such as urchins, hermit crabs and sea hares. The results of the field work will be studied by Marine Institute scientists, who are tracking the diversity of marine life in the organism-rich tidal zone.

“This is a way for our students to do real college-level work,” said environmental science teacher Chelsea Crawford. “They get to learn real field techniques outside of the school lab setting.”

“We hope to turn these students on to science,” added marine biology teacher John Heston. “It can be a life-changing experience.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Appreciating Art: Sixty Louisville High School social studies and art students will conclude a three-visit, hands-on cultural experience at the Getty Museum on Thursday. The ninth- through 12th-graders have been examining and discussing a variety of sculptures and paintings with Getty educators. The Approaches to Art seminars, which run three hours each, have allowed the students to observe masterworks and create their own drawings in the museum’s art studio.

“The Getty has provided our students with a great opportunity to appreciate art on a personal level and to help the students put the art in a historical perspective,” said Assistant Principal Marirose Dirsteine.

KUDOS

Who’s Who: Four Valley residents are among the eight Pierce College educators recognized recently for excellence in teaching by Educational Communications, Inc., which published the teachers’ names in its “Who’s Who Among American Teachers, 1998.” Craig Kramer of Canoga Park, Norm Levy of Tarzana, Edward Mazeika of West Hills and Dean Pickard of Calabasas were nominated by their former students, based on the positive effect they achieved in the classroom.

EVENTS

Get Out Your Togas: For those of you who don’t know Athena from Apollo, now’s the time to head over to John F. Kennedy High School’s Little Theater to enjoy “Greek to Me,” a drama based on Greek mythology. The play opens at 7 p.m. today on the Granada Hills campus and will run through Saturday. Ticket prices range from $2.50 to $5; theatergoers who arrive in period costumes will be admitted for half price.

Tea Time: “Cinderella” and the “Little Match Girl” are just two of many fairy tale favorites who will celebrate reading and sip tea at Andasol Avenue Elementary School’s Once Upon a Time Tea Party this evening. The Northridge second- and third-graders, accompanied by their families, will dress up as characters from favorite stories they have read in class.

Tech Grant: Viewpoint School in Calabasas will update its computer equipment and connect the school’s three computer labs, part of a long-term plan to keep students at the forefront of educational technology, Headmaster Robert Dworkoski said. A recent $20,000 grant from the Joseph Stanley Leeds Foundation has made the computer-lab improvements possible.

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