Students Have Their Day in Court

A group of Sierra Canyon Middle School legal eagles was honored Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for their first-place win in the 21st annual Los Angeles County Mock Trial Competition, junior division, held late last year.

The 16 seventh- and eighth-graders had put in more than 100 weekend and lunch hours at the Chatsworth campus, practicing their roles as attorneys and witnesses.

Sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the competition required that the students prepare both prosecution and defense positions for a case they were assigned the day of the contest. They also prepared direct and cross examinations.

“The kids learned a number of life skills, such as commitment to a team effort and dedication, and they learned to push themselves,” said Sierra Canyon teacher Susan Strumpf, an attorney who coached the “lawyers” to their victory. “They gained a tremendous sense of poise and self-esteem. The whole experience was amazing.”

KUDOS

Serious Science: North Hollywood High School captured first-place honors at the recent Los Angeles County Science Olympiad--High School Division, held at Downey High School. The local students joined science whizzes from 34 other schools in the 21-event competition.

In one of the events, “the scrambler,” the students built a small vehicle with an egg taped to the end. It had to travel a specified distance, hugging a wall, while keeping the egg intact.

The North Hollywood science champs advanced to the state-level Olympiad, which will be held in Long Beach on April 10.

Academic Decathlon: Besting competitors from 10 area Catholic schools, St. Mel Elementary School seventh- and eighth-graders came in first in their division and fifth overall in the ninth annual Archdiocese of Los Angeles Junior High Academic Decathlon held Saturday in Downey.

The Woodland Hills students competed as a team in the logic and super quiz events. In the individual events, Claire Ianiro, 14, attained a perfect score in the English competition.

Happy Hoopsters: Sepulveda Middle School is cheering its eighth-grade girls, who won their third consecutive Los Angeles Unified School District Youth Services basketball tournament recently. The district-wide competition was held at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys.

PROGRAM NOTES

Kids’ Day: Camp Fire Boys and Girls invites adults to mail words of encouragement to their sons and daughters and neighborhood children for Absolutely Incredible Kid Day on March 18. Several local businesses have donated bookmarks and stationery for the letter-writing event created by the Camp Fire Council to honor children nationwide.

END NOTES

Lindero Canyon Middle School’s Concert and Cougar bands will perform Thursday in the Agoura Hills school’s gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. . . . Glendale Community College presents “Tales of the Lost Formicans,” a comedy, Thursday through Sunday in the GCC Auditorium Studio Theatre. For information, call (818) 240-1000, Ext. 5618 . . . Chatsworth’s Lawrence Middle School will host the “Celebration of the Healthy Learner,” a health and education fair sponsored by the Chatsworth/Granada Hills Cluster Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Student displays, health services and a traffic-safety video will be available.

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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.