8 Teachers Vying for Arts Award

Area educators are celebrating the recent nomination of eight local teachers and one school for the Los Angeles County Music Center’s 1999-2000 Bravo Awards, honoring excellence in arts education.

The nominees are among 52 teachers from 44 schools around Southern California who are under consideration for the award, sponsored by the Music Center’s Club 100.

The teachers and schools were nominated by principals, faculty committees, superintendents and parent committees. Ten semi-finalists will be selected by a team of educators and artists. Then, a panel of judges will visit the finalists’ schools from December through February for a look at their arts programs. One school and two teachers will be selected for cash awards--$5,000 to the winning school and $2,000 to each teacher--that will be handed out Feb. 28 at a gala dinner at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Nominees include Judith Bakly, Toll Middle School in Glendale; Craig Kupka, Hoover High School in Glendale; Grace Sheldon-Williams, Glendale High School; William Webb, Nobel Middle School in Northridge; Mary Ella Darby-Bryant, H.T. Broadous Elementary School in Pacoima; Samantha Carson, Skyblue Mesa Elementary School in Canyon Country; Anne Nicholson, Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in Encino; Paul Kay, the Mirman School in Bel Air; and Quail Valley Elementary School in Palmdale.

PROGRAM NOTES

Parlez-vous: Viewpoint School in Calabasas recently played host to French students from Taft High School in Woodland Hills and Oak Park High School in Agoura, who joined their Viewpoint counterparts to celebrate National French Week. Nicole Naditz, a Viewpoint French teacher, secured a $1,000 grant from the National Assn. of Teachers of French to fund the one-day festival. The students, who spoke only French all day, played games, presented projects and danced to live music.

World Class: Senior citizens interested in discussing international events are invited to join Deborah Rothschild’s “World Issues” class at Reseda Community Adult School. Classes are held Thursdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Granada Hills branch library, 10640 Petit Ave. For information about this and other adult classes, call (818) 343-1977.

EVENTS

Ballet Folklorico: “Mi Linda Nicaragua” ballet troupe will celebrate its eighth year in the Valley with a lively musical program at the North Hollywood High School auditorium this weekend. The folklorico group will present a teenage dance ensemble, marimba music, folk dancers and Nicaraguan arts and cuisine Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m. For information, call (818) 894-2982.

All That Jazz: The Glendale Community College Jazz Band will perform instrumental jazz and pop tunes at a Sunday concert at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s auditorium.

Good Theater: The Agoura High School theater department will present the Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman classic, “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” at 7:30 tonight through Saturday in the school auditorium. The cast and crew include recent winners in the International Thespian Society’s annual competition held in Garden Grove. Drama teacher John Kilpatrick was honored as one of the two top directors in the state, and seven Agoura High student actors and 15 student technical staffers were chosen as all-state winners out of 1,600 who auditioned.

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.