Squad Helps Film’s Actors ‘Bring It On’

Usually, they’re rooting their beloved Chargers football team into the end zone for a touchdown. But now the spirit team from Agoura High School can say they’ve cheered movie actors down the red zone--er, carpet.

The squad--which won the national championship in crowd leading last spring at the United Spirit Assn. competition in Anaheim--has been helping Universal Pictures promote its recently released film “Bring It On.” The movie stars Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as cheerleaders slugging it out with their cross-town rivals for the national championship.

Last week, the squad of 20 chanted “Go, Agoura! Bring it on” as they cheered actors from the movie and others down the red carpet for the film’s world premiere in Westwood.

Afterward, the cheerleaders--dressed in their blue, gold and white uniforms--warmed up the crowd inside the Mann Bruin theater with stunts before the movie began.

“The crowd was cheering and clapping for us,” said senior Craig Mills, 17, of Agoura Hills. “We’re usually clapping for others, and they were clapping for us.”

Participating were captains Becky Zuckerman, Missy Zuckerman and Craig Mills and squad members Jessie Zuckerman, Brianne Conroy, Dana Latman, Kendra Matson, Vicki Newberger, Veronica Rodarte, Tracy Sachs, Amber Thompson, Joelle Garfinkel, Ilysa Laulam, Randi Jo Reeder, Steve Armstrong, Ted Bennett, Ryan Coyne, Patrick Latman, Hadi Mohammadi and Carl Phillips.

KUDOS

MADD Delegate: Nicole Abranian, 15, of Glendale High School will serve as a youth delegate at next month’s Mothers Against Drunk Driving National Youth Summit in Washington, D.C.

For six days--starting Sept. 29--Nicole and 434 other students representing congressional districts in the U.S. and its territories, will discuss solutions to underage drinking and youth access to alcohol. The student delegates will then hold workshops in their various communities to pass on their findings.

PROGRAM NOTES

DNC Class: Five San Fernando Valley high school seniors were among 35 who participated in a summer program, sponsored by UCLA, called Education, Access and Democracy in Los Angeles: L.A. Youth and Convention 2000.

The students from Los Angeles area schools met on the UCLA campus for two weeks this summer and in and around Staples Center during the recent Democratic National Convention. Their assignment was to interview participants on the topic of student access to education, civics and the media, among other subjects.

UCLA graduate students and faculty helped the group conduct interviews, which included meetings with state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), California First Lady Sharon Davis, convention delegates and demonstrators.

Participating were Wendy Bastida of John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, Sun Valley; Angie Martinez of Taft High School, Woodland Hills, Joi Pinney of Quartz Hill High School, Lancaster; and Nuria Santamaria and Yevgenya Shevtov, both of North Hollywood High School.

The program was sponsored by the University of California’s Los Angeles Basin Initiative and UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, programs designed to provide educational enrichment and advancement for Los Angeles area students.

The student teams presented their findings last week to a UCLA faculty panel and will receive advanced placement credit for their work.

“This was an opportunity for the students to demonstrate they can do college-level work,” said Jeannie Oakes, associate dean of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

Last summer, students in the same program studied the college application process for minority students. Applications for next year’s program will be available at high schools and community centers throughout Los Angeles early next year.

For more information, e-mail gum@gseis.ucla.edu.

KUDOS

Cutting Edge: Cal State Northridge’s department of Civil and Manufacturing Engineering has received a $2.5-million software gift from IBM and French software developer Dassault Systemes . . . Jeffrey Diamond, Ruthie Grant and Elizabeth Shaw have each received an “Outstanding Service Award” from Valley College’s Extension Program.

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