Students Get Into the Spirit--of ’76

Boys rolled up their pant legs to show white knee-high stockings. Girls wore aprons over long skirts with ruffles.

Two fifth grade classes at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge relived America’s colonial times recently with its annual “Back to the Past” day of fun and learning.

Students dressed the part and made quilts, cornhusk dolls and corn bread. They even churned cream into butter, said teacher Gail Shapiro.

“Life as a colonist was really hard,” said Rebecca Finkel, 10. “It was nice back then. But it’s probably better to live now because life is so much easier.”

Bringing history to life with the day of activities has been a successful component of the fifth-graders’ early American history curriculum, Shapiro said.

“Instead of just learning and reading about colonial America,” she said, “we try to help the students feel the experience instead.”

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KUDOS

Washington Bound: Seems that Washington, D.C., is calling many local students for specialized programs in leadership.

Nine students from the San Fernando Valley are among 2,600 chosen recently as candidates for the Presidential Scholars program.

The students were selected from an estimated 2.8 million graduating seniors nationwide. A White House commission appointed by President Clinton will select about 150 students--including a boy and girl from each state, 20 students from the creative and performing arts and 15 students at-large--to travel to Washington this summer for activities with elected representatives and others. The final selections will be announced in May.

Local students are: Catherine M. Choi, Calabasas High School; Tyler W. Rubin, North Hollywood High School; David H. Choi, Thousand Oaks High School; Jane M. Han, Van Nuys High School; Nickolas C. Rodriguez, Oak Park High School; Catherine E. Chang, Valencia High School; Eric S. Boorstin, Harvard-Westlake School, North Hollywood; Tujunga resident Colin T. Reardon, Loyola High School; and Danielle J. Shulman, North Hollywood High School.

Now in its 37th year, the Presidential Scholars program recognizes students with high academic and artistic achievement, leadership skills and strong community involvement.

D.C. Postcard: Another Valley student, Jennifer Spires, a senior at Village Christian School in Sun Valley, recently toured Washington with the National Young Leaders Conference.

On her six-day visit to the nation’s capital, the 17-year-old future journalist queried staff members for U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, a speech writer for Vice President Al Gore, and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), who listened to the teenager’s concerns regarding traffic congestion in her West Hills neighborhood.

Jennifer and 350 other high school students from all over the country held a mock legislative debate on the floor of Congress during the congressional recess.

“When you get to do something for real,” Jennifer said, “it gives you a whole different perspective on what our lawmakers go through every day.”

The National Youth Leaders Conference provided educational opportunities for high school students with leadership potential and scholastic merit.

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PROGRAM NOTES

Public Service: Time Warner Communications and C-SPAN will send 20 high school students to Washington this summer for a program called “The Common Good: Exploring the Role of Public Service in America.”

Winners will visit Washington for a week of seminars, Capitol Hill visits, sightseeing, a night at the theater and a “behind the scenes” day at C-SPAN.

Entry forms are available from teachers and administrators or by contacting Time Warner Communications at (818) 700-0551.

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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.