Winners Eat, Dance With the Principal

About 100 students at Emelita Street Elementary School in Encino were treated to lunch with their principal last week in an incentive program that rewards students for doing well academically.

“These kids don’t want to see [the principal] on a bad note,” said Stephanie Morales, the school cafeteria manager who created the program. “They want to do the macarena with him.”

And they did.

After a meal of fish fillet or chicken breast sandwiches, diced peaches, carrot and celery sticks and milk, Principal Jack Bagwell danced with the students, who had polished off their animal crackers. The rest of the school’s 500 students ate lunch with friends at outdoor picnic tables or inside their classrooms.

“The kids were so jazzed about [the lunch],” said Bagwell, who tabled-hopped during the hourlong event to talk with as many of the children as he could. “The kids just liked to do something offbeat from the traditional.”

For the new monthly fete, Morales decorated the auditorium with purple, blue and red balloons and streamers. Tables were covered with white cloths and decorated with confetti.

“I want to make their learning as enjoyable as I can,” Morales said. “I want to make school the happiest place for them.”

Teachers provide Morales with coupons bearing the names of students who are performing well, from kindergartners who remember to keep their hands to themselves to fifth-graders who score well on math, science and spelling tests. The coupons are redeemed for lunch with the principal.

Ten students a week also are selected by raffle for free goodies from the school’s food cart. They can select treats such as yogurt, string cheese, apples or hot chocolate.

“It’s positive peer pressure,” Morales said. “My goal is to get them to do their best. So many times I see that the cafeteria is one thing and the school is another. I think [we] should work hand in hand.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Music Scholarship: The Valley Cultural Center in Woodland Hills will serve as host for the Valley Cultural Center Music Competition 2001, which is open to keyboard and instrumental students in middle and high school throughout Greater Los Angeles.

Two winners will receive scholarships to the Idyllwild Summer School of Music and the Arts. A third will receive $200 cash and be honored as “most promising musician.”

Applications are due March 15. Call (818) 704-1358.

Teaching Jobs: The Las Virgenes Unified School District will sponsor a job fair March 10 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for open positions in the 2001-02 school year.

The fair is open to teachers interested in relocating and applicants in their last semester of student teaching who will hold credentials by August.

Call (818) 878-5294 for an application. Interviews can be scheduled by calling (818) 878-5292.

Arts Program Applications for the California Institute for the Arts’ monthlong summer program for high school students are due Feb. 28. The program was developed in 1985 by the state Legislature to provide students the opportunity to work with professional artists, writers and performers. Tuition, room and board is $1,445 for the four-week session from July 14-Aug. 11. Scholarships are available.

For more information, visit https://www.csssa.org or call (916) 227-9444.

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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.