Los Gatos Weekly-Times

On Campus

As part of a fundraising effort to finance new kindergarten playground equipment, Van Meter School has been selling dough--for cookies, that is. From March 20 through April 1, students took orders from family, friends and parents' work associates for any of six varieties of frozen gourmet cookie dough; door-to-door selling was not encouraged. Tubs, which yield three to four dozen cookies each, will be available for pickup on April 19. Van Meter makes a $4 profit on each $10 tub. If a fundraising goal of $2,500 is reached, students will be awarded with a long recess and an ice cream party.

Louise Van Meter School fourth-grader Laney Chinn competed against students from throughout Northern California in the oral portion of the regional San Francisco Examiner Spelling Bee, March 23 at the San Francisco Hyatt. Chinn placed sixth, after spelling such words as oxydactyl, tumulus, rhinencephalon and suffretescent. She qualified a month earlier after passing a written bee and then placing first in an oral bee held at Van Meter. Had she been the regional bee winner, Chinn would have earned a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 69th Annual National Spelling Bee, held May 27-June 1.

Van Meter School hosts its annual community read-in during the morning of April 18. Following an introductory assembly, guest readers from the community will head back to kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms, where they will read age-appropriate selections from books of their own choosing or selected by the librarian. They will also talk with students about the importance of reading and how it relates to their professions.

The Auxiliary of Community Hospital of Los Gatos is offering several $2,000 scholarships for local high school seniors who are pursuing careers in the health sciences. To qualify, applicants must be accepted to a four-year college or university, majoring in one of the following disciplines: medicine, nursing, dentistry, radiology, medical technology, pharmacology, physical therapy, social services or dietetics. Application deadline is May 1. For more information, call Sue Tilton at 378-6131.

The Los Gatos High School PTSA invites parents of current eighth-graders who will be attending the high school this fall to attend its next meeting, which will be held May 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room L-7, located near the library. This is an opportunity for parents of incoming freshmen to learn more about the high school and its PTSA.

Loma Prieta Elementary School's annual sale of Tupperware to benefit kindergarten classes is now under way. Through April 17, order forms and information may be picked up in each of the three kindergarten classrooms. Call the school at 353-1106 for more information.

The Fisher Middle School physical education department is interested in any sports or fitness equipment people are no longer using. Donations that are particularly needed include exercise bicycles, dumbbells, tennis balls and rackets, racketball rackets and softball gloves. Used videotapes on fitness or sports topics are also welcome. Call Lynne Dahms at 356-2141 for more information.

Cheerleading signups for 1996 Los Gatos Pop Warner Cheerleading season, which begins Aug. 2, will be held April 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Teen Center of Los Gatos for four age groups ranging from 8 to 14. Competition will be choreographed by San Francisco 49ers cheerleader Andrea Steen. No experience is necessary, just a willingness to participate; practices will be held at Los Gatos High School. Participants should bring a $50 registration fee, school photo and nonreturnable birth certificate. For more information, call 353-8696.