Los Gatos Weekly-Times

On Campus

Los Gatos High School students Dan Levy and Shelly Weger were among five finalists at the Northern California and Nevada Science and Humanities Symposium, held at UC-Berkeley March 14-16. Levy's research project studied the responses of legumes to differing degrees of ultraviolet radiation, which he related to how plants may react to a weakening ozone layer. Weger's research project examined a possibly-less-costly method of DNA fingerprinting involving the dilution of a certain enzyme. Both students earned all-expense-paid trips to the National Science and Humanities Symposium, which will be held in San Diego in late April.

Los Gatos textile artist and weaver Anne Lamborn will spend several hours at Van Meter School April 17 in conjunction with the guest artist program presented by the Art Docents of Los Gatos, Inc. Lamborn, who was a guest artist earlier this month at Blossom Hill School, will set up her loom, demonstrate weaving and give students some hands-on experience. She will also show slides of her works. This is the Art Docents' second guest artist workshop; the first was held in January at Lexington School, where Native American artist Sara Bates showed students how to create an "Honoring Circle" out of natural materials.

KTEH (Channel 54) honored 28 winners of the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Awards Contest with a ceremony April 12 at the KTEH studios in San Jose. Van Meter third-grader Morgan Branon received second place for the story "The Feline Writers," and Loma Prieta Independent Study first-grader Amber Schlosser received honorable mention for "The Cat and Two Horses." First-place winners in each grade level received $500 savings bonds, blue ribbons, Reading Rainbow T-shirts and recognition certificates; they also are eligible for Reading Rainbow's national competition. Second-place winners received $100 savings bonds, T-shirts and certificates. Honorable mentions received T-shirts and certificates as well.

A Place for Teens/The Outhouse is hosting a "Class of 2000 Pre-Reunion Mixer" on April 26 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. for all eighth-graders from Fisher, St. Marys, C.T. English and Hillbrook schools. The evening, which will be chaperoned, includes pizza, soda, "casino" games, volleyball and music by DJ Carrie Walsh. Tickets are $4 and must be ordered in advance, accompanied by a parent permission slip. For more information, call Jill or Jennifer at The Outhouse at 395-5553.

Kevin Goodenough, a fifth-grader at Union School District's Athenour School, received the Lil Severin Award--the grand prize in physical science projects for grades four through seven--for his contribution to the Santa Clara County Science and Engineering Fair, held March 26-27 at the San Jose Convention Center. Goodenough received a plaque and cash award at an April 6 ceremony at West Valley College. For his project, Goodenough examined whether hardwoods or softwoods were stronger and discovered that hardwoods are not always true to their name. Many Athenour students received other awards, including Crystalin An, Jackie Arribere, Andrew Balbiani, Tiffany Brucklacher, Jeremy Ciarlanti, Natalie Defrenne, Ben Farber, Josephine Harmon, Kris Hom, Maya Howard, Sandy Kawano, Dan King, Kelsey Klein, Alexander Lee, Jennifer Sandstrom and Courtney Schmidt.

Steve Wozniak, who in March was named 1996 Volunteer of the Year by the trustees of the Los Gatos Union School District, has recently made two more financial contributions to the district. He donated $295,380 to establish 22 additional model classrooms that will each contain one computer and large display screen for teacher presentations, along with a printer and a group of networked student computers. Wozniak also donated $14,291 to pay for local area network wiring projects at Lexington School.

New adult members are needed to serve on the board of A Place for Teens--known to the teens as The Outhouse--to replace those members who are rotating off the board this year after many years of service. Assistance is needed in several areas, including treasurer, recording secretary and publicity positions, program planning, policymaking, running the snack bar, fundraising and general office paperwork. For more information, call Sue Donnelly at 395-5277 or Gladie Robitz at 354-7357.

The Home and School Club at Fisher Middle School is hosting its "Soup and Salad Supper" on May 16, Open House Night, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. All-you-can-eat soups, salads, bread and beverages will be available. Proceeds help fund additional supplies, equipment and services for the school. To keep expenses down, the Home and School Club is seeking monetary contributions or donations of food items or paper and plastic products. Businesses making donations receive free advertising on a thank-you poster and a mention in the next issue of Fisher Focus. Tickets are $3 and are available at the door. Children age 5 and younger are admitted free.