The Saratoga High School Wind and String ensembles will have a concert to kick off their summer tour to Europe. The concert, on June 22 at 2 p.m. in the West Valley College Theater, is free but donations are accepted.

Five days later, the ensembles will leave for a two-week trip to Switzerland and Austria. More than 100 students from Saratoga High School will perform at events including the Salzburg Mozart Festival and the Vienna International Music Competition. The group returns from Europe on July 9.


Saratoga's Lang wins scholarship

Saratoga resident Jordan Lang, a recent Westmont High School graduate, is the recipient of the 2003 Clover Foundation Scholarship. Lang was awarded $1,000 and was chosen from a pool of high school seniors and college freshmen who are either 4-H or FFA members or are focused on a career in agriculture or home economics.

Lang, a member of El Sereno's 4-H Club, will attend UC-Berkeley in the fall. His parents are Deborah and Gary Lang.


Chien a member of winning team

Andrew Chien, a Redwood Middle School student, is a member of the team that won first place in the MATHCOUNTS National Competition. Chien also won second in the nation in the contest for the "National Math Champion" title.

The four-member California middle-school team traveled to Chicago for the May 29 event. Fifty-seven teams participated in the competition, and the California group took home a $2,000 scholarship, a trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Alabama, a notebook computer and a printer.

For his second-place individual finish, Chien won a $6,000 college scholarship. He placed first in two oral competition rounds and third in a written test, but was defeated in a final round. The national competition was aired on ESPN. MATHCOUNTS, a coaching and competition program, tests not only mathematical knowledge and skill, but also teamwork and cooperation.