Saratoga High School is holding a casino night on April 24 from 5 to 9 p.m. to benefit the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. The goal is to provide the foundation with as much money as possible, since many people in the community rely on the hospital and growth of the foundation is critical, according to Jocelyn Kalmus, SHS head commissioner of outreach.

In addition to casino games run by professional dealers, there will be music, a raffle, a silent auction and plenty of good food. The event is being organized by the school's outreach commission. For more information, call 408.867.3411.

Sproch is first
at science fair

Sasha Sproch, a seventh-grader at Redwood Middle School in Saratoga, was presented the first-prize award in the engineering category at the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship awards ceremony on April 4 at Paramount's Great America. The award was presented to Sasha by the Professional and Technical Consultants Association, a nonprofit consulting organization. Sasha built a prototype of a magnetically levitated train. She is the daughter of Sandy and Jim Sproch of Saratoga.

Maahs makes the
college dean's list

Geoffrey Maahs of Saratoga made the dean's list for the fall semester at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. The dean's list recognizes full-time students who maintain grade point averages of a 3.0 minimum. Maahs, a senior, is majoring in computer science and philosophy.

Class, website target retirees

A new West Valley College website invites retirees and future retirees to share ideas, plans and concerns with their peers. The website, www.retirement-resources.org, was created by WVC instructor James Stafford.

Stafford teaches a community education class called "Retiring? Now what are you going to do?" The class connects retirees and those thinking of retiring with others facing the same issues and concerns. Stafford's class meets April 27 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. To sign up or for more information, call 408.741.2096.