Students Learn the News by Putting On Own Show

One way to get kids to bone up on their current events is to ask them to read, clip and summarize. Students in Viviane Netzel’s mass-media class at Valley Alternative Magnet School have taken a different approach: They are producing news shows, complete with lights, cameras and professional technical advisors. The kids have also produced dramas, talk shows and sitcoms that tie in with their academic studies.

The seventh-graders at the Van Nuys school also recently finished a combined English-history study of Middle Eastern cultures and religions with a celebration that included dance and music performances and a student-prepared meal, with dishes from several countries.

MUSIC NOTES

In the Spirit: North Hollywood High School’s award-winning band, drill team and color guard got in step with the season recently when they entertained students at a variety of Valley sites, including Roscoe elementary and Walter Reed middle schools. This year’s city marching band champions also took to the streets of North Hollywood, entertaining their neighbors with an evening of holiday music.

KUDOS

Top Scholars: Students and teachers at Viewpoint School in Calabasas have something to crow about after 29 of last year’s juniors and seniors were recently named AP scholars by the College Board, based on exceptional scores on their advanced placement examinations taken last spring.

Off and Running: Four Meadow Oaks School eighth-graders have joined a select group of outstanding students citywide who have qualified to be finalists in the 16th annual Cal State Los Angeles search for exceptional students to participate in the college’s summer program for youth.

Jeremy Falk, Tracy Hall, Nikki Ortiz and Julie Serber earned top scores on the California Achievement Tests, which gave the middle school students a berth at the next set of standardized college aptitude tests. Students who rank highest on these exams have the opportunity to take college courses at the university next summer.

CLASS NOTES

Eye on 2000: Recent Louisville High School graduate Becky Witt inched closer to achieving her dream of playing softball for the United States in the 2000 Olympic Games when the FresnoState University freshman became a member of the U.S. National Softball’s third-level team. She now has the chance to advance to the first-level team, which will play in the Sydney Games.

ADULT EDUCATION

Never Too Late: Everyone has a story to tell, and seniors around the Valley are relating theirs every week in Norma Shapiro’s Family History and Personal Recollections writing class. Sponsored by the Reseda Community Adult School, students meet Wednesdays at the Northridge Gardens Retirement Hotel and Thursdays at the Organization for the Needs of the Elderly in Reseda. Novice writers record their life stories--peppered with eyewitness accounts of history--on paper or on audio tape. All are welcome.

Untangling the Web: Valley residents who still can’t tell a mouse from a modem can grab the opportunity to learn the difference at Burbank Adult School’s beginner computer classes starting Jan. 10. Intermediate classes begin Jan. 5 at the Allan Avenue campus.

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. Or e-mail them to diane.wedner@latimes.com.