Report card

More than 700 students at Mesa View Middle School stood beside three

Huntington Beach fire trucks Friday in reverent silence -- a rare scene

on any middle school campus.

As student trumpeter Rachel Burdette played taps, students, staff and

six members of the Huntington Beach Fire Department honored the fallen

firefighters of New York.

The Mesa View Peer Assistance Leadership, a school service class,

organized the event to celebrate the raising of more than $1,800 for the

families of the fallen firefighters. Later, while playing “America The

Beautiful,” three military jets screamed across the sky, bringing a loud

roar from the students.

“The three jets were a complete coincidence,” said class advisor and

Mesa View teacher Terry Coville. “It really sent chills through everyone

who was there.”

The peer group raised the money by going from class to class on two

separate days asking each student to drop a dollar into helmets loaned by

the Huntington Beach Fire Department. The Peer Assistance Leadership

class also received checks from parents and other family members of

students totaling $450 for the American Red Cross.

The check for the New York firefighters fund was presented by Coville

to Huntington Beach Fire Captain Frank Mead, who thanked the students for

pulling together to help others during this “time of great sorrow for

firefighters everywhere.”

Enriching the arts for students

The Huntington Beach Union High School District will hold its second

annual Benefit Brunch Gala on Sunday, Oct. 14, at the Waterfront Hilton

Hotel. The event will be hosted by the district’s Educational Enrichment

Foundation.

Music, performances, technology and artwork projects from every campus

in the district will be showcased by students at the event. Proceeds will

benefit all district students with supplemental funds for technology and

art education.

The Educational Enrichment Foundation donated $3,500 to each district

campus from the proceeds of last year’s gala.

Parents, students, members of the community and campus representatives

are welcome to attend. Tickets are priced at $65 each or $120 per couple.

A table of 10 is $650 and several corporate sponsorships are still

available at $1,000.

For more information regarding the gala or to secure reservations,

contact Susan Destrup at 964-3339, Ext. 4200.

Literacy program needs readers

The Oak View Family Literacy Program, in conjunction with Oak View

Elementary School, is looking for volunteers to be “Reading Partners”

with second-graders at risk this year.

The program is funded by a grant from the California State Library and

is called English Language Literacy Intensive.

“We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers interested in becoming

reading partners with second-graders who are struggling to learn to read,

write and speak English,” said the program’s Amy Crepeau. “Volunteers

need to love reading, be at least 15 and have the ability to make a one

hour weekly commitment to meet with a child from October to June.”

More information on the Oak View Family Literacy Program’s “Reading

Partners” program can be obtained by calling 375-5104.