Bilingual Students in Semifinals

Top bilingual students from Chatsworth, Van Nuys, Canoga Park and San Fernando high schools racked up impressive wins in the semifinal round of the Desafio Academico, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s academic competition for students proficient in English and Spanish.

The English-as-a-second-language contestants, many of them honors students from 16 area high schools, competed in the quiz-show-style competition developed last year by school board member Jeff Horton. Scholarships totaling $35,000 are handed out to the highest-scoring individuals and teams.

“The competition was designed to spotlight the academic successes of Spanish-speaking students, demonstrate the benefits of bilingual education and celebrate the equal intellectual caliber of native-born and immigrant students,” said Ricardo Velasquez, Horton’s chief deputy.

Chatsworth High School team members have earned the top two team scores so far, including the team record, in subjects such as Shakespeare, history, science, math, music and U.S. government. Top individual winners from the Valley are Alberto Murillo, a Canoga Park High junior, and seniors Brian Sandoval from San Fernando High, Claudia Hernandez from Van Nuys High and Gardenia Cercado from Chatsworth High. Finals take place June 13 at the Time-Warner Studios in South Pasadena, where top teams will compete for the $10,000 grand prize.

KUDOS

Info Techies: Van Nuys High School senior Joanne Chang and Agoura Hills High School senior Julian Pellico were recently named winners in the Lucent Technologies Global Science Scholars talent search. The teenagers are among 48 students nationwide who each won a $5,000 scholarship, based on their standardized test scores, grade-point average and class rank. The talent competition was created to support young people’s interest in information technology.

EVENTS

Bard in Topanga: To end a yearlong comparative study of ancient Greece and the Renaissance, fifth- and sixth-grade students at Westland School near Encino will present the play, “Tragedy, Comedy and Greek Mythology,” Friday at 6 p.m. at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicumin Topanga Canyon.

Wearing homemade costumes and speaking Shakespearean dialogue, the thespians will interweave scenes from “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with Greek myths, including the tales of Pyramus and Thisbe and Apollo and Daphne. A Greek chorus ties the scenes together. The play was adapted by Theatricum staffers, who also are directing the show. The public is welcome to attend the free performance.

END NOTES

Vena Magnet School in Arleta presents the musical “We Are Your Children” tonight and Thursday at 7 p.m. The elementary school’s 182 students will sing original songs, many of them written by music teacher Barbara Harris. Tickets cost $2. . . . Robert Frost Middle School invites the public to attend its International Day fair Friday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Granada Hills campus. Booths will be set up with games, crafts and food representing countries from around the world. For information, call (818) 360-2146. . . . Woodcrest School in Tarzana will hold its annual science fair Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 6043 Tampa Ave. The public is welcome.