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COUNTYWIDE

23 Win in Contest for Creative Writers

Twenty-three high school students were recently named winners in Saddleback College’s creative writing contest.

The students received their awards during a ceremony last month at the college. The categories included short story, poetry, personal essay and critical essay. First, second and third places, and honorable mention awards were handed out. More than 600 entries were received.

Among the winners were: Vanessa B. Shieh of Mission Viejo High School, first place for personal essay; Christopher Ariza of Aliso Niguel High School, second place. Anna-Lynne Williams of Laguna Hills High School, first place for poetry; Laura Reid of Santa Margarita High School, second place. Meg Raney of Santa Margarita High School, first place for critical essay; Joslin Gemsch of Capistrano Valley High School, second place. Zak Nelson of Mission Viejo High School, first place for short story; Richard Abedl of Santa Margarita High School, second place.

College officials praised the students for the quality of their writings.

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HUNTINGTON BEACH

Free Slide Program for Grade Schools

Amigos de Bolsa Chica is offering a free slide program on the Bolsa Chica wetlands for elementary schoolchildren.

“We felt, by making ourselves available and taking our program to the schools, we could fill a void that has been created because of the cutbacks in school field trip budgets,” said Marlene Singer, educational coordinator for the environmental group.

The group has prepared a tabloid-size science newsletter and other environmental information for students in second through fifth grades. McDonnell Douglas Corp. provided the money for the newsletter.

The program may be scheduled through the Amigos de Bolsa Chica office at (714) 897-7003.

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IRVINE

O.C. Students Finish 4th as City Planners

Rancho San Joaquin Middle School students Lily Adam, Erica Chung and Anna Morgan placed fourth at the recent 1995 Los Angeles Regional Future City Competition at Knott’s Berry Farm.

Students were judged on models they constructed that represented sections of an ideal city of the future. With a spending limit of $100 for each model, students used computer programs to create entire cities.

The Irvine team was coached by Rancho San Joaquin teacher Michael Politiski and professional engineer Nathaniel Adam.

--COMPILED BY BERT ELJERA, WITH DEBRA CANO AND RUSS LOAR