Gold Award

Gary Moskowitz Lindsey Hansen accomplished two important goals this weekend. The 17-year-old Glendale resident organized and presented an event called Kids' Music Day on Saturday at Glendale's Pacific Park Branch Library, in an effort to get local children interested in playing musical instruments. And in the process, Lindsey earned her Gold Award, which is the top honor attainable in the Girl Scouts, comparable to an Eagle Scout Award in Boy Scouts.

Nine Glendale-area Girl Scouts have been named Emerging Leaders by Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles in recognition of their outstanding extracurricular accomplishments. The young women joined hundreds of other highly accomplished women in Los Angeles, along with nearly 100 additional Emerging Leaders, for a luncheon and day of mentorship at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood on Dec. 5. Local Girl Scouts honored were Heather Abrams, Morgan Beck, Mithra Bhadha, Antonia Issaevitch, Jillian Kauffman, Isabel Martos-Repath and Rachel Nakumra, all of La Crescenta, as well as Erick Weiler, of Montrose, and Sarah Hill, of Glendale, The event concluded a year of celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts of the USA. Heather Abrams has been a Girl Scout for eight years.

The members of a local Girl Scout troop used proceeds from their Girl Scout cookie sales to fund a trip to Hawaii, where they celebrated each girl's earning the Silver Award and learned about Hawaii and its history. After saving the troop's share of proceeds from three years of Girl Scout cookie sales, Ashton Broman, Jennifer Kang, Lisa Karbon, Jane Lee and Sara Wolff spent eight days on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, accompanied by troop leader Lynne Karbon and troop committee members Kim Broman and Adele Wolff.

Hundreds of girls were run over by a space vehicle Sunday in Pasadena, but most came away smiling. "It tickles, but it feels really cool," said Meghan Gay of La Cañada Flintridge. "It went over my legs easy. I imagine it would go over Mars easily. " Gay and other members of Troop 736 volunteered to let an imitation of Mars rover — a nimble eight-wheeled vehicle about the size of a double-wide skateboard — clamber over them over during the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles Family Science Festival at Caltech.

Vaccination clinics announced Citing growing stocks of the H1N1 vaccine, Los Angeles County public health officials Tuesday announced that they would make the inoculations available to those outside the highest risk groups. ?Certain retail pharmacies? should start receiving limited supplies of the swine flu vaccine at the end of the month to administer for a small fee. A number of appointments for no-cost H1N1 vaccines will be available at an L.A. County Public Health center for residents who don?

As students continue to rigorously study for the SATs and Subject Tests, one student in particular is celebrating her ACT results. Crescenta Valley High School senior Marissa Robertson received a perfect score of 36 on her ACT exam. She was one out of only 11 college bound students to receive the perfect score. ?I first received the report and I was happy, but when I received the letter saying I was one out of 11 students, it made me thrilled,? said Robertson. ACT stands for the American College Testing program, and the first test administered was in 1959.

Tim Willert LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- She excels in the classroom and volunteers her time to help others. La Canada Flintridge resident Laurel Angelica leads by example. "I like to be involved, it's part of my personality," said Laurel, a junior at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. "I love working with people." For her efforts, Laurel was selected Leadership Young Achiever of the Year for 2001 by International Leadership Network. The St. Louis-based nonprofit organization recognizes positive role models, outstanding scholars and good citizens.

Amy Tan, whose internationally acclaimed novels often cut through cultural differences to explore the commonalities of families and fate, will be speaking in Pasadena as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series at 8 p.m. May 25 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St. in Pasadena. Among the writers who hail from Eastern cultures, few are as well known as Tan, the author of the bestseller The Joy Luck Club. Her books have been celebrated for their exposure of the Chinese culture, which is the subject that she mainly focuses on. Her books are based mostly on her own experiences as well as those of family members and friends.

Hope A. Robertshaw, a resident of La Crescenta and a junior at Central Michigan University, in Mount Pleasant, has been named on the honor list for the spring semester. Jessica Ortiz and Virginia Potter of Girl Scout Troop #735 have received their Gold Award. J Ortiz, 17, attends Clark Magnet High School in Glendale. For her project she had an Easter basket filling party and gave the Easter baskets to 23 less fortunate families in Glendale. Virginia Potter, 18, graduated from Hoover High in June.

Five La Canada Flintridge Girl Scouts were honored recently for earning their Gold Award, Girl Scouting's highest honor. All attend or have just graduated from La Canada High School. Sirina Keesara taught Longfellow Elementary School children art appreciation over a seven-week period. Projects covered various art movements and artists, culminating in an art show for students and parents. She is vice president of the Rain Forest Institute and has attended classes at Art Center College of Design.