Wilson Middle School

Two students at Wilson Middle School find $300 and return the bills to their owner, a fellow student at the school.LA CRESCENTA -- They are being called the "three-hundred-dollar heroes." Wilson Middle School student Nariseh Yousife, 14, lost three crisp $100 bills at the school cafeteria Oct. 19; she thought she'd lost a precious gift her father sent her all the way from Iran. But when Sarkis Krikor, 14, found a $100 bill and Clay Handy, 11, separately found two $100 bills, neither one hesitated to do the right thing.

Darleene Barrientos NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- After completing five algebra, statistics, geometry, problem-solving and mental math tests, the final question for 12-year-old Sevana Manukian was not whether she would win, but rather what she would win. "The tests were not really hard -- they were about medium," Sevana, a Wilson Middle School student, said. "It was easier working as a group. When people in your group are cooperative and are nice, it's easier to work with them.

DAUGHTERS HONOR AMERICAN HISTORY ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, General Richard Gridley Chapter, sponsored a reception to honor winners of its annual American History Essay Contest for middle school students. Winners were Tina Balalian, Joseph Choi and Jason Chan, all of Wilson Middle School, and Jerad De Castro of Holy Family Grade School. The contest theme was "Along the Trail with Lewis and Clark and the Corp of Discovery."

Darleene Barrientos Joanna Junge now knows why a Korean father might feel uncomfortable shaking her hand. Junge, who coordinates Glendale Unified School District's programs that teach English as a second language, learned about that social faux pas and other lessons as she and several local educators recently attended a four-day conference on Korean and Korean-American culture and history. The South Korean government, the Korean American Federation and several local Korean civic leaders sponsored the conference.

GUSD goes for technology grant NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- The school board recently submitted an application for a $50,000 grant that will support technology learning for students. Funds will support the Glendale Unified School District's Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs project, which is designed to increase students' access to technology and their understanding of how to use technology like classroom computers. The project is also designed to increase the number of students who go to college.

Robert Chacon The hands -- 60 pairs of them -- moved gently with brushes and black ink across white parchment paper, though not all with the same effect. For 60 Japanese students who visited Wilson Middle School on Thursday, the exercise was intended to teach the American students one of the oldest traditions of their culture: calligraphy. Wilson students needed a few more strokes than their counterparts to get it right. It was the second time in three years that students from Higashiosaka, Japan -- Glendale's sister city -- have visited Wilson students in order to experience the kind of life students in the United States lead.

Gary Moskowitz A painting project that started in Wilson Middle School's student store this fall has turned into a family art affair for the Serafinos. Diane Serafino, whose son, Raffi, is an eighth-grader at Wilson, agreed to paint the image of bricks and cobblestone in the student store, which students now call "the dungeon." Serafino's daughter, Talin -- a Glendale High School senior -- saw her mother's artwork and decided to add a jester and a knight to give the store a medieval look.

Nearly 500 Wilson Middle School students Friday participated in the school's fourth annual Unity Walk, an event designed to celebrate the diversity of the school's student population. The school organized a poetry contest as part of Social Justice Week and student winners of the contest read their poems about unity to the crowd. The school's drill team performed, as did "The World's Oldest Garage Band," made up of faculty members Gerry Lancaster and Steven Soule-Maggio.

Diablos fall in championship match to Arcadia The Diablos, a AYSO under-12 boys' soccer team, lost to Arcadia on Saturday in a tournament championship match. The Diablos topped Boyle Heights in penalty kicks to advance to the title contest. The Diablos, coached by Paul Vandeventer and Chris Ramirez, will compete in March in the Sectional One League Champion playoffs in Riverside. The players are Elvis Alvarado, Jonathan Araujo, Joshua Aquino, Tommy Campbell, Harrison Kass, Veeken Kassabian, Vahan Khodanian, Justin Markar-Araghi, Anthony Ramirez, Timothy Ross, David Sternau and James Vandeventer.

When was the last time you talked to your kids about how to cross the street safely? Even middle and high school students can use reminding about the critical importance of looking both ways before stepping into a crosswalk. In recent weeks, two Wilson Middle School students have been hit by cars while crossing the street inside marked crosswalks near the school. Fortunately, the students were not critically injured or killed. Clearly, drivers need to slow down and pay closer attention to what is happening in the street, particularly near schools where the behavior and actions of children in large groups can be unpredictable.