10-YEAR-OLD LEADS CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH CRUELTY TO SHARKS.

Byline: SIMONE SCHRAMM Community Columnist

At 10 years old, most people don't worry about heavy issues such as animal rights and the environment. But the effort to save sharks has become a crusade for one fourth-grader.

Disturbed by watching a video on shark finning, the practice of cutting off a shark's fins and dumping the carcass back to sea, Catherine Frederick, a student of Woodcrest Elementary School in Tarzana circulated a petition decrying what she believes is animal cruelty.

``I feel really good about it, and I feel like I'm making a difference for the sharks,'' said Catherine, who has collected about 2,000 signatures demanding an end to shark finning.

``You talk about issues about endangered species, and it's very rare that a kid raises their hand and says they want to do something about this,'' said Jon Earl, science teacher at Woodcrest. ``This is an issue that she picked entirely on her own.''

Next year, the school plans to present the signatures to the United Nations, along with similar petitions collected by The Shark Trust, an organization that promotes the study, management and conservation of sharks, skates and rays.

California State University, Northridge, recently received $2,000 in motion picture film as part of a unique grant from Eastman Kodak Co.

``The Kodak grant allows the students an opportunity to shoot more film and also to experiment with the looks that the different Kodak film stocks provide,'' said Michael D. Bryant, director of film operations at the department of cinema and television arts at CSUN. He said that, because of this, students can enhance their filmmaking skills without incurring additional costs.

`'This grant has been a welcome supplement to the film program here at Northridge,'' he said.

The Kodak Student Filmmaker Program also supports workshops in cinematography, an educators' symposium and other special events. For more information, visit www.kodak.com/go/student or www.kodak.com/go/motion.

Two local eighth-graders won third place at the National Editorial Cartoon Contest, sponsored by Educational Publisher Knowledge Unlimited of Madison, Wis. Each year, Knowledge Unlimited publishes a book titled ``Editorial Cartoons for Kids,'' where 100 cartoons are selected among thousands at the elementary through high school level.

The winners are Rachel Gordon and Rebecca Kurland of Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies. Their cartoon compared the World War II patriotic rationing to today's patriotic shopping to help stimulate the economy after Sept. 11.

The Glendale/Burbank Area Alumnae Panhellenic, which promotes the Greek system on college campuses, awarded $400 scholarships to each of the following local college-bound women.

Annie Oakley and Vanessa Valle of Bellarmine-Jefferson High School; Kristina Grigorian and Natalia Tortorici of Burbank High School; Erin Jackson of John Burroughs High School; Erin Klinthong of Clark Magnet High School; and Katherine Johnson of Flintridge Preparatory School.

Elizabeth Wade of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority at the University of South Carolina received a $500 scholarship.

Honorable-mention certificates of $100 each went to Amy Kirchheimer of Flintridge Preparatory School for high SAT scores and Christina Tucker of John Burroughs High School for outstanding community service.

The 19 third-graders in Lydia Lane Friedlich's class at Carpenter Avenue Elementary School in Studio City will be honored during a ceremony Thursday for raising more than $2,000 in donations for the nonprofit TreePeople organization.

The 8-year-olds created a yearlong project selling popcorn and muffins during Friday recess periods.

Over the last seven years, Friedlich's classes have raised more than $10,000 for TreePeople, which plants and replaces trees throughout Los Angeles.