22 STUDENTS FROM AREA MAKE SPOTLIGHT AWARD SEMIFINALS.

Byline: SIMONE SCHRAMM Community columnnist

The Los Angeles County Music Center has named 96 semifinalists for its 16th annual Spotlight Awards, including 22 from the San Fernando and Antelope valleys and Ventura County.

The semifinalists were selected from among more than 800 Southern California students who auditioned in the categories of ballet, nonclassical dance, classical or nonclassical voice, and classical or jazz instrumental music.

Finalists will be announced in March, and they will compete April 17 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Winners will receive $6,000 and runners-up $3,000.

The semifinalists include:

Gregory Arakelian, 18, of Glendale, ballet; Kristen Barrett, 17, of Woodland Hills, nonclassical dance; Brittany Blossom, 17, of Palmdale, nonclassical modern dance; Katrina Bobbs, 15, of Granada Hills, classical instrumental; Esme Boyce, 16, of Burbank, nonclassical modern dance; Alice Chen, 17, of Studio City, classical instrumental; Sean Chen, 15, of Oak Park, classical instrumental; Christian Denice, 15, nonclassical dance; Joey Dosik, 17, of Northridge, instrumental jazz; Daniel Eun, 17, of Montrose, classical instrumental; George Fry, 17, of Eagle Rock, instrumental jazz; Victor Gould,16, of Simi Valley, jazz instrumental; Lisa Hendrickson, 17, of Northridge, classical voice; Max Kaplan, 18, of North Hollywood, instrumental jazz; Kara Krosky, 16, of Simi Valley, ballet; Colin Kupka, 16, of Glendale, instrumental jazz; Michele Lee, 16, of Northridge, instrumental classical; Emile Martinez, 15, of North Hollywood, instrumental jazz; Aaron Mirman, 17, of Northridge, instrumental jazz; Shannon Pape, 16, of Moorpark, nonclassical dance; Melinda Sullivan, 16, of Newbury Park, nonclassical dance; and Whitney Vigil, 16, of Palmdale, nonclassical voice.

California State University, Northridge, has received a $45,000 grant to develop a program that teaches English to elderly immigrants and helps prepare them for U.S. citizenship.

The two-year grant was given to Health Science Professor Deborah Sheets and CSUN's Center for Community Service Learning. CSUN was one of four institutions nationwide to receive such a grant from Project SHINE.

``SHINE will bring new opportunities to CSUN students who have already been working with an ethnically diverse older population in a variety of community settings,'' said Sheets, who is also coordinator of CSUN's Interdisciplinary Gerontology Program.

The program, slated to start in the fall, will provide 40 students each semester with an opportunity to tutor or mentor community elders at five senior centers or adult schools throughout the San Fernando Valley.

Seven local students have received Ernani Bernardi Foundation scholarships to be used when they attend Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar. They are: Idiana Contreras of Sylmar; Sergio A. Gonzalez, Yadira Martinez and Lisa Ann Shaw, all of Pacoima; Fallon D. Nelms of Lake View Terrace; Maribel Palafox of San Fernando; and Karen Y. Rivera of Sylmar.

Magnolia Science Academy, a new start-up charter school in Reseda, has scheduled two open houses to celebrate its science team's win in the American Computer Science League competition.

``Being part of the computer team has made me more confident in the science and computer classes,'' said student Igor Dubinski.

The open houses will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday and 6-8 p.m. Jan. 28 at the campus, 18238 Sherman Way.