BOY DONATES $2,000 TO UCLA KIDNEY FUND.

Byline: SIMONE SCHRAMM Community columnist

Joshua Goldberg of Encino donated $2,000 - a fourth of his bar mitzvah gift money - to the UCLA Renal Transplant Research and Education Fund in appreciation for care received by his mother, Maureen King-Goldberg.

In 1994, his mother went into renal failure when she was pregnant with her second child and she has undergone two kidney transplants.

``I wanted to give back to UCLA because they gave my mom the gift of life,'' he said.

Joshua's school, Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge, always asks its students to contribute part of their bar mitzvah gifts to charity.

Clarity Guerra, a junior at North Hollywood Zoo Magnet, was among 75 high school students from 31 states selected to assist in an Earthwatch project, ``Behavior and Ecology of Caribbean Termites and Coral Reef Fish,'' on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In addition to crawling through dense underbrush and being exposed to fire ants, termites that bite, wasps and thorns, she will snorkel and dive to gather specimens for various experiments.

North Hollywood Zoo Magnet is a science magnet school near the Los Angeles Zoo where students can take courses in animal behavior, natural history of marine mammals and environmental studies, among other subjects.

For information regarding this program, call [phone] or visit www.earthwatch.org.

Pinecrest School in Van Nuys earned the Honor Student Council Excellence Award from the National Principals Association in recognition for its outstanding activities in leadership, citizenship and community service.

The school won the award for the second consecutive year for programs such as its 2003 holiday canned food drive, blanket drive for the Rescue Mission and the school recycling project, among other things.

Molly Pinto of Reseda High School and Nane Gevorgyan of Toll Middle School in Glendale were top essay winners in their grade categories at the fifth annual AVID ``Write-Off'' competition.

Molly came home with the ninth-grade silver medal while Nane won the seventh-grade bronze medal.

They were part of a program called Advancement Via Individual Determination, which allows students from low-income families to enter college. Ninety-five percent of AVID students make it to college.

Bryan Hunter, a student at Oakwood School in North Hollywood, is one of 10 boy and 10 girl semifinalists in California being considered for the Presidential Scholarship.

Semifinalists were selected based on superior achievements, leadership qualities, personal character, community involvement, school activities and performance on either the SAT or ACT tests.

The Commission on Presidential Scholars will select one young man and one young woman from each state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and from U.S. students living abroad. Winners will be announced in May.

Six local students were accepted into military academies after being nominated for acceptance by Congressman Elton Gallegly.

They were among 11 students in Southern California to be nominated.

The students and the academies are:

Patrick Denice, 18, of Chaminade College Preparatory in Chatsworth, Naval Academy; Steve Gatena, 17, of Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, Air Force Academy; Christina Hudson, 17, of Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo, West Point, Naval and Air Force academies; David Salgado, 22, a graduate of Royal High School in Simi Valley, Air Force Academy; Jennifer Segar, 17, of Chaminade College Preparatory, West Point; and David Schmitt, 18, of Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, Naval Academy.