COMMUNITY NEWS WARNER BROS.' VARGAS LAUDED FOR VOLUNTEERISM.

Sherman Oaks resident A.J. Vargas, an associate producer with Warner Bros. Animation, received Time Warner Inc.'s Andrew Heiskell Community Service Award, honoring his community volunteer efforts.

Since 1998, Vargas has volunteered for the Camp Max Straus Sports and Arts Buddies program for underprivileged youth. For the past five years, Vargas also has worked with the Hathaway Family Resource Center in Los Angeles, and volunteered much of his vacation time at the Ronald McDonald Camp for children with cancer.

Vargas was one of eight Time Warner employees worldwide to receive the award, named for the late former chairman and CEO of Time Inc. Recipients are nominated by their peers and chosen from among the company's 84,000 employees.

Winners receive $5,000 from Time Warner, $3,000 in the form of a donation to a nonprofit organization of their choice.

Three San Fernando Valley students each received $20,000 from the Larry C. and Lee Ann Glasscock Scholarship Fund, which assists academically qualified dependents of WellPoint employees nationwide who will be first-generation college graduates.

Jennifer Evans of Oak Park and Brian Herrera of Canoga Park both plan to attend Stanford University. Natasha Vo of Woodland Hills will be attending California State University, Long Beach.

Megan Rose, an 11th-grade honor student at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, will take part in this year's National Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

Rose also has been recognized for academic achievement by the National Society of High School Scholars, and is past captain of the El Camino girls' junior varsity basketball team. Recently she established a local chapter of ``Eyes Around the World,'' which collects and ships donated eyeglasses to people in need in other countries.

Pacoima Middle School was among three Los Angeles Unified School District schools to receive hundreds of computers as part of a software test purchase program by the FBI and national education technology firms Arey Jones and Microsoft.

Pacoima Middle School was part of the FBI's Adopt a School Program, which offers mentors to at-risk students. The three schools received a total of 225 computers.

``It's so important that we do all we can to further opportunities for our students,'' said Themy Sparangis, chief technology director for the LAUSD. ``It's really encouraging to witness how industry and government have come together, filled a resource void and helped our students.''

Several Antelope Valley students were awarded scholarships from the Antelope Valley Allied Arts Association. First-place winner Brian Conway, who plans to study graphic design, received $450; Caroline Gaete, who plans to study illustration and computer animation, received $350; and Kelly Balch, a future commercial and advertising photographer, won the third-place award of $250.

Several San Fernando Valley foster parents were honored by Optimist Foster Family and Adoption Services for their dedication to serving foster youth. Maria Almeida of North Hollywood, Michael and Griselda Kelly of Palmdale and Maria Nervarez of Lynwood received the family agency's ``Helping Hands'' Award.