COMMUNITY NEWS.

More than 150 Los Angeles-area students, nearly 20 of them from the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, earned the Prudential Spirit of Community Award.

For 11 years, the Prudential Spirit of Community celebration has been the nation's largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteerism.

Of the total number of honorees, eight were ``distinguished finalists.'' Among them were Nicole Lanz of Valencia High School in Valencia and Shivam Shodhan of Faith Baptist School in Canoga Park.

Lanz founded a service organization to collect new and used backpacks, fill them with school supplies and deliver them to children in the Third World. Shodhan launched a program to collect used eyeglasses and distribute them to visually-impaired people in developing countries.

All the honorees got certificates from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and commemorative CD carrying cases. After the ceremony at Seoul International Park, the award recipients pitched in to help clean up the park.

Palmdale middle school student Ross Norman has returned from a week in Washington, D.C., as part of the People to People World Leadership Forum. There, he earned high school credit while studying leadership and exploring some of the United States' most prominent monuments and institutions.

Ross earned the honor based on his scholastic performance, civic involvement and leadership potential, according to his parents.

President Dwight Eisenhower began the program in 1956 to foster world citizenship.

The Moorpark College forensics team took fifth place at the national championship competition held earlier this month in Kansas City, Mo. The team - which has won the national championship eight times, second place 10 times and third place nine times since it began competing in 1972 - had labeled this season a ``rebuilding year.''

Among the individual team members to medal were Nichol Costa, who took gold in ``communication analysis;'' Jill Jacobs, who struck gold in ``program oral interp;'' and Alyssa Reinecker, who brought home the gold in ``prose interpretation.''

``Fortunately, it looks like we'll have a very strong group of students returning next year,'' coach Rolland Petrello said. ``That should put us right back in contention for the national title.''