STUDENT AT MIRMAN SCHOOL HONORED IN NATIONAL CONTEST.

Byline: SIMONE SCHRAMM Community columnist

David Segall, a student at Mirman School For Gifted Children in Brentwood, won third place in the nationwide ``Invest Write'' essay contest sponsored by the Foundation for Investor Education.

David entered the contest through the Daily News in Education Program and won a laptop computer as well as a trophy from the Daily News.

In his essay, David demonstrated his knowledge in investments by speculating on various factors that may impact the stock price of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, a company that specializes in developing medical products that work in combination with pharmaceuticals.

David said that the increasing number of injured soldiers in Iraq, the aging population and the speed and efficiency of the products could lead to an increase in their stock. However, he said that many doctors are hesitant to use them if they've had success with older devices.

Winners were chosen among 7,000 entrants in the essay contest, which is part of the foundation's Stock Market Game program.

Donna Hay, David's teacher also took home a laptop computer for her participation.

Jessica Orkin of Calabasas High School was among three students to receive a scholarship from Best Buy Children's Foundation for her volunteer work, excellent academic record and participation in extracurricular activities.

Students received scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $2,000.

Sean Marney, Jessica Padilla and Rolanda Manzo, all from the Sylmar High School Math Science Magnet, were among 30 students selected to attend a three-week summer science program at Caltech. They were selected based on their grade-point average, SAT scores, recommendations and essays.

Thirty-three San Fernando Valley students were among 170 artistically gifted Southland students honored as California Art Scholars. The students were honored June 4 for accomplishments in fields such as animation, creative writing, film/video, music and theater.

The honorees are:

Burbank: Jesse So.

Encino: Matthew Adler, Jaclyn Friedenthal, Andrea Landin, Andrea Long, Douglas Sharma and Alexander Smitrovi.

North Hollywood: Basie Hauser, Molly Kaplan and Lidia Meza.

San Fernando: Maya Johnson.

Shadow Hills: Tanya Chianese.

Sherman Oaks: Sarah Barnes, Kelsey Brain, Raquel Cedar, Max Freedman, Emily Higgins, Sophie Moore, Rachel Resentstein, and Harry Rimglower.

Studio City: Dmitriy Katsel and Adriana Patti.

Tarzana: Jack Johnson, Sean O'Brien and Gregory West.

Toluca Lake: Sloane Arcaro.

Van Nuys: Lauren Mara and Allison Rudy.

West Hills: Samantha Jorgenson.

Woodland Hills: Ariel Alter, Staav Goldreich, Noelle Hubbell and Sasha Mitchell.

Nine local teens were awarded scholarships totaling $12,500 by the Encino-Tarzana Hospital Charitable Foundation for their volunteer work at the hospitals.

Recipients were honored for their dedication to volunteerism and their drive to explore career opportunities in the medical field.

The recipients are:

Natali Barrio, Roxana Beltran and Jackie Gallegos of North Hollywood High School, Deimy Garcia of San Fernando High School, Nisha Mehra of Chaminade College Preparatory School in Chatsworth, Crystal Moreles-Guerrero of North Hollywood High School, Lisseth Polance of San Fernando High School and Noel Simpkin of West Valley Christian School in West Hills and Avi Zaraya of El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills.