Cyndi Loza

Stories and Songs

The Washoe County School District will give more than 600 families “An Afternoon of Stories and Songs” on Thursday. The event will feature performances at 4, 6 and 7:30 p.m. in the Little Theater at Hug High School, 2880 Sutro St.

Each family will get to take home a prekindergarten “literacy packet,” complete with free books and family activities.

Carwash

Spanish Springs High School’s JROTC members will hold a car wash to raise money for special awards for their cadets. The Spanish Springs Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Save Mart, 9750 Pyramid Lake Road. The cost is $5 a wash.

Culinary Expo

Sierra Nevada Job Corps Center has been chosen to participate in the Job Corps San Francisco Region’s Culinary Expo in San Francisco.

The expo, “Wok ‘n’ Roll,” will be held May 12-15 at the Treasure Island Job Corps Center. Over the course of the four-day event, students will be tested on their culinary knowledge and skills as they compete to take home the first-place trophy. Several culinarians will be on hand to teach professional development sessions and talk to students about different areas of culinary work they can pursue after completing the Job Corps program.

Pancake Fundraiser

From pancakes to luxury cars, the McQueen High School band will try to find ways to pay for their trip to the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade.

The group will host two fundraising events this month to attend the parade in Pasadena, Calif., next year.

On Saturday, the band will host a Pancake Feed from 7 to 11 a.m. at the Grace Community Church of Reno, 1220 Robb Drive. The cost for adults is $5 and $3 for children. Roses also will be sold at the event.

On May 17, the Audi, BMW and Porche auto clubs are hosting a show and shine at Gilson Auto Body, 2201 Glendale Ave. The cost to enter a car is $20, but there is no cost for admission. Auction items include a lifetime of oil changes, a set of tires and meal packages.

For details or to make a donation, visit the band’s Web site at www.mcqueenband.org.

Earthquake safety

To help students stay safe during an emergency, AT&T Inc. will host a free one-hour Web seminar highlighting some “best practices” in school district emergency response and school safety planning.

As part of an ongoing series of instructional Web seminars and training courses, the workshop plans to give “An Overview of Disaster Planning and Safety Best Practices for K-12 Schools.” The event will be from 10 to 11 a.m. on May 14.

The AT&T course will be presented by Robert Gravina, the chief technology officer of Poway School District in San Diego, and Nancy Campbell, assistant superintendent of the Berkley School District in Berkley, Mich.

In the session, Gravina will review how the Poway School District was able to maintain network continuity during the Southern California wildfires that affected San Diego County in 2007. Campbell will review how Berkley School District was able to obtain Department of Homeland Security grants to support school safety initiatives.

People can register and receive instructions on how to tune-in to the event at www.att.com/edu.

People who have distinguished themselves recently in education:

• Lisa-Marie Lightfoot of the Washoe County School District Volunteer Services received the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the International Reading Association’s Celebrate Literacy Award last month. The award recognized individuals that contribute to literacy throughout their community. Lightfoot coordinates the Read & Succeed program, which tutors Washoe students reading below grade level.

• Christine Koski of Reno, a seventh-grader at Billinghurst Middle School, was selected as one of Nevada’s top two youth volunteers for 2008 in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program. Christine received an engraved silver medallion and also will receive $1,000 and an all-expense paid trip this month to Washington, D.C., where she will join other honorees from across the country for several days of national recognition events. Christine is being honored for collecting more than 1,000 new and gently used books for disadvantaged children and families in her community.