Briefly in the news

More than 3,500 Orange County high school seniors are expected to

attend Orange Coast College’s 18th annual High School Senior Day from

noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday on campus, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

High school juniors are also invited to attend the event, which will

include campus and department tours, early registration materials and

student panels. There will also be musical entertainment.

English and math placement tests will be administered from 3 to 6 p.m.

for interested students.

Admission is free. Lunch and t-shirts are provided. Information: (714)

432-5725.

Neighborly clean-up event coming in April

The city of Costa Mesa and the Volunteer Center of Orange County will

team up to kick off the 16th bi-annual Neighbors for Neighbors community

clean-up event from 8:30 a.m. to noon April 28.

This spring event will focus on low-income, single-family homes and

Canyon Park in West Costa Mesa. The city is seeking donations for this

homeowner assistance program and is also recruiting volunteers for the

Canyon Park clean-up.

The Neighbors for Neighbors program is now in its ninth year and was

created by the city of Costa Mesa as a way to help low-income residents

with the beautification of their homes and to assist in local community

clean-up and the improvement of local parks.

Information: (714) 754-4892.

OCC students to help clean Catalina

Twelve Orange Coast College students and two advisors will spend their

spring break volunteering in isolated areas of Catalina Island. Orange

Coast College’s spring break runs from April 8 to 15. The students and

advisors will leave April 9 and return April 12.

This is the second year that students have participated in this

program. They will be housed at the Catalina Island Conservancy Volunteer

Camp and will work in native plant research. They also will remove

non-native plants and do trail maintenance and fence construction.

Vanguard choir, orchestra to play Carnegie Hall

The Vanguard University of Southern California Concert Choir and

Orchestra has been given an invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall in New

York City on May 21. The choir is composed of 105 students from 17 states

and two foreign countries who perform across the nation as musical

ambassadors for the university.

The choir will join students from several universities in performing

John Rutter’s cantata, “Magnificat.” Vanguard will also perform a solo

choral section.

The students are currently in the process of raising financial support

to cover the costs of the trip to New York. Anyone interested in making a

donation can call (714) 556-3610, Ext. 214.

Newport Beach a tree city again

The National Arbor Day Foundation has awarded an 11th consecutive Tree

City USA award to Newport Beach for excellence in the management of the

city’s urban forest.

The city also received a sixth Growth Award in a row, which honors

Newport Beach’s aggressive tree planting program as part of the Urban

Forestry program.

Last year, the city planted 254 trees, most of them in the city’s

parkways.