I NEED TO DO a short followup to a blog entry I wrote back in January about my friend Melissa Wantz's contest for high schoolers, The Phoenix.

Wantz, an English teacher at Foothill High School in Ventura, came up with an idea to support and showcase the creative work of high school writers, artists and photographers in Ventura County.

I went to the presentation ceremony for the awards last night and I can now report that the arts are alive and well in our county's high schools. With hundreds of entries to choose from, the judges, who are locally renown in their fields of expertise, were blown away by the quality of the students' work.

Ventura artist Michele Chapin was so enthusiastic about the work she saw she plans to help expand and promote the contest next year.

The contest awarded cash prizes and an opportunity to be published in a book compiled by the journalism class at Foothill High. A Ventura Education Partnership grant helped pay the expenses.

Both the book and contest take their name from a mythical bird which dies in a fiery death and rises to live once again -- the Phoenix. "Our motto, 'Rising from the Ashes of Standardized Testing,' is taken from this idea of life after death," Wantz wrote on her Web site.

As wonderfully talented as these kids are, the contest would not have happened without a dedicated teacher who spent hours of her own time on the project. Thanks, Melissa!

AND SPEAKING OF the Ventura Education Partnership, our biggest event of the year, SummerFest, is being held from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday (5-30) at the VUSD Education Service Center, 255 W. Stanley Ave., Ventura.

SummerFest brings our children and community together in a day-long event of fun, physical fitness events, music and healthy foods. This event celebrates our healthy community and also raises funds for nutrition and exercise programs through sponsorships. It is a free, family-friendly event. Join us!