• La Jolla teenager Eric Gunderson, who balances homework while racing automobiles, has qualified for the national championships scheduled for October in Langley, Va. His strong finishes, including a third place in one main event at Las Vegas Speedway, paved the way. Driving a Legends automobile, he’ll be representing a team with bases in Texas and North Carolina. He will debut a new car next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Gunderson is an honors student at La Jolla High School. • La Jolla resident Patricia Thompson won her choice of $1,000 or a Southwest Airlines gift certificate in the second early drawing of the Ronald McDonald House Dream House Raffle. Thompson is still in the running to win the grand prize on June 12: a $1.8 million dream home or $1.5 million in cash. • Andy Hill, a La Jolla High School sophomore, has launched a successful iPad app called “iscrawl,” a note-taking program that allows people to use their finger as a pencil to take notes or draw sketches. Hill spent six days in New York last summer learning how to write code for the device, which was released to the public on April 3. He has consistently demonstrated his aptitude for computer science; he has already completed the most advanced computer classes offered by LJHS, and he is part of the team from the school that recently won Mayor Sander’s Cyber Cup, a competition designed to identify students who have developed the ability to find and repair vulnerabilities in computer systems. • Faculty, staff and alumni of the University of California, San Diego Shiley Eye Center have set up a fund to name a new microsurgical practice lab after alumnus Lamont Ericson, MD. Ericson completed his ophthalmology residency at the center in 1996 and stayed closely connected to the program even after establishing his own thriving practice in Utah. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2007. • Nohar Wahnishe, a senior communication major at UCSD, was named winner of the second annual Water Conservation Film Contest, held by the city of San Diego Public Utilities Department. Her film, “3 Tips to Save Water,” as well as the films of other finalists, are available to view at http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/kids/film/index.shtml. • A team from Crown Point Clippers, lead by owner David Hingeley, recently donated several days of labor to a beautification project at La Jolla High School. The landscape crew trimmed, laced and groomed large eucalyptus, pine and ficus trees to reduce safety hazards and improve the appearance of the campus. Hingeley, who is also a full-time fire fighter for the city of Coronado, said the project is close to his heart because his father and uncles attended La Jolla High. • La Jolla Girl Scout Troop 3377 recently hosted a collection drive and movie night to support the Spay Neuter Action Project. Troop members Annalise Bentley, Celeste Magaudda, Ellie Trevyllen, Emma Washkowiak, Jenna Agbulos, Jordan Haas, Katherine Gillcrist, Lindsey Gartner, Lucy Jensen, Mina Lally, Natalie Roddy, Rachel El-Jof, Samantha Poole, Sara Barton, Sara Tyrus, Shelby Kowalke, Star Austin and Sydney Brown took on the project to fulfill the final requirement for earning their Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can receive. • The Chase Morrin Trio, a jazz performance group comprised of UCSD Jazz Camp alumni Chase Morrin, Fernando Gomez and Tyler Eaton, took home second place in the Open Combo Division at the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Festival on April 5. Morrin, who is 16 years-old, was also one of only three musicians to win an Outstanding Soloist Award. • University of California, San Diego faculty emeriti Adele and Theodore Shank have pledged $200,000 to establish the Adele and Theodore Shank Professional Playwriting Residency Award Fund, which will support students graduating with a master of fine arts in playwriting at UCSD. Both Adele and Theodore are critically-acclaimed dramatists and distinguished faculty emeriti of UCSD’s Department of Theatre and Dance. Some of their students have become successful playwrights and television writers, with credits that include work on current hits such as “Big Love” and “Parks and Recreation.” • The San Diego Center for Jewish Culture in La Jolla announced that Wendy Sabin-Lasker has been named the organization’s executive director. She took the helm in the first week of March. In her role, Sabin-Lasker oversees the center’s programs, including the San Diego Jewish Film Festival, the San Diego Jewish Book Fair and a Holocaust education program. Sabin-Lasker comes to the center from 92nd Street Y in New York, a cultural center that offers a variety of recreation and educational programs for people from infants to seniors. There, she was responsible for daytime programming, which included Daytime@The Steinhardt Building and 92YTribeca, two programs geared toward baby boomers and new retirees. • Geri Ann Warnke of La Jolla is among 10 women who were honored by the San Diego-Imperial Council of Girl Scouts at the annual San Diego’s 10 Cool Women of 2010 event March 23. Each year, the local Girl Scouts chapter recognizes women in the community who are role models for girls due to their professional accomplishments, community contributions and leadership. Women are nominated based on their involvement in the community as well as recommendations from previous Cool Women award winners, said Mary Doyle, director of communications for the San Diego-Imperial Council. Warnke is an orthopedic physical therapist who has served as president of the board of the Rotary Club of San Diego, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and the La Jolla Playhouse. • Six students from The Bishop’s School and La Jolla High School took home awards at the 56th annual Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair (S&EF) at San Diego State University on March 25. Bishop’s senior Aaron Schild teamed with LJHS student Rafael Cosman for their winning “Sun in Your Eyes? Electrochromic Sun-Tracking Windshield” project, while Bishop’s sophomores Meredith Lehmann, Arjun Sharma and Varun Sharma each took home first-place honors in the senior division. Eighth-grader Kamran Jamil also received a first-place distinction for his entry into the junior chemistry division. • La Jolla High School students Skylar Economy and Alice Schukin were part of a team that took home the intermediate division gold medal at the 2010 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. on March 4. Both girls are members of the San Diego Figure Skating Club’s Team Del Sol, which competed against 11 other teams to earn the winning spot. The team skated to “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder and “Ramalama (Bang Bang)” by Roisin Murphy.