Docent training will teach volunteers all about nature

The Cold Creek Docents are recruiting volunteers to lead nature walks with small groups of elementary students at the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve in Calabasas. Six half-day training sessions will begin on Mon., Oct. 4, at the Reserve.

Classes taught by resource professionals will include aspects of Santa Monica Mountains ecology, early Chumash culture, geography, the role of soil, interpretive techniques, and a special workshop to make teaching artifacts.

To register or obtain more information, call (818) 591-9363. Free and reduced priced meals available at local schools

The Las Virgenes Unified School District recently announced a new policy for providing free and reduced priced meals for children. The policy was established within the guidelines of the national School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

A student from a family of four is eligible for free breakfast, lunch and milk under the program if the annual household income is no more than $25,155. Additional money is available for other family members.

Reduced-priced school breakfasts and lunches are available to a family of four with total annual income between $25,156 and $35,798.

Children who receive food stamps, California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payments, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations benefits are automatically eligible for free meals, regardless of household income.

A separate application is needed for foster children. This program is based on the state-provided costs for care of the child and not family income.

Eligible families should have received application forms with a letter describing how to apply for the various programs. Applications also are available in the principal’s office at every school in the district.