Steven Closs of Los Altos received a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md.

Akila Kadambi, a seventh-grader at Pinewood School, won first prize at the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Champions for her science fair project, “Lead and Arsenic Levels in Playground Equipment of Different Neighborhoods.” She was also nominated for a Discovery Channel award and received a check for $100 from the American Chemistry Association.

Lisa Battle, a Los Altos High School graduate and senior theater major at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., starred in “Matt & Ben” in May. The play is about actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and their success with the film “Good Will Hunting.” In the play, Damon and Affleck are played by women.

Fifth-grade St. Nicholas student Alyssa Wemyss has been accepted into the People to People World Leadership Forum. Wemyss will join a select group of students in Washington, D.C., next April to earn high school credit while studying leadership and exploring some of the United States’ most prominent monuments and institutions. Wemyss was nominated and accepted for the honor based on outstanding scholastic merit, civic involvement and leadership potential.

Rahul Desirazu, a fifth-grader from Los Altos, shared top honors in the K-5 championship section of the 31st National Elementary (K-6) School Chess Championship held in May in Denver, Colo. He received the second-place trophy on tiebreaks, scoring 6.5 points out of a possible 7. Nearly 2,000 children in grades K-6 from all over the country participated in the annual contest. Roughly 300 children competed in the K-5 championship section. Desirazu is a student at Harker School in San Jose.

Andrea Lock Chin of Los Altos will attend the University of Southern California this fall as a trustee scholar. The Trustee Scholarship is a four-year, full tuition award established by the Board of Trustees at USC to recognize extraordinary academic achievement and student leadership. Chin was also accepted into the USC Honors Core, the Thematic Option Honors Program and the school’s recently formed College Honors Society. Andrea will graduate from Castilleja School in Palo Alto this month.

Madeleine Baldwin, a four-year starter for Homestead High School Varsity Volleyball, will attend Connecticut College, New London, Conn., in the fall.

Matthew Robert Weiden of Los Altos has accepted membership in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. The society is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is the nation’s only interdisciplinary honors organization for first- and second-year college students.

At the Sixth District Santa Clara County PTA Annual Meeting May 19, Barbara Emerich Scholarships were awarded to Nell Redaniel and Matthew Chin, seniors at Mountain View High School. The scholarship, which honors Emerich’s service to youth and work in the California PTA, is given to two students each year to support their pursuit of careers in teaching or counseling.

Homestead High School student Victoria Eunyoung Park and Los Altos High School student Julie Walz were among the 11 graduating seniors honored with scholarships from Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Silicon Valley. This is the third year Coldwell has awarded seniors in their Path to Excellence Program. Through the program, each student receives $2,000 upon enrollment in an accredited four-year university.

Eighth-grade Graham Middle School students Blair Bacsi, Emily Fisher, Lauren Fisher and Ellen Shen were awarded the Gold Medal Award at the California Association for Music Education State Solo and Ensemble Festival in Sacramento on May 13. The award was given to the quartet for its superior ratings in all categories: intonation, tone, rhythm, technique, interpretation, balance and other factors.