Ulysses S Grant High School

Two teenage boys were wounded Tuesday outside a Van Nuys high school in what police said was a suspected gang-related shooting. As school let out about 3:15 p.m., a 16-year-old Grant High School student and a 17-year-old former student were walking across a bridge on adjacent Oxnard Street when the occupants of a pickup possibly asked them a gang-related question, said Capt. Jim Miller of the Los Angeles Police Department.

According to Grant High School's clique etiquette, Andy, Hala, Edgar and Erik should not be socializing. Andy Jassick, a white 16-year-old with shaggy hair and an oversized "South Park" T-shirt, hangs with a crowd known as the wrestlers. Hala Shamas, 16, of Syrian descent, wears a blue DKNY shirt and stylish butterfly clips in her hair and belongs to "the Versace crowd." Edgar Keroglyan, 16, has a tattoo on his finger and "kicks it" with his fellow Armenian friends on the north end of campus.

According to Grant High School's clique etiquette, Andy, Hala, Edgar and Erik should not be socializing. Andy Jassick, a white 16-year-old with shaggy hair and an oversized "South Park" T-shirt, hangs with a crowd known as the wrestlers. Hala Shamas, 16, of Syrian descent, wears a blue DKNY shirt and butterfly clips in her hair and belongs to "the Versace crowd." Edgar Keroglyan, 16, has a tattoo on his finger and "kicks it" with his fellow Armenian friends on the north end of campus.

Students at Grant High School in the San Fernando Valley put their commitment to racial harmony in writing Thursday, formally signing a peace treaty before an audience of classmates, administrators and politicians. On hand to encourage them were Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills) and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

Students at Grant High School put their commitment to racial harmony in writing Thursday, formally signing a peace treaty before an audience of classmates, administrators and politicians. On hand to lend words of encouragement were U.S. Rep. Howard Berman and California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

Banners with words and images confronting stereotypes and promoting diversity and respect were unveiled Thursday morning outside Grant High School, where ethnic tensions erupted in violence last year and students signed a "peace treaty" in January.

Banners with words and images confronting stereotypes and promoting diversity and respect were unveiled Thursday morning outside Grant High School, where ethnic tensions erupted in violence last year and a "peace treaty" was signed by students in January.

John Salapa's ninth-graders have been at Grant High for only two months, but they have already learned a few things. They know that Armenian American students hang out on the north side of the quad under the big trees and that Latinos hang out on the south. They know that Armenian Americans' dress is sort of conservative and Latinos' dress sort of baggy--or at least that's what people expect.

John Salapa's ninth-graders have learned a few things in the two months they have been at Grant High School. They know Armenian American students hang out on the north side of the quad under the big trees, and the Latinos hang out on the south. They know Armenian Americans dress sort of conservative and Latinos dress sort of baggy--or at least that's what people expect. And they know what October means: fights between Armenian Americans and Latinos, who are primarily Mexican Americans at Grant.

Nobody can run to daylight quite like Perry Clayton, and not only because Grant High plays home games in the afternoon. He sees a sliver of an opening, slips through it swiftly, then views a panorama of paths with vision like a wide-angle lens. His feet move so fast they appear to leave the ground. Where will he touch down? Touchdown! "I can really see the field," he said. "I can anticipate what the other person is doing. I can feel the acceleration. It's like everybody is moving in slow motion.