Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 23, 1990                   TAG: 9004230363
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FORMER DROPOUT TROUT TOUTS STAYING IN SCHOOL

"Stay in school so you can either get a job when you get out or go to college," he said. "We have failed if you are not successful."

Trout said he left school and Roanoke when he was 15 and spent two years traveling in a dozen states in the South.

"At the of 17, I ended up in Hattiesburg, Miss., and while it was a beautiful city, I decided it was time to come home," he said.

Trout returned to Roanoke, went back to school and graduated from Jefferson High School before he went to work for Norfolk and Western Railway.

"I came back and returned to school. That is one reason I am so strong on education today," he told about 30 students at the opening of his campaign headquarters on Orange Avenue Northwest.

George Franklin, an alternative education teacher in city schools, said the students visited the campaign headquarters on a field trip to see how political campaigns and city government work.

"We thought this would provide an opportunity for them to see that someone who grew up in an inner-city neighborhood could rise above that," said Franklin.

Trout, a Democrat who is seeking re-election as an independent in next week's election, was also endorsed today by Joe Gaither, a widely-known basketball coach for the Inner City Athletic Association.

"He is a man who cares. He has a sincere interest in children from the inner city," said Gaither, who helped the councilman open the headquarters.

Trout told the students that the city spends more than $4,500 a year annually on each child in the school system.

"We have made an investment in you. We want you to stay in school," he said. "We want to keep this talent in the community and that's why we are working to create more jobs."