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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 6, 1990                   TAG: 9006060368
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER QUITTING FOR TEACHER JOB

Helms, a Christiansburg representative who was appointed last June, planned to announce her resignation in executive session late Tuesday.

Helms, 29, graduated from Radford University this spring cum laude with a bachelor's degree in early and middle school education.

She said she plans to apply for teaching jobs in both Montgomery and Roanoke County school systems. Neither Radford nor Salem had openings, she said.

Montgomery, she said, is her top choice. "I'm so proud of where we're going as a school system," she said, adding that she also would prefer teaching in her home community.

Helms said she genuinely regrets having to resign. "I never in my life thought I'd miss all those late nights and arguing," she said. "It's the toughest resignation I've ever put in."

Last year Helms was appointed to take the place of incumbent Ann Alexander, who had asked for reappointment.

At the time, the community was embroiled in controversy over a policy that would have required a 2.0 grade-point-average policy for participation in sports and extracurricular activities.

After Helms applied but before her appointment she dropped in on community meetings "without telling people who I was" to try to learn why there was such opposition to the 2.0 policy.

One of her reasons for applying to the board was to work on improving relations between the board and the community, she said.

Conditions have improved "but we can do better," she said. "I really would like to see more cohesiveness between the community and the School Board."

Helms, who has been considered a teachers' advocate, said teachers need to feel their concerns are taken seriously.

As a board member and potential teacher, Helms said she is glad to see new programs expanded to all elementary schools this fall, such as IBM's Writing to Read and foreign language classes.

But teachers are frustrated because new programs are cutting into teaching time in an already crowded day, she said.

"I think maybe we should slow down a little bit," Helms said. "When people are feeling frustrated and overloaded, they're not learning as much as they could."