STUDENTS DISCOVER LOVE HAS ITS PRICE

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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 15, 1992                   TAG: 9202150132
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA SWIRSKY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
STUDENTS DISCOVER LOVE HAS ITS PRICE
Young love has gotten expensive. Kids at Northside High School know that - on Valentine's Day, they go all out.
By midafternoon Friday, the school office looked like an overstocked gift shop. Balloons, roses, candy and even a white teddy bear with a black top hat were among the spoils of love.
"They started at 8:30 and have been coming steady all day," said Linda Curd, a school secretary.
Gifts were delivered to the school office, which in turn sent a note out to each lucky recipient. Kids could pick them up all day between classes.
"A lot of the girls take theirs with them to class," Curd said.
Seniors Andrea Herron and Miranda Partridge agree that there is more than a little competition involved.
"A lot of girls want to show off," said Herron, who received flowers from her boyfriend and her parents.
"A lot of guys do, too," Partridge was quick to add. "They want to show off who got the best thing for their girlfriends."
Plenty of guys were on the receiving end of a valentine's gift, too.
But the guys were little more sheepish. "They don't carry them around all day. They pick them up after school," Curd said.
Sophomore Mark Freeland claimed his teddy bear at the end of the day. He admitted that his friends would give him a bit of a hard time over his fluffy gift but said, "It's not too embarrassing. You don't have to carry it around all day."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB