Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993 TAG: 9301120357
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
7 APPLYING FOR BOARD VACANCY CREATED BY SCHNECK RESIGNATION
Seven people applied for the town of Christiansburg's vacancy on the Montgomery County School Board by Friday's 5 p.m. deadline.The vacancy was created when School Board Chairman Daniel Schneck resigned last month after the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution disagreeing with a School Board policy on the naming of school holidays.
The supervisors advertised for someone who would be interested in finishing out Schneck's term, which expires June 30.
The first person to respond to the advertisement was Mike Sowder, who served two years on the nine-member board as the District D representative before the supervisors declined to reappoint him last year.
Sowder is a special education teacher in Floyd County and had the backing of Montgomery County teachers last year when the supervisors chose Barry Worth, a Radford Arsenal employee, to replace him.
Other Christiansburg residents who have applied for the post are Robert E. Anderson, Philip L. Gilley, David R. Moore, Mark S. Helms, Anne C. Greene and Cynthia Jennison.
Anderson, 33, founder and director of the Christian-oriented Straight Street Teen Center, has lived in the county since 1988.
The recent controversy over the changing of the traditional Christian holiday names of Christmas and Easter to winter break and spring break had nothing to do with his decision to seek the School Board seat, he said.
He has some opinions on the holiday-name issue but they are not necessarily those of the Christians who have protested the name change, Anderson said.
What prompted him to bid for the open seat, he said, was the urging of others.
"In relating with our local youth on the highly personal level that a teen center provides, I have been given the opportunity to see that quite a few of our youth lack some of the skills needed for a successful life," Anderson wrote the supervisors. Working with children also has given him ideas about where improvement is needed, he said.
Gilley, who works in Radford, has been a resident of Montgomery County since 1985.
"I consider myself a team player and would welcome the opportunity to have an influence on future decisions for our school system," Gilley wrote the supervisors. He could not be reached for comment Friday on his application.
Moore, 32, wrote the supervisors that his goal is "to be a fervent and ded$icated member . . . to help the board to achieve its mission to have a world-class educational system."
A 1987 graduate from Bluefield State College in electrical engineering technology, Moore is a calibration technician at Corning Inc.
Moore is a member of Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church where he is a deacon, assistant Sunday school superintendent and an Sunday school teacher. He is also a member of the Human Relations Council of Montgomery County.
Helms, 35, is the underground storage tank and hazardous waste coordinator at Virginia Tech, where he is responsible for the proper disposal of all hazardous materials generated by the university. He is a 1976 graduate of Blacksburg High School.
Active in the PTAs in the Christiansburg area since 1987, Helms wrote the supervisors that he is "strongly committed to excellence in education."
"There are some great things happening in the county and I'd really like to be a part of it," Helms said in a phone interview Friday.
Helms said he wished people in Montgomery County could put as much effort into true educational issues, such as the new superintendent search or the budget, as they have invested in fighting over the holiday names.
He said he doesn't believe his or anyone else's beliefs will be changed by what's on a school calendar.
Greene, 39, is co-owner of Written Worlds, Special Books for Children, and has two children in the Christiansburg schools. She holds a bachelors degree in sociology from Lenoir-Rhyne College. She has been a PTA volunteer, a Sunday school superintendent and Bible school director, and a social services caseworker.
"I am deeply concerned about the quality of education provided for the children of our county," Greene wrote the board.
"I decided it's time to get involved and not sit back and complain," Greene said Friday.
Jennison, mother of two daughters in the Christiansburg schools, wrote that she was applying for the post with a "sense of excitement as well as concern."
A graduate of Kansas Weslyan University, Jennison, 36, has been a volunteer for PTA, a Girl Scout leader, a Sunday school teacher at the Christiansburg Presbyterian Church and involved in other children's activities.
Currently owner of Bread and Roses Communications, Jennison was executive director of the New River Valley Hospice Inc. between December 1990 and last June.
Her primary motivation for applying for the post is her two daughters and a concern that the board have a good selection of people to choose from, Jennison said Friday.
Memo: CORRECTION