ROANOKE SCHOOLS' STUDENTS BID TOTA A FOND FAREWELL

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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 6, 1993                   TAG: 9304060277
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ROANOKE SCHOOLS' STUDENTS BID TOTA A FOND FAREWELL
They sang for him. They danced for him. They drew him pictures and promised never to forget him.
One Highland Park Elementary School student - saddened at the thought of saying goodbye to Roanoke school Superintendent Frank Tota - even wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
"I'm so used to shaking hands," said a surprised Tota, who did a lot of that, too, at his farewell reception at the Roanoke Civic Center on Monday. "I'm not used to getting hugged."
Tota, 54, officially leaves his post June 30. He starts a new job as superintendent in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., on July 1.
Children from 18 of Roanoke's 29 schools danced, sang, played jazz, read poetry or presented scrap books to Tota in appreciation of his 12 years as the city school system's chief administrator. Schools that did not send children to perform sent artwork and fond farewell wishes.
"It's just sheer joy," Tota said of the children's presentations.
Highland Park fifth grader Justin Marlles said it was a joy for him, too. While his classmates danced to "New York, New York," he donned a mass of multicolored neck ties and a fake nose and eyeglasses in tribute to Tota, who is known for his neckwear.
"He did a lot for the school system," said Marlles, 11. "It was nice to see the man who really made the magnet schools."
Marlles and his classmates were particularly proud to present Tota with a blue ribbon, symbolic of a national award they will receive from the U.S. Department of Education in May. The school is being honored for its magnet program, for which Tota helped secure federal funding in 1989.
But others remembered Tota for somewhat smaller events. Like Anita Powell, a Huff Lane Elementary School parent who said she will never forget the prompt attention Tota gave her when she moved her family to another part of town but wanted her son to finish the year at his old school.
"He let me come in his office and sit down and talk to him," she said. "I didn't have to go through any bureaucracy. I will always remember that."
After Roanoke's children said their goodbyes at the civic center, the adults had their turn at a by-invitation-only dinner for Tota at the Roanoke Airport Marriott.
The 225 guests who came to honor Tota included past and present school board members, Mayor David Bowers and representatives from the state Board of Education and state superintendent's office.
Tota's recognition as a leader in education "goes beyond the city; it goes to the state and the national level," said Lewis M. Nelson Jr. of the Virginia Board of Education.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB