Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 3, 1993 TAG: 9305270518
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY BELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke Valley Christian School celebrates its 20th graduation June 11 with the largest senior class ever - 47 - and three valedictorians with perfect 4.0 averages.
According to school officials, 96 percent of those graduating plan to attend college. One-quarter will attend Christian colleges. The most popular fields of study are engineering and education.
Valedictorians Sam Donnelly, Nathaneal Gay and Ellen Rachel Shelton all plan to enter college.
Donnelly is entering the U.S. Military Academy at West Point this summer to study math and engineering. Gay and Shelton both have full scholarships to Roanoke College.
Philip Graybeal, associate pastor for education, said the school's enrollment has steadily increased in 20 years, partly because of politics.
"What we're finding is that there has been a considerable growth in Christian schools as Christian parents have seen that our government is coming out with policies and practices which are in such opposition to their family belief systems. The Association of Christian Schools International reports an increase of 40,000 students last year," he said.
In its history, Roanoke Valley Christian has graduated 395 students. Graybeal remembers the early days when the school operated in a financial deficit. Recently, however, a financial aid endowment fund was established through the Shenandoah Educational Foundation.
Graybeal, who leaves the school after 14 years in June to assume an administrative position at a South Carolina Christian school, also remembers being stranded on the campus during the flood of 1985.
"The thing that stands out most is when our older students and faculty joined together to form work crews for two days to go out and assist our neighbors in digging out of the mud and debris that had wrecked the valley. I can remember the words of one businessman as he told me that it was because of the students of RVCS that he was back in business," Graybeal said.
by CNB