Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 20, 1994 TAG: 9409220011
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LAURA ZIVKOVICH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A task force established at the high school to prevent dropouts arranged the visits as part of NATIONAL DROPOUT PREVENTION WEEK.
Forty ninth- through 12th-grade students volunteered to make the visits and discuss the importance of staying in school. Nine advanced theater arts students performed a skit for the elementary pupils with themes of finishing school. Rhonda Welsh, the drama teacher, wrote the skit and coordinated the performance.
Howard "Howie" Petruziello of WROV in Roanoke - and a Pulaski County High School graduate - served as the lunchtime DJ on Friday to celebrate the end of a week's hard work.
Central office staff members and teachers participated by wearing buttons or ribbons with anti-dropout messages. Banners and posters were displayed in the high school. Businesses from Fairlawn, Dublin and Pulaski displayed billboards drawing attention to the dropout problem.
Among the information displayed is the message that staying in school pays, to the extent that a high school graduate makes up to $200,000 more than a dropout; that 80 percent of those who wind up in prison have no high school diploma, and that only one in six jobs today are suitable for a high school dropout while 84 percent are suitable for high school graduates.
King Kigeli V, the exiled KING OF RWANDA will speak to Christiansburg Elementary fifth-graders today at 2 p.m. The king will also make informal visits to other Christiansburg Elementary classrooms.
A reception for school officials will follow in the library after school.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has named six New River Valley students semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
ERIC T. BROWN, Blacksburg High School
KATHERINE DEROSSET, Christiansburg High School
LEE B. EURE, Pulaski County High School
KERRY O'ROURKE, Blacksburg High School
ADAM M. PHELPS, Floyd County High School
ISAK ROBINSON-GILDEN, Blacksburg High School
These students, all among Virginia's top scorers on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test-National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test may qualify as finalists if they have outstanding academic records, recommendation from the school principal and perform well on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
The finalists will be considered for more than 5,000 scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation; corporations, foundations and business organizations; and college and university sponsors.
The Radford Church of God in Christ will host "Working Together in Special Education," a free WORKSHOP for parents of special education students Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
The workshop's topics include parents' rights and responsibilities, parent resource centers and transitions from school to work.
For more information or to register for the workshop, call Connie Phillips at 639-9680 or Mary Todd at 800-848-2714.
The Kaplan Educational Center will sponsor PRELIMINARY SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST DAY at Roanoke College Oct. 8 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Students will be able to take a one-hour diagnostic test, practice all question types and learn test strategies.
After the program, the students may enjoy a free lunch and tour the Roanoke College Campus.
The fee is $50, which may be applied toward a full-length Kaplan course.
For more information, call 552-8378.
The Narrows Elementary School Parent Teacher Association's new officers for the 1994-95 school year are:
Lea Beth Bowers, president
Nadine Brackenrich, vice president
Lynette Whitt, secretary
Dreama Hayes, treasurer
Meetings & More
Blacksburg Middle School will hold an open house for parents and students tonight from 7-9.
For more information, call the school office at 951-5716.
The John Dalton Intermediate School will send parents though an abbreviated version their child's daily schedule on Sept. 27 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the school's open house.
The Narrows Elementary Parent Teacher Association is sponsoring a candy bar-selling campaign to raise money for school year projects. The top two sellers will win 10 speed bikes. For more information, call Nadine Brakenrich at 726-3357.
The Christiansburg High School After-Prom Party Committee will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the girls' health room to make organizational plans for the 1995 after-prom party.
For more information, call Regina Meredith at 382-5178.
by CNB