Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994 TAG: 9405240058
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Melissa DeVaughn
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"... They love it," said Jimmie Black, who with her husband, Malcolm, oversees the preserve. "They've been coming here every year."
Barbara Glaser, the science teacher who initiated the twice yearly field trips, said she hopes the pupils are learning to appreciate nature.
"I really think these children, in the future, will have to observe nature through a conservancy type atmosphere like this," she said. "I think learning to be a respectful observer will be important for them to understand."
The Nature Conservancy owns land at the Bottom Creek Preserve, and at Falls Ridge near Ironto. Groups can visit the area, with permission, by calling 804-295-6106.
Discovery Works ... a children's museum, is sponsoring the Theatre IV production of PINOCCHIO today and Wednesday at area schools, and parents, as well as friends of these schools, are invited to attend. Today's performances will be at 10 a.m. at Prices Fork Elementary School, and 1:30 p.m. at Falling Branch Elementary School.
The Wednesday performances will be held at 10 a.m. at Pulaski Middle School for pupils from Claremont and Snowville elementary schools. A 1:15 p.m. performance will be held at Shawsville Elementary School.
For further information on Discovery Works programs, call 633-2233.
The Christiansburg High School AFTER-PROM PARTY COMMITTEE will meet Monday at 7 p.m. in the girls health room at the school. Members will have a chance to close out any old business and evaluate the party.
For further information, call 382-3283.
The Parent Resource Center of Montgomery County will present a new workshop, SELF-ADVOCACY AND SUPPORTS: KEYS TO INDEPENDENCE, May 31 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Christiansburg High School. Christina Gilley, director of special education, will speak on self-advocacy and inclusion.
For further information, call the center at 951-5753.
Parents, students and employees of Montgomery County Public Schools will have a chance to taste and evaluate cafeteria food at We Serve Smiles, a FOOD SHOW sponsored by the school nutrition program. The event will not be held until July 13, but reservations are needed. To sign up for the event, which will be held at Christiansburg High School, call Michael Marcenelle at 381-6169.
The second-graders from HARDING AVENUE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL recently participated in the Block and Bridle poster contest. The winners of the event were: Dwayne Link, Jesse George, Suvi-Kukka Hynynen, Marija Ozolins, Felix Kim, Cristina Scarpaci, Jessica Overcash, Rivkah Cooke and Gretchen Kroeger.
Tricia Holland, Marcus Wise and Heather Daly, all from the Virginia Tech Block and Bridle Club, assisted in the event.
The fifth-graders at FALLING BRANCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL have been busy studying the environment at Poverty Creek near Pandapas Pond in Giles County. The kids spent last Thursday and Friday wading around in the water, trying to find and identify aquatic insects living in the creek. The children also developed experiments of their own involving various sciences, and will present their results to their parents Friday at 2 p.m.
"They studied fossils, marsh areas, creeks and just the forest ecosystem in general," said fifth-grade teacher Lou Ann Landreth, who started the program. "And the kids loved it, they had a wonderful time and they learned so much, too. There's just an awful lot out there in our area of Virginia and [the children] need to know about it and to take care of it."
The fourth-grade classes at GILBERT LINKOUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL recently traveled to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Richmond to learn a little about Virginia history. The children toured the Capitol and visited St. John's Church, where Patrick Henry made his speech protesting the Stamp Act.
With lots of hard work and fund-raisers, the kids were able to pay for the entire trip on their own.
Christiansburg Primary School is in its third year of having a TEACHERS AS READERS program. Each month a group of teachers gets together to discuss and read childrens' literature. This year books on the environment, black American and pioneer themes have been discussed.
Teachers as Readers not only gives teachers an opportunity to keep abreast of current literature, but also offers the pupils a variety of new books to read.
Stephanie Richardson, a senior at Christiansburg High School, was chosen the JOINT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION'S CO-OP STUDENT OF THE YEAR. She is a second-year co-op student working as an aid in Virginia Tech's Human Nutrition and Foods Department.
Sherry Terry, executive secretary in the department, said of Richardson: "with the knowledge and skills she has developed she could easily fulfill the qualifications for a secretarial position at Virginia Tech. Her professional attitude and cooperation with co-workers is excellent."
Here's the latest at AUBURN HIGH AND MIDDLE SCHOOL:
The sixth-grade Auk team just completed a national computer competition, placing first in their division. Team members are Ashley Altizer, Erin Altizer, Amanda Barnett, Stacy Cunningham, David Gardner, Jenni Graham, Aaron Mosby, Chris Purcell and Josh Reedy.
The Mathcounts team placed third in the annual Mathcounts competition at Virginia Tech. The team players were Laura Teany, Ian Dickman, Justin Bittinger, John Yon and Jessica Taylor.
Juniors Lori Lyons and Peter Polidoro were chosen to participate with science teacher Charles Jervis in a series of Instrumentation Workshops at Roanoke College. The event was sponsored by the Blue Ridge Section of the American Chemical Society and Roanoke College.
Juniors Autumn Dickman and Peter Polidoro were named "high scorers" by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The two will find out in September if they will be chosen as either commended students or semifinalists for the 6,500 merit scholarships to be awarded in 1995.
Four faculty members - Kitty Brennan, Steve Bull, Charles Jervis and Bonnie Phoenix - have earned awards recently. Brennan was awarded the 1994 Electric Energy Teaching Award, and received a $300 cash prize.
Bull won a $3,200 grant to participate in a summer program at Hollins College called "Bhagavadgita: Song of the Lord." Jervis was awarded a $1,000 dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia to continue his research on Thoreau's contributions to ecology, botany and zoology.
Phoenix received a $3,290 grant from Iowa State University to study for six weeks in Moscow this summer.
The middle school was named "School of the Year" by the Virginia NEED Project for their work in energy studies. Students from the school will represent Virginia at the national ceremony to be held in June. Auburn also received national recognition for one of its energy projects.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***