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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994                   TAG: 9406020192
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: FC-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SARAH COX SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FRANKLIN COUNTY SENIORS KNOWN BY THEIR WORKS

Each month, they have a special activity, such as a pizza party or a picnic. They get dismissed for lunch early.

If they earn a C or higher in a class and are absent fewer than four days from January on, they're exempt from the final exam in that class.

They're given a welcoming assembly at the beginning of their senior year, at which all the senior class officers are introduced and their sponsors describe the activities to come.

But these seniors have earned it by reaching out to others.

Take their Christmas drive. It's a way of sharing their good fortune with others, said Cheryl Shepherd, senior class sponsor. The holiday drive also is a way of teaching seniors about the importance of community service, she said.

Each year, the seniors ask for 25 families from a community wish list. They usually get families with small children, said Shepherd, because the seniors really enjoy buying and wrapping gifts for children.

Everything is provided to those families: Christmas dinner, gifts, the tree - even presents for the adults.

"I can honestly tell you that in the seven years I've done this, there has never been a single thing missing on a list," said Shepherd, who teaches government.

To fulfill their obligations, the seniors find community sponsors as well as buy, wrap and present the gifts. They even load the loot into the recipients' cars the afternoon the families come by the school.

The students?

Yes, they're lucky, said Shepherd. "It's nice for them to realize people appreciate it."

A mother who had put a bicycle on her wish list year after year finally received one for her child. "The woman just started crying. It makes the seniors feel so good to give a little back," Shepherd said.

Shepherd has started another tradition this year that again reflects her zeal for community service. The Big Buddy/Little Buddy program has seniors adopting third- and fourth-graders from two elementary schools.

The first communication was the pen pal method, but as the year progressed, activities were initiated that brought the seniors and grade schoolers together. Although this pilot year only involved two of Franklin County's elementary schools, Shepherd said she'd like to see it expand, "because we can only get better at this."

The goal, driven home through a recent Big Buddy/Little Buddy tour of the high school, is to encourage education through role modeling.

But all that community service can make growing seniors hungry, so to start the last nine weeks of their high school career, they are given a banquet, at which all the class officers speak. It's usually held in Roanoke because of the size - this year's graduating class is about 400. A slide show or video that reviews the senior year also is included on the program.

When the Franklin County High School seniors look back on their last year, Shepherd said, she wants them to be able to say, "I had a great year."