Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020219
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: GRADS-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The school has a long-standing image of khaki-and-polo-shirt conformity by a population of students who are uniformly wealthy.
"These seniors are probably as diverse as any class I've been associated with," said Sara McGhee, long-time teacher and a senior class adviser. "The difference of North Cross is that every parent expects their child to go to college, so we're just on a different playing field."
Patrick France, director of the upper school, said that even the students' choices of colleges were unusually varied in type and location.
"People tend to think of North Cross kids as pretty much all the same," said Claudia Johnson, a senior. "I think they'd be pretty surprised if they came and spent a few days with us."
Many of the seniors are eager to dispel the "rich kid" image that is part of the school's reputation. Some students receive financial aid; some have part-time jobs.
"Our students have become more varied socioeconomically and geographically," said Hugh Meagher, teacher and a senior class adviser.
Typically, as incoming freshmen, many of the students felt the need to fit in, often dressing in the same style and feigning interest in the same activities.
"Each year, everyone spread out more and did their own thing," said Ry Moore, a senior honor student and top soccer player.
"We are alike in some ways," said Mary Bartley, senior class president and head of the Honor Council, "but our views and morals are extremely different. And we don't just hang out with kids from this school, as some people think."
For Janis Kennedy, her self-motivated organization and expansion of the school's clothing and food drive for charity became a top priority, despite the timing of the event just before her all-important mid-year exams.
For Christina Nordt, community service to TRUST's teen line, RAM House and Habitat For Humanity is as much a part of school as academics.
The varied interests and abilities of the class were evident in their senior projects, a major creative and research undertaking culminating in a presentation to the entire upper school.
Ellen Brenner, valedictorian, spent months creating an original animated cartoonin keeping with her lifelong dream of becoming an animator.
Casey Seawell, one of 60 chosen from 600 applicants for Emerson College's theater program, produced and staged a drama which included actors from Mill Mountain Theatre.
Claudia Johnson presented a firsthand account of a personal struggle with bulimia and anorexia, which later inspired another student to reveal her similar problem and to seek help for it.
"North Cross instilled in me a good work ethic," said Amanda Trostle, an aspiring writer. "They start working us hard early." The head of the English department at Oberlin College was so impressed with her portfolio that he went to the admissions office to make sure she was accepted.
Salutatorian Jason Davis wants to stay in Virginia, near the fishing and hunting grounds wherehe's grown up. He received Virginia Tech School of Engineering's most prestigious award, the T. Marshall Hahn Scholarship.
"The work is harder here so I had to change my work habits," said Carolyn Jones, who also is headed for Virginia Tech. After entering the school in her junior year, Jones credits the personal interest teachers take in their students with helping her have her best grade average ever.
by CNB