Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 21, 1994 TAG: 9411210095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Calls came pouring in after a newspaper story on Rachel's letter-writing campaign. Some of the calls came from delighted readers. Others were from media organizations.
``CBS This Morning'' flew Rachel and her father to New York to film a segment for Friday's show. National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and ``Entertainment Tonight'' contacted her about appearing on their broadcasts, and countless newspapers reprinted the story.
The Brits are particularly enamored. The BBC, The Daily Telegraph of London, and Today, another London newspaper, interviewed Rachel about her project.
Rachel, a seventh-grader at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, wrote to about 200 famous people asking them what the most important lessons in life are. So far, she's received more than 100 responses, including letters from Danielle Steel, Sandra Day O'Connor and Whoopi Goldberg.
Bedford girl's spirit remembered
Though a drunken driver killed 7-year-old Natasha Goubadia last year in Bedford County, her spirit didn't die.
"The Spirit of Natasha" - a Cessna air ambulance used to transport critically ill and injured patients across the eastern U.S. - has been dedicated in her memory by Manassas-based Mercy Medical Airlift, the nation's only charity air ambulance service.
"Natasha loved children and was always concerned for those who were in need," said her mother, Felitia Goubadia, who now lives in New Jersey. "I feel real honored because Natasha was such a special little girl. It was my biggest fear that her memory would be forgotten, but now it will live on."
Edward Boyer, president of Mercy Medical, said, "Dedicating the plane to the spirit of Natasha is an expression of our love for the Goubadias and our admiration of their strength and character. We will touch many lives with the Cessna."
Founded in 1986, Mercy Medical's staff of 150 volunteers and some paid nurses flies emergency medical shuttles between hospitals and medical centers across the country. "The Spirit of Natasha" is the nonprofit firm's flagship. It has transported more than 967 patients since 1986.
Natasha, who was from Nigeria, and her grandmother, Helen Woolfolk Royal of Lynchburg, were killed in August 1993 on U.S. 221 when Michael Shane Lacy, then 22, crossed over a solid line in his pickup truck and struck the car Royal was driving. Felitia Goubadia was seriously injured in the crash.
Lacy was convicted in May of one count of driving under the influence and two counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter and is serving a 51/2-year sentence.
Smaller can be better
Students who attend small high schools generally have a lower dropout rate and better attendance records. Those are among the many advantages of smaller schools, according to the state Department of Education.
The issue of school size arose when Roanoke Mayor David Bowers proposed a joint city-county high school - although Bowers said he wasn't advocating closing Patrick Henry and Cave Spring high schools.
Researchers say the optimum range of student body size for elementary schools is 350 to 720; middle schools, 750 to 800; and high schools, 300 to 2,000.
Most schools in the Roanoke Valley fall within these ranges. Patrick Henry has 1,650 students, and Cave Spring, 1,182.
There are academic and extracurricular advantages in smaller schools, the Department of Education report said. Their students score higher on standardized tests, participate more in extracurricular activities, identify more with the school, and benefit from lower pupil-teacher ratios.
Studies have shown that there is less vandalism and violence in smaller schools. At-risk students perform better. And transportation costs are lower.
On the other hand, researchers have found several advantages of large high schools. They include more specialized programs, greater course offerings for students, more extracurricular activities and lower per-pupil costs.
by CNB