Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411290026
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-18 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Amara Franko, 19, is now a sophomore majoring in chemistry at the University of Virginia and believes her days at Blue Mountain prepared her well for college.
"We did a lot of our own thinking there," Franko said. "We were told to think about stuff but not how to think about it."
Franko attended Blue Mountain through eighth grade - the highest grade level at the school - before heading to Floyd County High School, where she graduated second in her class.
Making the transition from a private alternative school with fewer than 40 pupils to a public high school with more than 700 may sound intimidating, but Franko took it in stride.
"It was definitely different but not a difference I wasn't expecting," Franko said in a telephone interview from her dorm room in Charlottesville. "When I went to public school, I was kind of shocked that they just reviewed for a year. I had had most of the stuff they were teaching."
There was the social adjustment for Franko, too.
"There were always a few people who would say, 'Oh, you're just a hippie,' and I would ask, 'What is your definition of hippie?''' Franko said. "When they said all hippies have long hair, I just laughed because my hair was short."
Like most people, Franko has vivid memories of her favorite teacher. His name was Joe Kline. He had a curious knack for teaching new words to the children by getting them to use the mystery words in a paragraph without knowing the definition.
"We called them 'nonsense paragraphs,' and I really learned the words because of the funny ways we had used them," she said.
"I have such a larger memory of my childhood because I didn't spend it all in school," Franko said. "I think the fact that we went to school for shorter hours, had longer vacations and still were able to do just as well as the other kids at public schools just shows that there is another way to teach kids."
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