Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503230116
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Two days before her efforts culminated at Hollins College, Akers, Roanoke County Schools' work and family studies grant coordinator, was explaining why the project she recently synchronized among 10 Roanoke County Schools is a milestone. The project integrated work and family studies - until last year called home economics - with subjects such as math, English, science and social studies, to show how various disciplines interrelate.
This is the third consecutive year that Akers has received a $20,000 state grant, aptly titled "Integrating Work and Family Studies With Other Disciplines By Teachers Working Together" to partly underwrite a project. But it is the first time an interactive team-teaching approach has been used.
"It really is an unusual teaching concept," Akers said. "I know [the teachers] went through a lot of planning to get coordinated on what one was going to say and the other was going to say. A lot of it has to do, too, with coordinating the class schedules."
While each school developed its own activities according to resources and interests, the 50th anniversary of the Future Homemakers of America Inc. provided a central theme of life in the United States in 1945.
FHA and New Homemakers of America, for black students in 16 states where schools were segregated, were both founded in 1945. FHA and NHA merged in 1965. HERO, its related group for members in home-economics related occupations,was founded in 1971. FHA/HERO is a nonprofit national vocational student organization for students in public and private schools through grade 12.
Around the time that the FHA was founded, a survey (not conducted by FHA) discovered that many teen-agers considered acne to be the most serious problem they faced. Today, FHA Chapter projects identify among youth such concerns as substance abuse, peer pressure, environment, nutrition and fitness, intergenerational communication and career exploration.
"We've moved away from cooking and sewing and preparing young women for traditional homemakers' roles, which was the focus when the organization started, to teaching leadership skills and talking about teen pregnancy, parenting, AIDS, balancing work and families and financial management," FHA executive director Alan Rains said recently from his Reston office.
"The approach and definition have changed with time, but our focus has always been on the family."
Focusing on family life 50 years ago unearthed a lot of relevance for local FHA/HERO students.
"They really did get immersed in this," said William Byrd High School teacher Ellen Stover.
"Many of the students talked to their grandparents about their involvement and memories about the war. It was something that a lot of them had never talked about before, and they discovered a new part of their heritage.
"They got information outside of what they found in books," Stover said, showing a student-generated display on how materials such as cooking fat, metals, garden shovels and hosiery were recycled for the war effort.
"One student's grandmother told her that elastic was so scarce, some people had to hold up their drawers with drawstrings," Stover laughed.
The schools presented their final projects between March 13 and March 16 during days designated for current events, student body, lifestyle, technology and careers. Among individual schools' activities, William Byrd High School Family Living classes prepared cakes and cookies from vintage recipes and through exhibits, videos and skits re-created a typical family's day during the 1940s. The school's Life Management classes constructed a typical teen-ager's room and examined how teens dressed during the period.
Cave Spring High's classes discussed food shortages and what the soldiers ate. Its music students performed jazz from the era, and other classes created a '40s style radio program complete with ``Lone Ranger'' costumes and coconuts and blocks of wood for sound effects, produced posters and a newsletter of 1940s events and held a mock air raid drill.
Burton Technology Center students re-created hairstyles and displayed beauty implements and jewelry from the period and also provided hair and makeup for the multischool grand finale. Northside High School created a lobby display of '40s-born faculty members' baby pictures. And the Career Center near Vinton created a time line so students and faculty could explore important events that occurred around their birthdates.
On Friday, the nearly 500 FHA/HERO members from all 10 county schools met at the Hollins site for a keynote address by 1973 Northside High School graduate and motivational speaker Donna Tyson; a '40s-style cooking demonstration by "Cookin' Cheap" TV show hosts Larry Bly and Laban Johnson; a fashion show outfitted by Leggett; and a '40s-style lunch. Film clips from the '40s and speakers' comments and demonstrations helped point out the relevance between past, present and future.
The future for FHA/HERO, Rains said, includes a possible name change to Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.
"Some people like it, others think it's too long," he said.
But he said that focus-group studies throughout the country thought that a new name and image are needed, and the keywords that always arose were family and leadership.
FHA/HERO's future also includes hopes to increase the organization's male membership, its overall middle-school membership and its visibility and presence in urban areas.
GOOD ADVICE STILL These tips from a pamphlet circa 1945 can help you stretch food dollars today:
WASTE NO BREAD - Use crumbs to extend casseroles, soups, fondues, roasts, puddings, scalloped dishes and meat portions, patties and loaves. Use stale bread for stuffing and dressing.
SERVE macaroni, spaghetti, noodles and other pastas often as main dishes.
BUY the less tender, less expensive cuts of meat and poultry. Cook with moist heat, for longer time, to tenderize. Save those bones to simmer for broth and flavor.
INCLUDE variety meats in your menus - liver, tongue, kidneys, sweetbreads, etc.
PRACTICE the art of the good rich stew, hearty soups and chowders. Stretch meat flavor by combining leftover portions with potatoes, macaroni, noodles, hominy or rice.
REMEMBER fish on your menu. Try the less popular, less expensive kinds.
USE CHEESE or EGGS instead of meat as a main dish.
SERVE smaller portions; give second helpings if desired.
BUY FRESH VEGETABLES in season or PLANT A GARDEN and grow your own fresh vegetables. They taste better, cost less.
COMPARE prices, read labels, buy staples in quantity when practical.
- HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT, MONONGAHELA (W.VA.) POWER CO.,
by CNB