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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995                   TAG: 9504190036
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOME FAREWELLS ARE DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE PALS

As the academic year nears its end, Radford University student teachers will say goodbye to a program that has brought them closer to the children they hope one day to teach.

More than 25 Blacksburg middle schoolers have been paired up with 16 Radford University students this semester in the Pals Program, an after-school mentoring group that offers tutoring and friendship to children who need an extra boost. The program was started with grant money in 1994, but that money soon will run out and the program will cease to exist.

"Mentoring is an ongoing thing," said Vicki Linkous, a professor of educational studies at Radford who is in charge of the program. "We believe the mentoring role is important to our students in learning to teach adolescents. That's why we started Pals."

The children benefit by having an additional adult nearby to encourage them to finish homework, become involved in extracurricular activities and have an overall positive school experience. The after-school group, which meets twice a week, offers tutoring, after-school sports, board games and an occasional trip to the Triangle Lanes bowling alley.

Pals "has really worked well to provide extra boosts for kids both academically and socially," said Blacksburg Middle School Principal Gary McCoy. "Even though we haven't affected any great number of kids, it has really provided a good educational experience for those kids that it has affected."

Linkous said she started the program because she wanted her student teachers to "see what it's really like to be this age."

"They were adolescents once and this reminds them of what it was like," she said during a recent bowling trip. "These are people who say they only want to teach grades five through eight, and being here helps remind them what it's like."

The children seem to like the program, too. Here's what some of them had to say in a recent questionnaire:

"I think [Pals] is a really cool group that you can go to if you need help with your homework or you just want someone you can hang out with," wrote eighth-grader Emily Kessinger.

"I've gained better grades and something to do in the afternoon and someone to talk to," wrote Crystie Lytton, another eighth-grader.

When asked what he learned in Pals, seventh-grader Tim Walters responded: "How to do fractions."

The Pals afterschool program costs about $2,000. Anyone wishing to contribute to it can call the school at 951-5716 or Linkous at 831-5311.

"It's a very positive program," McCoy said. "We're really going to miss it."

by CNB