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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 8, 1995                   TAG: 9506090009
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-15   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARY JO SHANNON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

4 NORTH CROSS SENIORS NATIONAL MERIT WINNERS

This year's graduating class at North Cross School has taken full advantage of the benefits the school offers its students, says Patrick France, director of the upper school.

Four North Cross students received National Merit commendations: Ryan Jennings, Sylvana Sinka, Mary Margaret Stoeckle and Hal Johnson.

Johnson, who commutes daily from Rocky Mount, was named a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia. He is uncertain about his major, but is considering philosophy and hopes to play football and basketball. His last North Cross activity will be a trip this summer to Italy and Greece, sponsored by the Latin department.

Jennings, treasurer of the North Cross Student Council, has been named a Monroe Scholar at the College of William and Mary. This includes a $2,000 grant for research after her sophomore or junior year.

Jennings spent three weeks during the summer of 1993 studying mountain, desert and canyon ecology in Wyoming, Utah and Arizona. She says she will probably major in biology or psychology.

Sinha will attend Wellesley College and Stoeckle has been accepted at Haverford College. Chris Stoeckle, Mary Margaret's twin brother, will be attending Middlebury College. The Stoeckle twins have commuted to North Cross from Blacksburg.

The president of the North Cross Student Council, Armistead Lemon, came to North Cross as a ninth-grader and quickly became a leader, France said. Lemon is especially appreciative of the smaller classes and individual attention students receive.

"There were 40 students in my public school math class," she recalled. "Now I am part of a class of 15."

She also feels the small senior class of 37 is able to be close, and members get along well together.

Lemon will attend Washington & Lee, where she hopes to play on the tennis team.

Sonja Matanovic entered North Cross on an honor scholarship after living six years in Spain, where her father worked for General Electric.

"We are sort of an international family," she said, noting that her father's work had also taken the family - which originated in upstate New York - to Chile and Turkey, in addition to the six-year stay in Spain.

Next year will find her at the University of Chicago. She also hopes to study and work abroad, continuing her international education.

by CNB