Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506100006
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-49 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
To many of Franklin County High School's graduates, their June 17 ceremony will be no ordinary commencement.
To state Sen. Virgil Goode and Del. Allen Dudley, the ceremony will recall a day, 30 years ago, when they graduated from this same high school.
To valedictorian Tamara Payden-Travers and salutatorian Sarah Bumgardner, representing this class of 407 graduates will be a proud moment.
To Associate Principal George Washington, the speaker, it will be a bittersweet day. His son, Ishan, would have been getting a diploma if he hadn't died in an accident last fall.
Judy Gring, senior class sponsor and physics teacher, said the senior class asked that Washington speak at their graduation. Washington looks upon the request as an honor, he said, because "I've sort of grown up with this class.''
He began working at Franklin County High School during the 1989-90 school year, and his family moved to join him the following year, when his son was in eighth grade.
This senior class, said Washington, stands out in his mind because the members have gotten along so well with each other.
"They have seemed to love and respect each other'' despite their regional, economic and racial differences, he said.
One senior, Michael Stephen ``Steve'' Hurt is going to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., this fall. It will be the beginning of a lifelong dream fueled by his love of flying, his engineer uncle's influence and his meeting with an Air Force major during his freshman year.
Hurt didn't achieve his goal by daydreaming, though. He owns a lawn-care business whose main clients include his church and elderly neighbors.
He attends the Governor's School in Roanoke, has lettered in football for the past two years, is team captain this year and has been defensive captain the past two years. He also plays third base on the baseball team and has played the piano for eight years.
He attended a scientific seminar at the Air Force Academy last summer, where his appetite was whetted, he said, by classroom activities and sporting events. The academy's admissions criteria include a high grade average (his is 3.98), community activities, sports and awards. It also requires a nomination - Hurt got his from Rep. L.F. Payne in November.
Hurt said his uncle, Donnie King, who is a senior engineer with Texas Instruments in Midland, Texas, also helped point him in the right direction by giving him good information about the job market and education requirements.
Regina Johnson, a guidance counselor at Franklin County High School, said, "From day one, he's had zeal and enthusiasm that was mature for a ninth-grader.'' Johnson said Hurt won numerous scholarships as a result of his academic and athletic records, but had to turn them down when he chose the academy.
Hurt admits he's had to work hard. As part of a mentor program in January, he worked with a pilot at Roanoke Regional Airport and got to spend a few hours flying. "I would love to be a fighter pilot, but it's four years down the road. If I couldn't do that, I'm going to major in electrical engineering and minor in computer science,'' he said. Flight school, if he's accepted, he said, will follow the academy. He's also obligated to six years of military service after college.
The Governor's School, he said, has pushed him to do well, to "see what's out there, and really opened me up to move on.''
Because it's a regional school, he said, the classes are hard and the students are the best from the entire area. "It's taken a lot of work, considering I play sports. I'd like to play baseball, and I'm going to go out for the team,'' at the academy, he said, but football's out of the question because of his size.
"I'm kind of small, and they're a Division 1 school, and for my safety, I feel it would be a wiser choice" not to play.
In addition to maintaining his grade-point average and playing sports, Hurt said he routinely cares for the grounds at Bethlehem Church of the Brethren, one week mowing and the next week doing grounds maintenance.
Hurt said perhaps the greatest influence in his life, so far, has been his rural lifestyle. "I haven't been caught up in things that detour others.'' He said he's been dating the same girl for the last three years, but pretty much concentrates on academics and sports.
"I've wanted this for a long time, and I've had my heart set on it,'' he said.
by CNB