Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 13, 1995 TAG: 9506130044
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Gotta get out of here!
When I announced to my employers and friends a month ago that I was moving to Alaska, it seemed way off in the distance. I'd have plenty of time to tie up loose ends before leaving, including writing all the stories that have surfaced in education over the past year.
But I've learned that in the newspaper business, it doesn't work that way. We cover life, and life doesn't fit into a neat package. No beginning, middle and end. Just a continuous series of events that makes it all worthwhile.
So, while I hit the long, long road to Alaska (via Denver to see a friend and Wyoming, Montana and Canada to visit all the national parks), I'll be thinking of those stories. I've made a vow to forget about one unwritten story for every state line I pass, trusting they'll be passed on to capable Lisa Applegate, who will take my place.
West Virginia: I'll say "sayonara" to the story I wanted to do on dropouts in Shawsville. Shawsville High School has a dropout rate almost twice as high as the other three county high schools and also twice as high as the state average of 4.9 percent. I always wondered why this was so and thought I'd find a nice day to drive down to Shawsville and talk to some of the students who left school early.
Indiana and Illinois: It will take me two states for me to forget about that exclusive interview I've been wanting to get with Montgomery County School Superintendent Herman Bartlett. He's had a stormy two years here and a morale survey in May 1994 showed that a majority of school personnel was unhappy with his performance and his attitude. Throughout it all, Bartlett says he's determined to stay. Bartlett's story could have even more significance this fall when a new survey, conducted by the local education association, is released.
Missouri: After stopping for a quick look at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, I'll free my mind from that story on how the retirement community is going to affect our school system. Some educators fear that an influx of retirees will mean fewer votes in favor of schools (watch out for a major school-building bond referendum that may come next year). Or it could mean that there will be more people to volunteer their time in schools (like priceless Beulah Kline at Margaret Beeks who teaches international students to speak English). Also, these retirees will add to the local tax base while not adding to the school-age population.
Kansas: I'll scratch off that story on remediation needs at Auburn High School. Last September, a state report showed that a higher percentage of Auburn High students needed to take remedial classes when entering college more than any other high school in the New River Valley. But the report is misleading. Why is this so?
Colorado: Finally, we're in Denver, where I'll be busy visiting my old college buddy, Cori. Maybe, if I think about it, I'll give our editor a call and remind her about a great feature we should write on Giles County School Superintendent Robert McCracken, who makes his own pasta and other gourmet food. What a chef!
Wyoming: On to the great cowperson state of Wyoming, where my father once walked through Cheyenne when it still had dirt roads and wooden sidewalks. Here, I'll say goodbye to the story I wrote last fall on Carol Bracciano, the teacher who was fired by the Montgomery County School Board for failing to adhere to her probation plan. Bracciano was originally punished for showing slides of nude people bathing in a hot spring somewhere in Wyoming, as part of a wilderness survival trip. With the backing of the Virginia Education Association, Bracciano will take the school system to court sometime this summer.
Montana:I will lose my attachment to the story I wanted to do on the new Montgomery County Education Association president, Karen Trear. Trear will take office July 31 - and I'll be fishing on the banks of the Kenai River.
Canada: As I leave the United States behind, I'll also leave behind the story on Patricia Hall Wilson, the bus driver who was recently arrested and charged with driving a busload of children while under the influence of alcohol. Wilson's story will continue on June 22, when she's arraigned .
Alaska: With my mind free and my reporter's notebook empty, I'll enter Alaska, where I've dreamed of living since I was in fourth grade. On the Kenai Peninsula, just south of Anchorage, I will fill the notebook again with stories of people, places and real-life situations in a community half the size of Floyd County. And hopefully, like Floyd and all the other counties in the New River Valley, I'll find a community as unique, diverse and inviting.
Melissa DeVaughn covered education in the New River Valley. She is moving to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, where she will be the Peninsula Clarion's general assignment writer. If you have a story about schools that needs our attention, call Lisa Applegate at 381-1679.
by CNB