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

DATE: TUESDAY, November 28, 1995                   TAG: 9511280025
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: TINA VAUGHN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

MOM, DADS GET HEFTY PRAISE

Granted, it was a rough day. And getting rougher. But Aaron Douglas still remembers the graham cracker he shared with a lunchroom volunteer last year when he was a fifth-grader at Belview Elementary School.

"The rest of my day went better after that," Aaron confides.

Other Belview pupils agree that volunteers make a difference.

"Moms mostly help out, but volunteers can be anybody," says Travis Lowe.

At Belview, volunteers sometimes include college students and professors from nearby Radford University and Virginia Tech. Travis and his classmates say volunteers have helped them learn about liquid nitrogen, genetic engineering, forests, wilderness and Colonial life.

Moms and dads get hefty praise for school visits.

Chris Potter hugged his dad for bringing a Christmas tree last year and decorating it.

"The teacher couldn't get anyone else to do it," he remembers. "All the kids said my dad was nice."

Josh Gray's mom played the electric piano on career day. Josh says he was proud because his mom entertained his friends.

Leah Goodman thinks of volunteers as role models. "They choose [to help] because they care. That means a lot to me," she says. "Everything volunteers do shows respect for us kids."

How else do volunteers help? "Lots!" exclaims Sidney Linkous. "Volunteers help our teachers help us learn."

"School wouldn't be school without volunteers," Derek Hight says. "It wouldn't be as good."

by CNB