ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 19, 1995 TAG: 9512190034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Class Notes
SOURCE: HALE SHEIKERZ
Students in the New River Valley have spent the past several weeks contributing time and donating goods to the needy.
Many classrooms and individual students supported the Montgomery County Christmas Store through a variety of activities, including collecting new and used goods and through volunteering.
Several classrooms started their charitable activities early in the fall, while some started later and continued until last week.
Becky Armentrout, a fifth-grader at Bethel Elementary School, wrote in her journal how proud she felt to have helped her community through her volunteer work at the Christmas Store.
Ann Stith, a second-grade teacher at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School, said, "I want my kids to know that even though they are young, they can do important things and that they can make a difference in the lives of others." Her class made donations to the Interfaith Food Pantry of Montgomery County.
Following is a list of schools and the activities in which the students participated:
Auburn Middle & High
The Student Council Association at the high school collected gifts and toys for the Teen Room at the Christmas Store. The EEE Club at the Auburn Middle donated shirts.
Students also participated in the angel tree program by adopting "angels" from the school's attendance area.
And students delivered a box of food to needy families.
Margaret Beeks Elementary
Students collected more than 1,000 cans of food during the Student Council Association's November food drive.
In December, students donated mittens and socks, which were placed on a tree in the school's lobby.
All donations were given to the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Belview Elementary
Students collected clothes, 200 cans of food, books and toys for the Montgomery County Christmas Store. Staff members worked at the store.
Bethel Elementary
Ms. Chapin's fifth-grade class visited the Montgomery County Christmas Store three times during November and helped with getting the store open.
Students organized merchandise, removed price tags, cleaned and categorized products.
The class's involvement was a result of Project Adventure Grant, which emphasizes community service learning.
Blacksburg Middle
To get students into the spirit of giving, students at Blacksburg Middle participated in "theme days."
Each Friday in November was given a theme, such as jeans day and crazy socks day. Students were asked to get in the spirit by wearing the theme item and also bringing a similar item to donate.
By the end of the month, students had collected 295 pairs of jeans, 305 pairs of socks, 275 sweaters and 564 books, all which were donated to the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Blacksburg High
Several organizations and clubs collected 150 Thanksgiving baskets which were distributed throughout Montgomery County by Blacksburg and Christiansburg police departments.
Many students volunteered at the Montgomery County Christmas Store and couples who attended the school's Snow Ball were asked to bring with them a gift for a child.
McCoy Funeral Home will distribute the gifts to families in the area for Christmas.
Christiansburg Elementary
At Christiansburg Elementary School, pupils collected gifts that keep giving: books.
The children brought in almost 650 books to donate to the Montgomery County Christmas store.
Fourth-grader Samantha Boyd brought in an armload of books she said she had already read or had two copies of.
Students wrote the title of each book they brought in on a strip of construction paper that looked like a book binding. The strips were then posted on a window of the school office.
By the time the store collected the books, every window was covered with book "binders," showing how many children had participated.
The class that guessed the exact number of books had the honor of placing the star on the school's tree.
Christiansburg Middle
The Student Advisory Council collected clothes, toys, books and food for the Montgomery County Christmas Store, where many faculty members volunteered.
In the spirit of giving, instead of exchanging gifts with each other, students donated money to a fund that was used to provide needy students with clothing.
Christiansburg High
Members of Future Homemakers of America, Beta, Art Guild, National Honor Society, Monogram and Machine Shop clubs sponsored angels through the Angel Tree project.
Members of Future Homemakers of America made cookies and visited "grandparents" and participated in the Red Cross Festival of the Christmas Trees.
Members of Future Business Leaders of America and Art Guild collected canned food.
Several groups, including Teens Needing Teens, SCATS, Art Guild, National Honor Society, Health Occupations, Beta, Service Learning Class and VICA, helped with the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Students provided child care for Operation Santa Claus and Kiwanis present wrapping.
Christiansburg Primary
Students collected socks, underwear, gloves, hats, canned goods and clean used jackets and coats for the Christmas store.
Falling Branch Elementary
Through a PTA-sponsored collection, the school donated the following items to the Montgomery County Christmas Store: new and used clothing, books, school supplies, baby supplies and groceries.
The Student Council Association also donated $75 from its funds.
Gilbert Linkous Elementary
Mrs. Stith's second-grade class collected food for the Interfaith Food Pantry of Montgomery County.
Giles High
Members of the Key Club worked with the Giles County Lions Club by taking needy children Christmas shopping.
Harding Elementary
Students at Harding collected socks and non-perishable food items for the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Prices Fork Elementary
Students collected clothes, such as mittens and gloves, for the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Fifth-graders in Mrs. Swann's class volunteered at the store.
Pulaski County High
Several clubs and organizations sponsored collection drives, including the following: the National Honor Society sponsored a weeklong coat drive for needy families, the Student Council Association collected canned food for the Salvation Army and the senior class sponsored Toys for Tots.
In addition, members of the Health Occupation Club set up a blood pressure clinic and collected food for needy families.
Radford High
Students participated in two school-sponsored programs. White Christmas was a food drive to collect canned goods for the Radford Welfare Department. Through the Elf Shelf program, students donated toys for needy families.
Riner Elementary
Children collected mittens and hung them on a tree at the school before donating them to the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
They also collected used books for the Kiwanis Club for the Christmas Store. Teachers at Riner volunteered at the store.
Shawsville Elementary
Children collected canned goods for the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Shawsville High & Middle School
The French and Spanish clubs collected canned food, as well as winter clothing items such as gloves and coats, for the Montgomery County Christmas Store. Future Homemakers of America collected sweat shirts and sweaters for the store and Future Business Leaders of America collected new and used toys.
Members of the DECA Club adopted several "angels" through the adopt-an-angel program sponsored by a local civic group.
Sixth-graders at the middle school collected approximately $142 for the Christmas store.
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