ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605300021
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
What's on the minds of students who will be in Pulaski County High School's graduating class in the year 2000?
Well, they worry about the academic work being harder, remembering where their classes are and how to get there, more homework and being dumped in a trash can by groups of older students, among other things.
Students who will be leaving Pulaski and Dublin middle schools in the fall got some reassurance last week during visits to the high school.
High school students who had been through the same transition not long ago talked about the list of concerns, obtained in surveys of students from both middle schools as well as their parents. Other worries included mean teachers, drugs and alcohol, losing old friends, and keeping up grades while being in sports, band or other activities.
"Guys, you are going to survive this. You will make this next four years the best four years that you have," said Meghan Linkous, president of the high school's class of 1999.
Athletic Director Ron Kanipe said the high school has about 30 clubs and organizations, and some 20 varsity and junior varsity sports. Teachers find that students who are involved in such activities generally have better grades and attendance records, he said.
Anyone interested in playing a sport must submit a physical report before attending the first practice, Kanipe said. Those can be obtained through a family physician, or at the high school July 24 when free physicals will be offered.
"I worry about everything," said PCHS student Emily Hale. So, naturally, she worried about finding her classes in the bigger school. She said teachers and students in the halls were glad to help. "They know you don't know what you're doing!"
And the teachers are not mean, said junior class President Robyn Bower. "It depends on how you act in class," she said. "If you try ... they're going to really help you."
There is a little more homework, but that is balanced by the school's block scheduling of four 90-minute classes.
"No teacher is going to sit there and lecture for 90 minutes in a class. They're going to make sure their classes are fun and interesting," said student government President Doug Freeman. With only four classes a semester, he said, "the homework's really not that bad."
And if a student has been tied up with a sports event or some other late-night school activity, said Tom Westmoreland, "if you don't get home until 11 o'clock the night before, most teachers are understanding about that."
"They will work with you and they will try to help you. They're here to teach and they know that," said junior Sandy Fizer.
"You don't really see drugs and alcohol around the school," said Wren Lanier. "They bring the drug dogs in ... They're really cracking down," he said. "Drugs of any kind can't be here."
Medicine which a student may have to take is given to the school nurse and she distributes it, he said.
Guidance counselor Cindy Watson said she realized new students worried about losing contact with friends they had known through middle and maybe even primary school, among a school with 1,500 students, more than 100 teachers and about seven acres under one roof. But PCHS student Matt Hancock said he found that an unnecessary worry.
"You can keep your old friends. There's really not a problem with that," he said. "You still see everybody you always see." But, he said, the new students will make new friends, too.
"You do have your groups," said Daryn Simmer. "Most people are pretty nice
"There are really not that many differences," sophomore Rebekkah Warburton told the middle school students. "I guess the biggest thing is responsibility." A new student will get out of the school what he or she puts into it, she said.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB