ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on November 6, 1996.
Stonewall Jackson Middle School is on Ninth Street Southeast. A
caption in Tuesday's newspaper inccorectly placed it in Southwest
Roanoke.
Katherine Hudson was impressed with the computers, microscopes, art room, science and foreign language labs - not to mention the new classrooms.
"If children can't learn in this school, something is wrong," Hudson said after she toured the $6 million rebuilt Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
She attended the Roanoke school nearly 60 years ago, when teachers relied on chalk and blackboards as basic instructional tools.
She used tablets and pencils to do her lessons and homework - not computer programs, CD-ROMs or laser videos.
Hudson, 71, went to Jackson before it had a cafeteria. Students walked home for lunch. She lived nearby in Southeast Roanoke, where she has resided all of her life.
"It was kind of sad to see the old school go, but it was time for a change," she said. "This is good for the children and the neighborhood."
Scores of Jackson alumni and parents visited the rebuilt school at an open house during the weekend.
For the most part, the former students and parents were pleased, but a few were still unhappy that the old classroom building was razed. The auditorium and gymnasium were preserved and renovated.
Leroy Carney, who came with a video camera, said the new school will never be as good as the old.
"There were too many memories in the old building," said Carney, who attended Jackson during the early 1950s. "It was a fabulous design, a classic that shouldn't have been torn down."
Charles Hancock, a retired city teacher, guidance counselor and assistant principal, complained about the design and location of the cafeteria in the new school. The cafeteria is essentially a hall between the main lobby, auditorium and gymnasium, he said.
Students have to walk through the cafeteria to reach the auditorium, gym and band room, said Hancock, who lives in the Garden City area. "It looks like they just put a bunch of tables in a hallway."
Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations, said the cafeteria is in the same basic location as it was before.
Because of the design of the new classroom building and the decision to renovate rather than build a new auditorium and gymnasium, Kelley said, there is no way to reach them except through the cafeteria.
"It's the same situation as it was in the old building," he said. "The way the building is laid out, we had no other choice."
Normally, classes do not change during a lunch period, so students would not be going through the cafeteria while others are eating, Kelley said.
Principal Helen Townsend said changes have been made in the schedule to reduce student traffic through the cafeteria during lunch.
Kelley said this won't be an issue in the renovation of Breckinridge and Woodrow Wilson middle schools because they have different designs with a different location for the cafeteria.
Carl Edwards, 76, attended Jackson during the early 1930s and was excited about the technology.
"It's different. It's out of this world, compared to what we had back then," Edwards said. His wife, June, also went to Jackson, and she was equally enthusiastic about the new school.
George Willis, 80, likes the new building, but he thinks school officials made a mistake. The new school should have faced Ninth Street Southeast like the old building instead of Montrose Avenue, he said.
"A lot more people pass on Ninth Street and would have seen the front," Willis said.
School officials said the new school fronts on Montrose so a lane could be constructed to allow school buses to get off the street to load and unload students.
Susie Mays Shepherd toured the school with three sisters who attended there during the 1930s and 1940s.
"I love the new school. We needed it," she said. "Some of my sisters weren't excited about tearing down the old building, but they like the new school."
Joe Dillon, whose daughter went to Jackson during the early 1980s, said he didn't understand why some alumni still complain about the razing.
"I can't see it. There was no air conditioning, and the heating was either too hot or too cold," Dillon said.
Martha Shay Pendleton, who attended Jackson for four years because of a space crunch at the old Jefferson High School, said she was glad to see students in Southeast Roanoke get the latest in educational technology, adding, "It's past due."
The new school has two computer labs with nearly 50 computers. In addition, most classrooms have one or two computers. The foreign-language lab has 30 cubicles with earphones and recording equipment.
Almost all of the school's technology has been installed and is operating, Kelley said. The school opened a week late in September because last winter's bad weather pushed the contractor behind schedule. Most computers and lab equipment were not installed when school began.
Lucy Wills, 78, who attended the school more than 60 years ago, summed up visitors' impressions:
"It's beautiful. I can't believe how nice it is."
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Renovated Stonewall Jackson Middleby CNBSchool sits on Ninth Street Southwest. color.