ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996             TAG: 9612240098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG (AP) 
SOURCE: MARC HELLER NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS

STUDENTS' GIFT TO CLASSMATE IS JUST THE TICKET

Matt Hutchinson stepped to the front of a choir room at Lafayette High School, plucking a lollipop out of his mouth. He was about to conduct classmates in ``Carol of the Bells'' when fellow student Tony Esposito came to his side.

``Uh, Matt,'' Esposito, 15, interrupted, his voice growing shaky. ``We've got to tell you, we've been doing something behind your back.''

Hutchinson, a 19-year-old senior, was expecting a sour Christmas. His parents are separated. His mother lives in Glendale, Ariz. His father, a truck driver, will be on the road for the holiday. Matt anticipated being home alone.

So Esposito and others devised a surprise: Raise enough money for their friend to visit his mother at Christmas. They presented a round-trip plane ticket to Hutchinson in class.

``Whoo!'' was all a stunned Hutchinson said as he opened the envelope Monday. Classmates wiped their eyes. The teacher, Sharon Cole, beamed.

``It's a round-trip ticket, Matt,'' Cole said. ``We want you back.''

When the reality had settled in, Hutchinson broke into a smile. ``I'm not going to cry because I did that the other day.''

The other day was two weeks ago, classmates said, when he broke down as the choir sang ``Where is Christmas?''

But Hutchinson's eyes reddened again when his mother - tipped off by another parent - called the classroom from Arizona to tell him how happy she was.

Credit two students, Esposito and 17-year-old Megan Evans, with the idea. With help from other students, Esposito said, they raised $645 in a week and a half. That was enough to buy the ticket and to give Hutchinson more than $200 in spending money.

All but $185 was from students, Esposito said. The rest came from parents and teachers. Most students know Hutchinson from his involvement in clubs, including two choirs and band, classmates said.

A late starter in school, Hutchinson is two or three years older than most of his classmates. But he mixes with the crowd and spends nights at friends' homes when his father is out of town.

The real accomplishment, students and teachers agreed, was that no one in a school of 1,700 students told Hutchinson about the surprise.

``It was very hard. We'd take every opportunity to talk to people when he wasn't around,'' Evans said. ``We spent a lot of time in the bathroom.''

One close call came during the practice when Hutchinson started to cry, Evans said. ``We came close to telling him.''

The effort brought rewards for the planners. Cole said the stress of two holiday concerts had put her almost at the ``Bah, humbug stage.''

The good deed rubbed off on Esposito, too, his mother said. ``My son said this is the first time he's really understood the meaning of Christmas.''

LENGTH: Medium:   60 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 
          AP Matt Hutchinson, who'll be visiting his mom in Arizona, gets a 
          hug from classmate Laura Knizatko at Lafayette High School.