ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701100131
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
The Southwest Virginia Governor's School will hold an open house from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday to show the public what its students are accomplishing in the areas of math, science and technology.
Students will describe their research projects and internships they have held at businesses, offices or agencies in the school's service region. They will perform laboratory demonstrations and answer questions from visitors.
Some 2,000 invitations have been sent to parents of past and present Governor's School students, potential contributors and others who might be interested in the program, said Suzy Moses, coordinator of community programs and resource development.
The open house is sponsored by the Governor's School Educational Foundation Inc., which seeks private support to help develop the resources needed for all qualified students interested in the Governor's School to attend.
Besides donations of money, the group seeks such donations as laboratory equipment, computers and software. Further information is available by calling 674-1980.
The school is currently limited to fewer than 100 students commuting for half-day classes from high schools as far away as Smyth County. It is housed in a six-room wooden building, constructed by vocational school students, on the Pulaski County High School campus and is seeking funding for a new building.
"We have suffered a substantial shortfall for the last two years and need support from the legislature in order for the Governor's School to continue to operate at its present level," Pat Duncan, the school's director, said in a letter to state Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville. She said the school also needs state support because of its effort to provide Internet service to more than 50 schools in Southwest Virginia.
John Wenrich, who is working on the Internet project, told the school's governing board Tuesday that its wireless computer network is gradually being extended to schools in Giles, Bland, Wythe and Carroll counties.
Site surveys have been completed in those counties and each has one building which cannot be reached by line-of-sight transmission to be part of the computer network. For those buildings, a single telephone line may be necessary.
Interest in the wireless network has been expressed at several nearby school systems not currently sending students to the school. Wenrich said a meeting on wireless technology and its Internet potential will be scheduled for representatives of school divisions sometime in mid-February.
The Governor's School is also offering to host home pages for schools, and is in the process of setting up such pages on the Internet for schools in Smyth, Wythe and Carroll counties.
The popularity of the school's offerings was shown by a recent visit of gifted and talented Carroll County students who had a chance to work with school computers and laboratory facilities, Duncan said. Of the 35 visiting students, 27 have applied to attend the school when they become juniors.
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