ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 TAG: 9704220075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DALEVILLE
SOURCE: RON NIXON THE ROANOKE TIMES
STAFF WRITER JOANNE POINDEXTER CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY.
Additional grief counselors were brought in to help students and faculty cope with the fourth student death at the school in 13 months.
Tears were flowing at Lord Botetourt High Schoolon Monday as students and faculty members struggled to deal with the death of a student, the fourth in 13 months.
Monica Stevens, 18, a senior and popular honors student, died in a weekend car accident in Montgomery County.
She was on her way back to a United Methodist Church youth retreat at Camp Alta Mons on Saturday when she evidently lost control of her car. Sunday, State Police found her body in her car off Virginia 637. They said her car had struck a tree, flipped, then slid down an embankment.
In hallways and in classrooms at Lord Botetourt, teachers and students appeared shaken.
Jim Sledd, the principal, wept openly as he talked with teachers outside his office. Faculty members were told about Stevens' death in a meeting. Students were informed during first-period classes. Sledd gave students the option of seeing counselors or going home. Several parents appeared to be crying as they picked up their children.
Additional counselors were brought in from Blue Ridge Community Services. Ginny Hardin, coordinator of Prevention Plus at the Blue Ridge, said the counselors will provide "grief groups" - sessions that allow teachers and students to share how they feel in the wake of Stevens' and the other students' deaths.
"The stress and pressure is really on this poor school; they're just burned out," Hardin said. "So many things have happened to them."
A Lord Botetourt student committed suicide this month. Another died in October after drinking antifreeze. A third died of cardiac failure during class in March 1996.
Hardin said the number of deaths might have students and teachers at the school feeling "vulnerable and scared."
Stevens was described as a well-liked student who was involved in several school and civic activities. She was in the National Honor Society, Student Government Association, a Principal's Scholar and a manager of the school's soccer team. She also worked part-time at Bella's Pizza in Troutville.
Sledd said Stevens planned to attend Roanoke College. He said she was interested in marine biology.
"I don't know if that's what she was going to major in, but she was definitely interested in the subject," he said.
Guidance counselors said Stevens was planning to be a math teacher.
The Rev. Gene Williams of St. Mark's Methodist Church of Daleville, where Stevens and her parents attended services, described Stevens as vivacious.
"She had lots of energy. She was very committed and involved in things." he said. "She was a great kid."
Williams said Stevens was president of the church's youth group and active in the Methodist Church district youth group.
He said she was planning to participate in the church's Appalachian Service Project, a program that helps families in rural Appalachia with home repairs and other services. Stevens took part in the program last year, Williams said.
Her funeral will be Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Rader Daleville Chapel.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Stevens KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB