THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240551
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
Twenty adults went back to school for the first time in decades Thursday and quickly discovered you're never too old to learn.
``I never thought of carrying one to shop,'' an enlightened Bertha Perry of Moyock said as she left an eighth-grade class on calculators.
Throughout the morning the touring elders learned about things their grandkids take for granted in today's classrooms - computer networking, CDs, ROMs, manipulatives, REI, CORE and TEP programs.
They watched a Knapp Junior High School coed gym class stretch out. ``Imagine,'' sighed one elderly observer, ``we never even considered boys and girls exercising together in my days.''
At Central Elementary, they stopped to view children's artwork and read showcased essays. They marveled at log cabins made out of pretzels and briefly took part in a ``sick day,'' which required first-graders to dress in their pajamas and make chicken soup with rice.
They had just reassembled in Knapp Junior High School's main hallway when the principal warned everyone to stand back against the wall.
``You're about to see the most important part of the day for students,'' Teresa Bateman joked before a flood of humanity flowed through the hallways as children changed classes.
County librarian Jane Marshall adjusted her hearing aid just before the bell rang. School board member John Barnes, warned earlier not to embarrass his granddaughter, merely smiled and said hello as she walked by.
The name-tagged adults' trip to school was courtesy of Currituck County's Public Awareness for Successful Schools. This week's selected sites were Knapp Junior High School and Central Elementary School.
The program, which ends Thursday, offers Currituck County residents, business people, civic leaders and government officials a chance to again stand at the head of the class.
Last week, folks took in Griggs Elementary and Currituck County High School. Next Thursday, it's Moyock Elementary and Knotts Island Elementary.
``We were one of the few people in the county to go from kindergarten to high school in a day,'' noted Burnley Williams Sr., who signed up for all three tours and seemed to thoroughly enjoy reliving his old school days.
Williams, a celebrated Boy Scout leader, offered advice to a junior high shop teacher and took a seat in a fourth-grade classroom, remembering to raise his hand before passing the teacher a note.
The younger students seemed eager to accommodate.
``Our teacher told us to be really good,'' confessed third-grader Rachel Williams. ``And to keep on doing what we were doing,'' which in her case was reading about George Washington with classmate Tina Cifuentes.
When conversations weren't focused on today, older folks talked about the past, segregated schools, dresses-only rules for girls and a popular auto-shop class.
Diane Bray, activities director at Sentara Nursing Center, never attended Knapp Junior High, but she warmed when she walked into the media center and saw a lighthouse built by her son, who is now in college.
One of the highlights was the science center at Knapp, where the crew quickly fixated on a sluggish, 5-foot-long boa constrictor.
``What do you feed her?'' someone asked.
Science teacher Karen Cahoon pointed to nearby glass cages of healthy-looking mice, recently separated by sex to control the rodent population. Sam Walker, vice chairman of the Board of Education, furrowed his brow, then whispered to County Commissioner Owen Etheridge, ``How do you tell the difference?''
Etheridge, at 43, was among the youngest in the crowd, a Currituck County graduate of the Class of '69. He grinned while watching students put the finishing touch on a rap song.
``In my days it was just reading, writing and 'rithmetic,'' Wiley Elliott said as she peeked in on a class practicing computer keyboard skills.
``Classes are much smaller than I expected,'' Nancy Wright of Bell's Island remarked. ``That is what's really hit me.''
Though classes, which averaged about 20 students, weren't overcrowded at Knapp, space was at a premium.
Mobile units have become a mainstay at Currituck schools, located in one of the state's most rapidly growing counties.
``Are these in use?'' Bertha Perry asked as they approached a quartet of trailers.
``Oh yes,'' Diane Newbern, curriculum coordinator, said, leading them into a careers classroom.
A new high school is expected to open in 1996. Junior high students will then move into the existing high school, and Knapp will become an elementary school.
Central Elementary was scheduled to be expanded, but budget problems have put that project on hold.
This is the third time in four years that Currituck Public Schools have held the PASS program. Unlike past ventures that lasted all day and were offered to select groups, this winter's program was open to anyone in Currituck County.
``I think this way has worked out really well,'' Diane Knox, coordinator of the PASS program, said during the bus ride from Knapp Junior High to Central Elementary in Barco.
``Overall, I think we're going to have more people tour this year than ever before.'' ILLUSTRATION: ROBIE RAY/Staff
[Color Photo]
Teaching assistant Diane Hudgins takes a first-grader's temperature
Thursday during a pretend ``sick day'' at Central Elementary School.
Visitors Nancy Wright, left, and Bertha Perry watch as students
embark on a make-believe visit to the doctor.
by CNB