THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504260180
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04B EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Dr. John Sutherland, an otherwise upstanding citizen, spent three hours in a jail cell recently.
``It's confining, but it's for a good cause,'' he said, from behind the wooden bars of his cell.
The principal of Larkspur Middle School did nothing wrong. He stood in the makeshift cell at the Burger King on Princess Anne Road in his jail-like orange jumpsuit as part of the American Heart Association's Cardiac Arrest fund-raising drive. He wore a Burger King crown, and reacted well to his plight.
Linda Clarke, a seventh-grade math teacher at Larkspur, stood nearby and took Polaroid pictures of Sutherland and those responsible for helping him make bail; that is to say, the teachers and students who posed with the charitable inmate paid $2 for the privilege.
``We have to raise $1,000 to get Dr. Sutherland out,'' said Clarke. ``Our school has raised $586 so far. My homeroom contributed $74 (prior to the Burger King event) and we get to eat breakfast Friday with the king over there.'' She pointed toward Sutherland and smiled.
Taryn Fontaine, 10, stepped into the cell with Sutherland and had her picture taken.
Was it fun seeing a principal in jail?
``No, not actually,'' said the Arrowhead Elementary fourth-grader. ``Because he's a pretty nice principal.''
Her older sister, Cassanadra, 11, is a sixth-grader at Larkspur Middle.
Sutherland was nominated for his incarceration by the city school administration. Principals from the elementary (John Mirra of Windsor Oaks Elementary) and high school (Wayne Sykes of Salem High) level were also selected to serve time in other Cardiac Arrest events.
At Sutherland's jailing, Amy Carasella, 8, waited outside the bars for her picture to be taken. Her parents, John and Barbara, teach at Larkspur.
Although this gathering at the Woodtide Burger King was fun, the money contributed goes toward solving a serious health problem. Heart disease remains the No. 1 cause of death in the United States.
Kathy Finney, Virginia Beach director of the American Heart Association, said the Cardiac Arrest program, with several area events, provides a lion's share toward research and education:
``We'll probably raise over $40,000 in the city alone and about $130,000 in south Hampton Roads. It is a big part of our fund-raising.''
The money goes to Eastern Virginia Medical School to support the work of five researchers and for educational programs, she added.
Helped by a $250 donation by Bill Hoffman, owner of the Burger King, Larkspur achieved its $1,000 goal and Sutherland once again became a free man.
The principal, who has spent close to 30 in the city school system and is a former administrator of the year, did want to make clear one point:
``This is the only time I've ever been in jail,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Taryn Fontaine, 10, a fourth-grade student at Arrowhead
Elementary, gets a hug from Dr. John Sutherland, principal of
Larkspur Middle, during a ``Cardiac Arrest'' fund-raising event.
Photo by
GARY EDWARDS
by CNB