THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 2, 1995 TAG: 9506010188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Teens At Large
SOURCE: BY DANIEL INGOLD, HIGH SCHOOL, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
``What school do you go to?''
``Green Run.''
``Don't they have guns there?''
This, it seems, is the prevailing image of Green Run High School. It's what people who have never been inside the school think it's like. The school has gotten a lot of bad press in the past, but in many ways Green Run is better than other schools.
In fact, Green Run initiated many activities that other Beach schools have imitated. One such activity is ``The Big Chill.'' This is a day when parents come to school in place of their children and do everything that a student would. The parents take the classes and do the class work and sometimes even the homework.
The city's first leadership workshop was also started at Green Run. This is a daylong retreat at the Triple R Ranch in Chesapeake where students hone their leadership skills.
And Principal Donald E. Stowers and the faculty are always seeking new ways to help students succeed. For example, this year a Test Improvement Committee was formed. It includes teachers in all subjects and the objective is to find ways to help students prepare for tests.
Green Run's Gifted Education Program has been especially successful. It has initiated at least three new programs to benefit the students: Student Mentor Day, a gifted conference and the Achievers Program.
On Student Mentor Day students from feeder middle schools shadow a Green Run student for a day to get used to high school life. The high school students also hold workshops for their charges in foreign languages, science and visual arts.
The daylong gifted conference at Virginia Wesleyan College was founded two years ago by Green Run. Students hosted workshops on various things, such as creative writing, genetics and stress management. It was so successful that it was adopted by the city and now attracts students from many schools.
Green Run's clubs and other extracurricular activities are among the best. The yearbook and the magazine have earned first-place awards by Virginia High School League. The ROTC is ranked among the top in the country. And the art department has won the Sand Castle Classic at the Neptune Festival. These awards showcase the discipline of Green Run students.
I have sat with teachers who were disappointed because their students were not doing well and spent their free time trying to devise ways to make their classes more interesting. These teachers don't just spout information. They help the students learn and understand it.
Over the course of this school year, only one gun was confiscated, and that was from someone trespassing on school property. There have been maybe five fights the entire year. Not once have drugs been found at the school.
To associate Green Run with rampant criminal activities, violence and drugs is a gross misconception.
``Gang Run'' is not what this school should be called. Maybe Great Run is more fitting. ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel Ingold is a junior at Green RUn High School.
by CNB