THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508250184
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Back to School
SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
``I think I'm ready for school to start,'' said Crystal Perry, 16, as she dropped an organizer notebook into her shopping basket.
``We're gearing up,'' said Kimberly Davis, as her children browsed the shelves of school supplies at the Chesapeake Office Max store.
``We're busy as bees,'' said Pam Lassiter, secretary for Crestwood Middle School. ``But we got our smiles on, and we'll be ready.''
``I finished buying school clothes yesterday, and we're ready to start on our school supply list,'' said Joy Whispell of Great Bridge.
`` . . . and we're still registering new students,'' said Elaine Wheatley, guidance director at Crestwood Middle School.
Perry, a rising junior at Deep Creek High School, said she had started preparing for school in early August.
``With every paycheck I watched for sales and bought a few more items. I really just needed the basics like notebooks, paper and pens. But I did buy a few new shirts.''
Davis home-schools daughters Kristen, 12; Wesley, 10; and Katie, 7. They attended a Tides' game recently and received free school notebooks, she said.
``It's always fun this time of year as we get ready for our own school year. We don't have to buy book bags or lunch boxes, but we still have a few things on our list.''
They were shopping for pencils, tabs and markers. Kristen needed a trapper keeper to organize all her papers, and Katie wanted animal theme notebooks while Wesley wished for a lap-top computer.
``I'm kind of scared about starting school,'' whispered Desiree Whispell, 6.
She was searching for a book bag to take to Great Bridge Primary School. Her brother Heath, 10, checked out the computers while their mother searched for the school list to check off crayons, tissues, scissors and glue sticks.
Most schools now have their school supply list ready. Butts Road Intermediate's fifth-grade supply list includes typical items like a three-ring binder, loose-leaf paper, composition books, subject dividers, pencils, erasable pens, a glue stick, pencil bag and a box of tissues. The supplies total about $15.
Lassiter said the faculty and staff at Crestwood Middle, like all other city schools, had been busy all week making copies, handing out books, sending supplies to classrooms, checking master schedules and counting out packets of information for the first day of school. She said teachers were putting up bulletin boards and stacking text books. Many teachers brought a friend or relative to help get their rooms ready, while eight new teachers were not only getting their rooms ready but were also learning their way around the building.
Alpheus Blount also has done his part for the 1995-1996 school year. Blount, the head custodian, and his staff have cleaned, dusted and polished Crestwood in preparation for the 970 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students who will fill the halls and classrooms. by CNB