THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 24, 1995 TAG: 9511210131
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
AT TRANTWOOD Elementary School, helping those in need isn't something you do once or twice a year, then forget about it.
It's a recurring theme that meets the test of a motto posted in the school's front hall: ``Don't Be Generation X, Be Generation Excellent.''
The 745 students at Trantwood in kindergarten through fifth grade aren't oblivious to the world. They're keenly aware of those who aren't as fortunate as they are, and they're more than willing to help.
In December, they collect new and used toys in their ``Toys for Teens and Tots'' program. Throughout the year they contribute to a ``Cans for Kids'' food collection program.
But in October, they really shine. That's when they hold their annual United Way fund drive.
``Back in 1991 we collected more than $3,000,'' said Glen Barr, the school's SCA sponsor, ``and we figured there was no way we could ever top that. Especially after we lost the sixth-graders to the middle school.''
The youngsters proved Barr wrong. This year they raised $4,001.32 during their two-week campaign, an astonishing $5.45 per pupil.
``United Way sets a standard goal of 80 cents per student within the school system, said Lisa Dutcher of the United Way of South Hampton Roads.
``This far exceeds that goal.''
It exceeds it by so much that Elaine Chao, president of United Way of America, said it may be a national record.
``The generosity of the students of Trantwood Elementary is truly inspiring,'' Chao wrote in a letter to Trantwood principal Judith Lewis.
The money was raised in a variety of ways. Parents, students and faculty held several after-school ice cream socials as well as a karaoke night where students and their families plunked down $5 each to eat pizza and take their turns at the microphone. That event alone raised $600.
But most of the money for the United Way drive was raised when individual youngsters dipped into their own pockets.
``I mowed lawns and gave some money from my allowance, plus I donated my ice cream money,'' said Nick Silvester, a student in Donna Eure's fifth-grade class. ``It makes me feel good to help people in need.''
To keep alive the drive's momentum, Barr and his co-sponsor, Shauna Hogg, kept a daily total of each class's contributions. The school had purchased 60 special Trantwood T-shirts - 30 in small sizes to fit kindergartners through second-graders and 30 in larger sizes to fit grades three through five.
Whichever class made the best showing got to wear the T-shirts the next day. The logistics of that recognition were a little complicated. The students handed the shirts over to Barr and Hogg at the end of the day. They in turn took them home to wash and dry.
When Barr, a phys-ed teacher, forgot to start his dryer one morning he narrowly averted a small catastrophe by fashioning clothes lines from jump ropes in an outside area off the school's gym and hanging the shirts up to dry.
At the end of the campaign it was Eure's fifth-grade class and Kimberly Suddith's first-graders who were the top contributors. They got to keep the T-shirts and will be treated to a sleepover at the school sometime in January.
So far the youngsters have been honored twice for their hard work: once at a United Way rally held in the planetarium at Plaza Middle School and once by school, city and United Way officials in an assembly at Trantwood.
While everyone at Trantwood is enjoying the success, Barr offers another perspective - both his and the students.
``Winning's nice,'' he says, ``but the bottom line is the 69 local agencies that United Way helps.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Blaire Hoadley, front row from left, Mary Beth Sorrentino and Andrew
Stites; and Nick Silvester, left rear, and Dirk Lynch were among the
745 Trantwood Elementary students who were honored by the United
Way.
by CNB