THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300357
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 74 lines
The director of Virginia Beach's health department usually spends her days gazing at a computer screen.
But on Wednesday, Suzanne Dandoy gazed at 20 eager math students, pressing their minds for the answers to elementary equations.
The third-graders at Brookwood Elementary School were Dandoy's students for the day - with some help from the primary teacher, Rachel Harris.
Dandoy was out of her element, but she may have found her second calling.
``This is the most fun I've had in months,'' she said.
Dandoy joined a group of municipal and community leaders for ``Leaders as Teachers Day'' at the school. The other guest teachers included Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and Donna Girardot, executive director of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
The project ``gives the leaders a good idea of what actually goes on in the schools,'' said Holly Coggin, assistant principal at Brookwood.
``The day was a total success,'' she said. ``Everyone seemed to enjoy their day and thought it was very beneficial.''
It wasn't the first time that the school gave outsiders a chance to run the classes. In the fall, business leaders were invited to get a better perspective of the classroom.
On Wednesday, the city leaders did everything from teach kids math to give them tips on how to stay out of the judicial system.
``Do you all know no one is allowed to bring guns to school?'' Juvenile Court Judge Ronald Marks asked a group of fourth-graders.
``Alcohol, guns, beepers and knives should not be brought to school,'' he said.
Marks also told the students that if they got into deep trouble, they could be prosecuted by the age of 14.
Across the hall, Donald Maxwell, the city's director of economic development, sang along with a lively class of fifth-graders to ``The Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King.'' The students sang loudly, clapped their hands and banged on wooden desks as the song blared from a CD player.
Oberndorf spent her day at the school helping students with learning disabilities with math. Later she read books to a fourth-grade class.
Girardot sat in on a first-grade class as the teacher, Diane Schultz, read ``Cinderella'' to the students. She then helped one group of pupils with their reading duties. Debbie Devine, the city's director of recycling, helped Susan Kerr's third-grade computer class.
In Dandoy's class, a projector reflected images of equivalent fractions onto a large screen. At the same time, the students were piecing together colorful tiles with fractions painted on them.
``So, you have six different ways of presenting a half,'' Dandoy said. And she walked them through more.
Dandoy said she sometimes teaches students at Eastern Virginia Medical School, but never taught grade school.
``I really like math and I really like working with the third-graders,'' Dandoy said.
``I think it's really important to see what the next generation is learning.''
As Dandoy prepared to leave, the experience wore well on her face.
``I had fun. I would love to come back if they would invite me.'' ILLUSTRATION: D. KEVIN ELLIOTT photos, The Virginian-Pilot
Donna Girardo, executive director of the Virginia Beach division of
the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, helps some first-graders at
Brookwood Elementary School write stories.
Judge Ronald Marks explains criminal law to fourth-graders during
Wednesday's ``Leaders as Teachers Day.''
Dr. Suzanne Dandoy, director of the Virginia Beach Health
Department, uses a projector to teach third-graders fractions. by CNB