THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610210181
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: 79 lines
Every time Becky Rockis opens her mobile classroom door to greet students, she senses something missing.
There, in plain view, is a beautiful, copper-topped belfry that has gone unused for decades at Joseph Palmer Knapp Junior High School.
It lacks the one thing that makes it whole - the bell.
``It just kills me to see it empty,'' the seventh-grade social studies teacher said last week.
Rockis' early morning students are perhaps more bewildered than bothered by the missing instrument. But together, the class is on a mission to locate the long-lost school symbol.
It's all part of Rockis' ``Advisor-Advisee class,'' which meets first thing each day for projects that reinforce or expand the school's curriculum.
Rockis believes hers is the first class to organize such a search. Since the beginning of the school year, 18 student sleuths have been following leads and formulating theories on what happened to the bell.
``We heard that there's a principal here that moved to South Carolina. And when he did, he could have taken the bell,'' said Kristy Corbo, 12, of Currituck.
Corbo surmises that the bell, built with the school in 1927, disappeared before 1965. That's because it's missing on the cover of an old annual that Corbo found from that year.
In addition to library research, students have drafted a letter asking residents for information and plan to call others once they've brushed up on telephone interviewing skills.
Andrew England, 12, of Moyock has, like some other classmates, been polling people in his community.
``And I ain't found nothin' ,'' he said.
At least England is actively looking. About half the class this week admitted they haven't given much effort to the search.
Among the excuses were laziness and the lack of ``old people'' in their neighborhoods to interview.
Some believe the bell will turn up, but not necessarily in the best condition.
``I think when we get it back, it'll have a lot of marks on it,'' said Henry Chatman, 12, of Currituck.
``It may have an old-timey look because it has rust on it,'' Maurice Dawson, 13, of Moyock speculated.
Authentication also may be difficult since no one is sure what the bell looked like.
``It could have been engraved with Knapp School,'' said a hopeful Nick Fisher, 13, of Moyock.
Others believe the bell is history.
``I think the bell's been gone since, like, World War I or something because they could have melted it into bullets or something,'' said Donald Dixon, 13, of Grandy.
Chad Davenport, 13, of Knotts Island has his doubts about the bell's whereabouts.
``It could be on the bottom of the ocean for all we know,'' he said.
Michelle Evans, 12, of Moyock, added, ``There are so many possibilities of where it could be that we may never find it.''
Also assisting in the search are classmates Matt Burnette, Louella Castle, Bridgette Cherry, Mike Childress, Jessica Daniel, Brandy Dillingham, Dustin Dunn, Mark Eckard, Dustin Evans and Angelique Robbins.
Students hope to find the bell before the end of the year, when Knapp is converted to an elementary school and junior high students move into the current high school building in Barco.
``We thought it would be a really cool gift for the elementary school kids,'' Dawson said.
Said Rockis: ``We've decided that if we find the bell, that's wonderful. We have parent volunteers that want to put it back for us.
``And if we don't find it, we'll have gone through a process. We'll have tried our hardest, and we'll feel good about that, too.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
KNAPP BELL
Students at J.P. Knapp Junior High School are asking for help in
locating the bell that once hung at the school.
Anyone with information on the bell or old photographs of the
school building are asked to call Becky Rockis at 232-3107 or write
to Rockis at Knapp School, Star Route 2, Currituck, N.C. 27929. by CNB