DATE: Friday, August 1, 1997                TAG: 9708010089

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: MICHELE VERNON-CHESLEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   57 lines

SUMMER IS NO BREAK FOR THOSE IN ACCELERATED PROGRAMS

TODAY'S THE first day of August. That means parents all over Hampton Roads have begun the countdown: One month and one day until school opens.

But for many teens, school never really closed.

Take Monique Foster, for example.

For several nights in July, Monique went to bed with Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth.

No, Monique was not hosting a sleepover, she was reading ``The Scarlet Letter,'' a homework assignment.

As a rising senior at Nansemond River High School in Suffolk and a student in the advanced placement English class, Monique is required to read selections by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau and others before school opens Sept. 2.

Not only does she have to read but she also has to write papers and keep a journal. In addition, she needs to be ready to discuss any of the readings during her first English class.

``I think it's a good idea,'' said Monique. ``It gets you started thinking in the summer. When you get back, you're not trying to adjust.''

Monique is one of hundreds of public school students across Hampton Roads who participate in accelerated programs that give students college-like experience. The challenge of the accelerated programs is that students must keep up with their work - even during summer break.

``You have to keep yourself on track,'' said Elaine Woods-Martinez, whose 14-year-old son, Brandon, will begin the International Baccalaureate Program at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach this fall.

For Brandon, that meant keeping up with assignments during his vacation in Austin, Texas. He had a reading due for every class.

Some students wait until the bitter end or until mom or dad begins pestering them to get the work done. Others are given strict timetables by which they must abide, vacation or no vacation. Still others accept the responsibility and pace themselves to get the work done.

``I pretty much knew that if I didn't do it on my own, it wouldn't get done,'' said Nicole Hannans, an advanced placement student at Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach.

Nicole also knew that Elizabeth Bond, her English teacher, accepts few excuses.

``If you're away, you have to mail your work to Ms. Bond,'' said Nicole. ``She has a meeting before school ends to give you the work.''

Neither Nicole, Brandon nor Monique was forced to participate in accelerated classes. Each chose to be in the tough programs. They volunteered to read and fill journals in the summer.

For some the payoff will be the college credits they receive before they graduate from high school. For others, it's the challenge.

For Monique it's simple: ``I just love to read.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

Students in accelerated programs are likely to take some heavy

reading along when they go to the beach this summer.

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