Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 21, 1990 TAG: 9006220065
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY WALKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
That's the kind of spunk that won Lisa, a rising senior at Cave Spring High School, the 1990 Dreamer and Doer Award for Virginia.
Sponsored by Walt Disney World and the National Federation of State High School Associations, the award is based on contributions to the community as well as curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy - qualities highly valued by Walt Disney.
The Beightol (pronounced BEG-tol) family lives in the Castle Rock area of Southwest County. Lisa, at 17 the eldest child, has a wide, ready smile.
She is surprisingly petite at 108 pounds and just 5 feet tall. "I try not to let it get in my way," she says. "You just have to try a little harder in the sports."
Lisa runs cross country in the fall, then plays basketball in the winter and soccer in the spring. Her best sport is soccer. She will play on the Western girls' team in the Virginia State Games, to be held in Roanoke in July.
Playing on the boys' team at Hidden Valley wasn't always easy. "At first it was awkward, but they accepted me," she says. "They were nice to me and they would stick up for me - sometimes we played teams with big guys. But I tried not to let it get to me. Sometimes when girls play with boys they have to be a little meaner, just to show 'em."
Lisa's athletic efforts haven't always met with success. She failed to make the boys' soccer team at Cave Spring High. But she went on to help organize the first girls' team there.
"She does not let obstacles hold her back and looks at barriers as a challenge," Cave Spring High principal Robert Lipscomb wrote on her Dreamers and Doers application.
In addition to athletics, contest officials wanted students who were exceptional in academics and community service.
Lisa enjoys social studies, English and history, but says she struggles with math and chemistry. She has a 3.5 grade-point average; her teachers praise her dedication, independent thinking and ability to get along with classmates.
"A lot of times you get real intelligent kids or real athletic kids, and they're isolated," says Joe Hafey, who has coached Lisa at Cave Spring and taught her at Hidden Valley. "But Lisa has a disarming quality - she's liked by everybody."
She is involved with the Spanish Club, Students Against Drunk Driving, Future Business Leaders of America, and the Windsor Hills United Methodist youth group.
Another event in her busy schedule will be the national Dreamers and Doers meeting in August at Walt Disney World. "I'm excited because I'm getting to meet people from all over the United States," she says. "I really enjoy being with people and making friends. I've never visited the park, so I'm excited about that, too."
She'll receive a certificate and medal during three days of workshops and fun, all expenses paid.
Do peers ever resent the attention and honors she has received? "Once in a while it does happen," she says. "It does hurt my feelings. But you've got to be yourself and hope people will accept you for what you are. And most people do."
Lisa says her parents don't insist on achievement. "They're not pushers, they're more supporters. But I feel like I want to do my best for them . . . for myself. They say, `As long as you do your best, we're never disappointed.' "
Lisa hasn't given them much reason to be disappointed. On the other hand, she isn't always perfect. "She's like all kids, she's not good all the time," says her mother, Judy. "She and her sisters have their moments that they argue."
Lisa's twin sisters, Aimee and Allison, 12, are three-sport athletes at Hidden Valley. Their father, Robert, is a nuclear pharmacist. Judy Beightol sells cosmetics in addition to homemaking. She can often be seen ferrying her daughters in the family van with the 3 SPORTZ plates.
Lisa acknowledges that she has had many advantages in life. In return, she has given much. She is a "Natural Helper" - a trained peer counselor - at Cave Spring High. She has volunteered with the Appalachian Service Project, improving the homes of the disadvantaged. She has served as a class officer, taught Bible school and helped organize Cave Spring's prom.
To wind down from all her activities, she reads historical fiction and mysteries and goes to movies and restaurants with friends.
She has no boyfriend at present. She went to the prom with a male friend. "Sometimes it's nice to have close guy friends you can just talk to, and get a different perspective than you can from a girl," she says.
Lisa has little difficulty forming her own perspectives. Asked whether she prefers books or the ball field, she says, "I think both. I want to make good grades because I want to go to a good college. Sports has also been important because it gives me the opportunity to challenge myself and make new friends. I like to be competitive in the classroom and outside."
Lisa is leaning toward attending the University of Virginia, which has a nationally ranked soccer team. But even if she couldn't make the team - and she's not certain she could - UVa still would be appealing. "Sports is not the only thing I'm looking for. I'm also going there for an education. I'm thinking about going into political science and they have a good program in that."
You have to feel that Thomas Jefferson, as well as Walt Disney, would have been proud of Lisa Beightol.
by CNB