Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993 TAG: 9301290294
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
SOME SEEK TO NAME SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS
Between the two of them, Florence and May Kipps of Prices Fork taught at Blacksburg High School for more than 75 years.Their work has not gone unnoticed.
Larry Linkous, a member of the county Board of Supervisors, is contacting people to see what they think about naming the soon-to-be-built elementary school on Prices Fork Road near Hethwood after them.
"They were just a really unique pair . . . they were the kind of teachers who were strict but they were really well-liked. They were voted best teachers on a number of occasions," said Linkous, who said hewas acting as a private citizen.
Linkous said the School Board's general policy is to name any new school after the street where it is located. But with the new school being constructed on Prices Fork Road, this presents a problem because there already is a Prices Fork Elementary.
"At this particular location, we have an opportunity to remember them," Linkous added.
Curtis Gray, retired deputy superintendent of Montgomery County Schools, was a student of the Kippses at Blacksburg High School, then eventually wound up as their principal many years later.
"They were thought of as the best teachers in the school," Gray said. "They taught boys and girls, not subjects."
Another reason Linkous believes the new school should be named after the Kippses is that the land where the sisters grew up is adjacent to the property where the school will be built. A portion of the back part of the land is part of the old Kipps homeplace, Linkous said.
Florence Kipps died several years ago. May, 91, is retired and lives in Blacksburg.
"One thing's for sure," Gray said. "Once you had them in class, you never forgot their lessons."