ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 22, 1993                   TAG: 9306220171
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: JOANNE ANDERSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long


SHAWSVILLE PRINCIPAL A WINNER

His staff says he is the "most compassionate, understanding, thoughtful and organized professional."

A parent says, "some improvements are easy to see: the new track, new football field, renovated seventh-grade wing.

"Others are not so obvious: restructuring the middle school to meet special needs of early adolescents, expanded class offerings for college-bound and vocational students, additional athletic programs."

He is NELSON SIMPKINS, principal at Shawsville High and Middle schools, and Montgomery Simpkins County Public School's Administrator of the Year.

Since coming to Shawsville in 1988, Simpkins' management and leadership styles have resulted in many noteworthy accomplishments.

Simpkins is credited with establishing a site-based management team, which makes major budgetary and curriculum decisions; with encouraging teachers to develop and lead a staff development program; with introducing new instruction and business technology; and with staying informed of research and educational strategies that may be beneficial in the Shawsville schools.

Others recognized by Montgomery County schools for their work and contributions:

\ WANDA ROBERTS of Christiansburg Middle School and SUSAN PENNINGTON of Margaret Beeks Elementary School tied for Aide of the Year.

\ DENNA HARRIS of Christiansburg High School was named Secretary of the Year.

Field Manager LORA CALLAHAN received the honor for Food Services Employee of the Year.

\ NETA LESTER was named Bus Driver of the Year.

\ LARRY OWENS of Christiansburg High School is the Custodian of the Year for Montgomery County.

Several winners from the recent RADFORD CITY SCHOOLS ART EXHIBIT and art competition sponsored by "Discoveryworks . . . . . a children's museum" and Radford University have been announced.

The following young artists from Radford's schools will have their art purchased by Radford University and permanently displayed in Russell Hall on the RU campus:

Jamie Williams, kindergarten; D.J. Tibbs, first grade; Jennifer Cochran and Stephen Hubbard, fourth grade; Morgan King and Rita Brame, eighth grade; Cameron Mitchell, 11th grade; and Amanda Harkrader, 12th grade.

Three students from Blacksburg High School received awards in the Virginia Press Women's 1993 High School Journalism Contest:

\ AMY WORLEY won third place for her sports article, "Indians Rout Tornadoes, Snatch Title."

\ ABIGAIL MURRMANN took fifth place for her article, "Undefeated in District, Indians Fall to Abingdon."

\ KRISHA CHACHRA received an honorable mention for an editorial commemorating Columbus Day titled, "After 500 Years, New Meaning Surfaces."

The articles were published in the Blacksburg High School newspaper, The Compendium.

If you want to know how many grains of sand are in your hourglass, you might ask Adam Breske.

The fifth-grader at GILBERT LINKOUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL won a jelly-bean guess contest. He guessed within one number of the more than 500 colorful confections in a jar.

Guesses were 5 cents each.

The Gilbert Linkous Student Council Association held the contest to raise money for a child-sized mannequin for the Montgomery County chapter of the American Red Cross.

The school contributed $265.

Home Box Office has donated $5,000 to the JIM GWAZDAUSKAS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP fund at Blacksburg High School.

HBO officials said they wanted to express their gratitude to the Gwazdauskas family and to Gilbert Linkous Elementary School in Blacksburg for their dedication to the production of the documentary "Educating Peter," which won an Academy Award this year.

Blacksburg High School student AMY WORLEY will attend the World Scholar-Athlete Games as a basketball player.

Two thousand students will participate in the games in Newport, R.I.

The games began Sunday and continue through July 1.

Twenty-one students at SHAWSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL have received Academic Excellence Awards from the Virginia High School League.

To earn this honor, students must maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average and be varsity letter winners in high school league activities.

The girls' tennis recipients are:

Laura Neily, Carmen Price, Sara Wilson, Joy Simmons, Tresha Taylor, Ariel McCrumb, Christina Dudley, Shannon Radford, Lori Underwood and Niki Creed.

Ben Basham, Andy Smith, Mark Akers and Troy Argabright received the honor for baseball.

Track recipients are Keith Armour, Jason Houston, Loressa Mitchem, Sherri Brown, Brandy Alexander, Missy Flight and Kimari Wright.

At an underclass awards assembly at BLACKSBURG HIGH SCHOOL, the following students received academic letters for maintaining a 3.5-or-better grade-point average through the first semester of their junior year:

Scott Bates, Heather Boardman, Milos Borojevic, Jason Boyle, Kimberly Brown, Tristan Carolan, Krisha Chachra, Koren Donahue, Michael Donahue, Larissa Duncan, Jason Flick, Christie Fraraccio and Heidi Gilmore.

Also, Rebecca Hansen, Margo Hasselman, Margaret Hendricks, Sandra Horan, Kara Hohenshil, Adam Jortner, Warren Lee, Terry Lovern, Amy Mathena, Geoff Murphy, Abigail Murrmann, Heather Notter, Michael Ogburn, Cara Patterson and Marek Pfeil.

Also, Emily Reisinger, Amy Santos, Zoe Skinner, Heather Stockburger, Amy Tomchin, Jacqueline Tront, Chris Tyson, Jonathan Tze, Sarah Vogler, Xiao-Wei Wang, Zach Warren and Nikki Weddle.

\ DAVID RALPH LINKOUS of Christiansburg High School is the 1993 recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Joint Committee on Education of the Greater Blacksburg and Christiansburg-Montgomery County Chambers of Commerce.

Linkous is studying food occupations and was honored for overall outstanding performance in Montgomery County's vocational cooperative education program.

\ SHERRI BOURNE and PATRICIA AKERS of Christiansburg High School and Amy Gray of Blacksburg High school also were recognized by the committee for outstanding performance in their vocational fields.

Simmons Cable TV has awarded its four-year, $3,000 scholarship to Radford University to AMANDA HUBBARD of Christiansburg High School.

Amanda is the daughter of David and Kathy Hubbard of Christiansburg.

\ COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY honored Christine Miles and Faith Harden at the year-end awards ceremony for state awards they each received for excellent Secondary Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test scores.

Fourth-grader Megan Armstrong read an article she wrote on why she loves America.

Kindergarten teacher Donna McGrady received the teacher of the year award.

Carol Fisher, president of the board of directors, presented each teacher with a school pin in recognition of their achievements this year.

The PULASKI COUNTY ADVISORY COUNCIL ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION needs money to send students to national competitions.

Youths who participate in the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America and the Health Occupations of America youth organizations represent the county in various competitions.

This year, several students demonstrated skills that made them eligible to go to national competitions, but there is no money available for students who cannot pay their own way.

Contributions are tax-deductible.

Checks may be made out to Pulaski County Vocational Educational Fund and mailed to Pulaski County High School, 5414 Cougar Trail, Dublin, Va. 24084.

If more than enough money is received, the balance will be put into a scholarship fund for future student participation.

Joanne Anderson is filling in for Melissa DeVaughn, who is hiking the Appalachian Trail. If you have an interesting news item from your school, write to the New River Current in care of the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley Bureau, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg 24073.



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