ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
When she left Roanoke's Addison Middle School on Friday, English teacher Beth Obenchain anticipated being snowed in several days.
"I brought home my books and plenty of work to do. I'm getting caught up on my lesson plans," Obenchain said Tuesday, as she faced the possibility of being out of school for the rest of the week.
Teachers don't get very excited about snow, because they know they will have to make up missed days.
And they know they will have to spend time reviewing material that students likely have forgotten while snowed in.
"It's a mixed blessing," said Bryan Corbett, a math teacher at William Fleming High School. "Most teachers love a few snow breaks of one or two days, but after a couple of days, you are ready to get back to school."
"We're excited at first when it snows, but we're housebound now and we can't do anything. And we're losing our spring break," said Elyse Coleman, an elementary teacher at the Roanoke Academy for Mathematics and Science.
David Turk, a government teacher at Salem High School, said he is using the time off to grade some papers.
Carol Tear, a Patrick Henry High School math teacher who has been catching up on housework during the hiatus, has some advice for students who might not be back in the school until next week: "Enjoy the time off. But if you brought books and notes home, study a little. Remember, the exams are coming up."
Gary Stultz, a third-grade teacher at Roanoke's Fallon Park Elementary School, has some advice, too: "Take a little time to read a book. That would help immensely."
Exams are scheduled to begin in some school divisions next week, and teachers had planned to cover additional material this week. Now they can't do that unless exams are postponed.
"This is going to slow us down," Obenchain said. "Over Christmas, pupils and teachers tend to kind of forget things. And now we've got another break."
"We had just come back from Christmas and had started to gear up," said Judy Deyerle, a teacher at the Roanoke County Career Center. "Now we will have to gear up again and get ready for exams when we get back."
Roanoke and Roanoke County schools might postpone their exams because of the snow.
All schools in the Roanoke and New River valleys - and most others in Western Virginia - are closed today. Many localities are expected to be closed for the rest of the week.
Bedford County will be closed through Friday. Franklin County is closed through Thursday, and there is a good chance it will be closed Friday, too, Superintendent Leonard Gereau said. "I'd say it's 90 percent."
Botetourt County schools Transportation Director Larry Hall checked the county's roads Tuesday.
"There is no way I can see how we can reopen this week, but we haven't made an official decision on Thursday and Friday," he said.
Opening this week would be "problematic," said Roanoke County Superintendent Deanna Gordon.
Stultz, at Fallon Park, said he dreads missing days because of bad weather.
"You've got to make them up, but the children don't always see that far," Stultz said. "We've got some makeup days in the schedule, but it cuts into spring break when you miss several days."
And after a snow break, students want to share their experiences with classmates. That can slow the return to academics, Corbett said.
"You can't jump right into the classroom and expect them to be focused, but it doesn't take high school students that long to get back to work."
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB