ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602050011
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-16 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RANDY WALKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
MEMO: ran in Neighbors Feb. 8, 1996.
How do kids like the after-school program at North Star Karate?
Ask one.
"I like doing all the games, and the crafts are fun, and the karate is real fun," says Tracy Jones, a 10-year-old fifth-grader at Glen Cove Elementary. "I think most of the kids like it. A lot of the younger kids like doing crafts. The older boys like Nintendo. Most all the kids like the movie room."
Since opening in September, North Star Karate has caught on among parents in North Roanoke County. Every school day, more than 60 students catch a bus from Glen Cove Elementary to North Star. Students from other schools in the county and Roanoke also attend.
Susan Rolfe, 35, is the driving force behind the day-care center/karate school.
She holds a degree in electrical engineering from Old Dominion University. Until a year ago, she spent her days designing heating and cooling systems.
"I got tired of sitting behind a desk all day, and I wanted to spend some time with my children, and I was having problems finding decent day care," she says. Rolfe and her husband, David, have a daughter, 7, and a son, 5.
A black belt in karate, Susan Rolfe wanted to open a karate school but thought karate alone wouldn't be profitable. "I did some research and realized there was a need for day care in the area, and I thought [day care and karate] would be a good combination."
Rolfe's partner, dentist Mark Reinhardt, purchased the building formerly home to the Division of Motor Vehicles on Peters Creek Road. Reinhardt's dental office is next door. After renovation, the building opened as North Star Karate on the first day of school in the fall. To Rolfe's knowledge, it is the only combination karate school and day-care center anywhere.
The school's biggest selling point has been the homework room. College students supervise the work, and faxed assignments can be received from school if necessary.
After homework is done, kids can enjoy crafts, video games, Foosball, movies, gymnastics and karate. All children take American Freestyle karate classes unless their parents request otherwise. There are three full-time karate instructors, all black belts.
North Star also offers evening karate classes for children and adults. David Rolfe, a veterinarian by day, is one of the instructors. About 50 people take evening classes; 82 children are in the after-school program.
Cost of the after-school program is $38 per week, including gymnastics and karate. The program is open on snow days and some school holidays: "Whenever parents have to work," Susan Rolfe says.
Tracy Jones' mother, Susan Quist, has been pleased with North Star.
"Susan [Rolfe] has been real good to work with," says Quist, a retail worker at Valley View Mall. "They're real adaptable and work with whatever recommendations the parents make. When they first started, the homework program had a little more work to do. Now they've devised different schedules and ways to get the children to do the work."
Tracy almost always gets her homework done, Quist says.
Supervising 82 energetic youngsters is no easy task. Asked how many hours she works per week, Susan Rolfe says, "A thousand."
Her numerous duties include driving the 71-passenger North Star school bus that picks up kids at Burlington and Mountain View schools.
But Rolfe has no complaints. "I'm having a great time," she said. "It's been very challenging, but I love it."
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. 1. Susan Rolfe (left), owner of Northby CNBStar Karate in Roanoke, helps with a punch-blocking routine during
an after-school session, Rolfe, a former electrical engineer, and
her husband, opened the center to provide children with a structured
program during afternoon hours. 2. Ann Nguyen, 7, practices her
writing in the homework room at North Star Karate.