THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
As Salem High students and faculty members struggled to deal with the death Friday of Principal Ramona B. Stenzhorn, school officials on Monday named a temporary replacement.
Assistant Principal E. Wayne Sykes will head the school until a new principal can be chosen. Deputy Superintendent James L. Pughsley said he expected an appointment to be made within 90 days.
``Assistant principals (at Salem) have been meeting and doing an outstanding job planning . . . to make it as normal a situation as possible, recognizing that it is an enormous loss to all of us,'' Pughsley said.
A team of counselors, psychologists and social workers was on hand at the school to help students and teachers cope with the unexpected loss of Stenzhorn, 52, who died of a heart attack. She was a popular leader and one of the most senior principals in the city.
``They'll be there as long as they're needed to work with students and staff who are having a difficult time handling this situation,'' Pughsley said. ``We want to help in any way we can.''
Classes at Salem will be dismissed early today so students and faculty members can attend the funeral. It is to begin at 3 p.m. in Virginia Beach United Methodist Church.
Students said they spent much of Monday coming to grips with the shock that Stenzhorn was gone.
When the president of the Student Council Association, Amy J. Doll, dedicated the daily moment of silence to Stenzhorn, ``It was so silent you could hear the hum of the heaters,'' said 15-year-old Chris Gaffrey, a junior.
``It's hard for everybody to comprehend that she's gone, because she was a part of our everyday lives,'' said Liesel Caten, 16, a junior. ``Whether you knew her personally or just knew she was our principal, you saw her every day.
``Dr. Stenzhorn always encouraged us to be proud, and to take pride in everything we did. We tried to live up to that today, and we tried to make her proud of us by not being all weepy. But it wasn't very easy.'' by CNB