THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9505270167
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Teens At Large
SOURCE: BY LAURA NEFF, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Over and over we hear that high school years are the best four years of our lives. But no one lets on that they are also expensive ones.
Although public schools don't charge tuition, getting through high school is far from cheap.
For example, yearbook prices vary between $30 and $40 this year. Since most students purchase four yearbooks during the course of their high school years, they end up spending about $120 on yearbooks alone.
Dena Winters, a freshman at Lake Taylor High School, has to baby-sit for 60 hours in order to earn that kind of money.
Then there are the tests. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors take the PSAT's for free. SAT's cost $22 per test. AP exams cost $65 per test. Applying for college costs about $20 a school.
Students taking driver's education pay $75. Assuming they pass, most students then try to find the money to purchase a car and pay for insurance. Then there's the cost of gas and maintenance.
Letter jackets are a novelty that most high schoolers want. Students earn letters through school sports and extracurricular activities, but the actual jacket is expensive - between $85 and $152.
Monogramming these jackets also can be costly. A basic setup - the student's name, school and school logo - costs an additional $50. To purchase your class number and have it sewn on along with your letter will cost another $15.
Juniors can purchase class rings at school on select days when the ring company visits. Depending on the size, stone and design, juniors will pay anywhere from $100 to $300.
The junior ring dance and senior prom set students back a couple of hundred dollars each. Ring dance and prom bid prices depend on the amount of money that each class has raised. Because some classes spend their freshman and sophomore years fund-raising, bids are less expensive. But post-prom activities, such as trips to Busch Gardens, add up.
Graduation costs also can get out of control. Senior pictures run between $80 and $350. Senior commencement gowns cost $18, and souvenirs and announcements can cost $75 or more.
Kelley Mawson, a Lake Taylor junior, is ``dreading her senior year'' because of the cost.
Kim Dumas, a Lake Taylor senior, said that she has ``spent more time and money this year than in the last three years together.'' MEMO: Laura Neff is a freshman at Lake Taylor High School.
ILLUSTRATION: Laura Neff
by CNB