THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604160137
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Who says foreign policy can't be fun?
When you have Diana Ross and the Supremes singing about nuclear proliferation on ``Late Night'' with David Letterman, anything goes.
That was the premise of the skit that Julie Buhl's Advanced Placement European History class at Maury High School spent last week preparing for the Student Forum on NATO Issues, held Monday night at Virginia Wesleyan College. Their topic was ``The Dangers of Arms Proliferation.''
``Diana Ross and the Supremes are making a comeback, singing out against arms proliferation in the world,'' Buhl said.
Tanishia Williams, 18, a senior, became Diana Ross, belting out lyrics like ``Stop, In The Name Of Peace,'' to the tune of ``Stop In The Name Of Love,'' as sophomore Rachel Swanson, 16, and senior Raven Patterson, 16, sang backup, complete with choreography by senior Danielle Cohea, 17.
Georg Dahl, 18, a senior, impersonated David Letterman, to introduce the group, but only after reviewing one of Letterman's famous lists, with 10 reasons to stop arms proliferation.
``They came out to my house, in Suffolk, during spring break, and worked about four hours,'' Buhl said. ``They're very diligent; they thought it would be fun. I have a big house; they split up into two rooms. Everybody worked. It's an extracurricular activity. They came of their own free will.''
Even before spring break, others in the class had been busy researching the topic, assigned by Azalea Festival officials.
``There are 16 in the class,'' Buhl explained. ``In addition to the four participants that will be on stage, at least twice that number are also involved in it.''
Those scenes, and others like them, were repeated in five other Norfolk high schools last week as each prepared to participate in the forum. In addition to Maury, the four other public high schools - Booker T. Washington, Granby, Lake Taylor and Norview - and one private school, Norfolk Collegiate, take part in the forum, which, this year, was scheduled to be the lead event for the XLIII International Azalea Festival.
Although the presentations aren't ranked, graded or scored, spirits run high.
``We can't let these other schools beat us,'' said Catherine Schweitzer, 18, a junior at Maury.
``We've had these forums for a number of years now,'' Buhl said. ``Rivalries, like football games, have sprung up. It's a self-made competition. Although it's not graded or scored, I'm going to give them some extra credit.''
The five public schools each had a finalist entered in a companion essay contest, with the winner to be announced at the forum. First prize was two tickets to the Netherlands and a $500 savings bond. Each of the other four finalists would receive a $100 savings bond.
A NATO officer was assigned as an adviser to each school. Lt. Col. Terry Loveridge of the Canadian Armed Forces worked with the Maury group.
Participating schools were afforded wide latitude in deciding the nature of their presentations. Panel discussions and debates were among the possibilities, but in recent years skits written and acted out by the students have proven increasingly popular.
``Lake Taylor set the tone two years ago when they did a skit,'' explained Dr. Gloria Hagans, senior coordinator of social studies for Norfolk Public Schools. ``Booker T. Washington did a mock interview, with a reporter and two admirals. Last year, four out of six did skits.''
``We've encouraged students to use their own creativity in presenting their research,'' Buhl said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
From left, Rachel Swanson, Tanishia Williams and Raven Patterson
receive pointers from teacher Julie Buhl.
by CNB