THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606120163
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: L2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 63 lines
Instead of attending class, 12-year-old Breanne Scott spent a recent school morning spending $765.
She paid $400 for one book, ``The Diary of Anne Frank.'' And it was only a paperback.
One of her classmates, Laura Mushik, 11, wrote a $650 check for a $20 gift certificate to the Raven restaurant.
The Lynnhaven Middle School sixth-graders made their purchases with fake checks, but with the blessing of their teachers.
Breanne and Laura were two of the Navigators, a team of four sixth grade classes who participated in a two-hour auction in the school cafetorium. They held placards with numbers, which they raised to signal bids and to be identified. Their checkbooks were placed on the tables next to them. The students bought book bags, compact discs, T-shirts, toys, gift certificates, baseball caps and passes to movies and area attractions such as Busch Gardens. Four box-seat tickets to a Norfolk Tides game went for ``$1,000.'' All of the items were donated by area merchants.
As in real life, the money in the checking accounts had to be earned, said Stacey Feldman, a teacher with the Navigator team. The auction was the culminating event in a year-long educational experience.
``We started in September,'' said Feldman. ``We gave them a checkbook and told them they would be responsible for balancing the account and earning the money.''
Students earned the cash in many ways. Their checking accounts grew as they earned good grades, practiced cooperative behavior, achieved high test scores and the like.
``They may have received $25 for being well-prepared for a test,'' Feldman said. ``And they had to pay for things, like rent and using the bathroom.''
One young man bought a gift certificate to the Perfect 10 nails salon. Asked if he was buying it for his girlfriend, he winced and said, ``No, for my mom.''
It was the first auction that Breanne had ever seen. The students were prepared for what was going to happen, though. ``We watched videotapes for about a week,'' she said.
Feldman scurried around handing out purchases and overseeing the bidding. She took the microphone once to admonish the students to be cautious:
``Have I not taught you to be frugal?'' Feldman asked. ``You have a certain amount of money to spend and no more.''
Auctioneer Gene Daniels stood at the front of the cafetorium and sold 111 items in rolling, rapid-fire delivery.
Afterward, Daniels praised the young people.
``You did a great job, one of the best I've seen,'' he told them.
``They're better behaved and more attentive than many of the adults I have dealt with,'' Daniels told the teachers. ``Sometimes at real auctions people will talk and wave to each other and that can be confusing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY EDWARDS
Breanne Scott, 12, spent $400 of her $765 in earnings for a
paperback copy of, ``The Diary of Anne Frank.''
Auctioneer Gene Daniels touted the 111 items for sale in his
rolling, rapid-fire delivery. by CNB