THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 31, 1996 TAG: 9610290140
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, COMPASS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: 76 lines
LEAH BUHLER AND Jannat Scoon are the brains of Booker T. Washington field hockey on the field and the brains of the Bookers off it.
Senior captains, Buhler and Scoon are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in their class academically. Buhler, a National Merit Finalist, has a 4.096 GPA; Scoon holds a 3.8. Friends since middle school, Buhler and Scoon see each other as role models not competitors - and sometimes as measuring sticks.
``I'll call Leah more than she'll call me,'' says Scoon, whose first name is pronounced ``Johna,'' meaning paradise in Arabic. ``I know if Leah can't understand it, it really must be impossible.''
``I look at school as I'm not trying to compete with anybody else; I'm competing against myself,'' Buhler says. ``I'm always proud of Jannat if she is doing good in school. I'm not competing with her because I don't want to step on anyone else to get where I want to be.''
They met at Norview Middle School but initially didn't socialize in the same circle. Scoon had heard Buhler called snobbish, but when she talked with her the first time, Buhler was just the opposite. ``She's down to earth. I always know if I really need something, I can go to Leah,'' Scoon says.
Buhler, the more analytical of the two, has always excelled at school. She says she doesn't put in loads of extra hours studying at home; mostly she pays attention in class. ``I believe in comprehending material, not memorizing it,'' she says. ``I don't do a whole lot of studying unless I have a test the next day.''
Occasionally she and Scoon review homework together. ``Over the phone,'' she says. ``There's another student on our team, Andrea (Thomas), . . . she has three-way. Last year with chemistry all the time, we were on three-way talking about chemistry homework or government homework.''
Buhler is taking a second chemistry class this year - it's her favorite subject - and one of three classes she shares with Scoon along with AP English and AP calculus. While Buhler limits herself to field hockey and working on weekends as a buffet runner at Captain John's, Scoon is involved in so many activities she has trouble listing them.
``I do everything. I'm in DECA and FHA. I'm president of DECA, no, I'm president of FHA. No, hmmm. Even I get them confused,'' she says.
Scoon is a majorette in the band and in her first two years of high school she was class president. This year she is vice president. Both she and Buhler belong to the National Honor Society.
The high grades and resume of activities should help on college applications. Buhler wants to go to Georgetown and is considering a chemistry major. Scoon is looking at VCU and wants to be a doctor. But, ``I don't know if I want to be in school that long.''
Both girls have heard others criticize the education in Norfolk's Public Schools, particularly Booker T., but Buhler doesn't buy into it. She points to her test scores, including a recent 1320 on the SATs, that rank her with the nation's high school elite. Scoon says Booker T. has that reputation because it draws from some of the city's rough sections. It is only a nasty stereotype, she says.
``To me Booker T. has some of the best academics,'' she says. ``When you look at the percentage of our students on the honor roll, it is packed. I don't come from one of those other neighborhoods, but I see ones from rough neighborhoods making the same kind of grades I am. We go through a lot of flack.''
Field hockey is a stress buster for both of them. They are part of a team that includes nine seniors who have been together since sophomore year. Buhler is a sweeper, a position she relishes because she has vision of the entire field. Scoon is the scorer of the two, always seeking the ball.
``At timeouts Leah will pull me to the side and tell me stuff,'' Scoon says. And, she added, both she and Buhler have the ability to see the whole picture on the field. Miss Delong always says that's because we're brain-iaks.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by VICKI CRONIS
Leah Butler, left, and Jannat Scoon are stars on the Booker T.
Washington High School field hockey team as well as standouts in the
classroom. They are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in their class academically.
KEYWORDS: HIGH SCHOOL FIELD HOCKEY by CNB