DATE: Saturday, May 17, 1997                TAG: 9705170275

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   83 lines

EVMS TEAMS WITH KEMPS LANDING STUDENTS MAGNET SCHOOL KIDS GET A CHANCE TO TAKE PART IN PRE-MED SCHOOL ACTIVITIES.

When students at Kemps Landing Magnet School talk about growing up to be doctors, they don't talk about growing up to be doctors.

They want to become virologists, geneticists or neurosurgeons.

Clearly, they've been thinking about it for a while and learning about medicine from somewhere besides television.

So it seems particularly appropriate that Eastern Virginia Medical School would enter into an unprecedented partnership with Kemps Landing, the city's magnet school for gifted and talented sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. It's the only partnership of its kind that EVMS participates in.

Since the program began in January, the young people have enjoyed opportunities that would make them the envy of pre-med college students. They've attended brain dissections, taken part in simulation labs that offer training in diagnosis techniques, and met with prominent members of the faculty. A visit by Aaron Vinik, the EVMS doctor on the trail of a cure for diabetes, was met with loud enthusiasm. Most recently, a seminar was held with a leading ethicist and EVMS professor, Thomas Pellegrino, on managed health care in which 16 students peppered Pellegrino with questions based on research they'd gathered. One hundred twenty-five other Kemps Landing magnet students also took part.

EVMS and Kemps Landing administrators say the program is a success and that they can't wait for next year when more activities are planned.

``(EVMS) has offered opportunities that I would never have been so bold as to ask for,'' said Kemps Landing principal Hazel Jessee. ``They're generous beyond any expectation I might have had.''

The joint effort began after staff at the magnet school decided that they wanted to find a partner with an academic focus to offer students some new experiences. The school approached EVMS expecting a lengthy discussion, but the proposal was accepted almost immediately.

EVMS president, and former Virginia Beach School superintendent, Edward E. Brickell visited the school in January to make the partnership official. Since then, training and other opportunities have been made available to Kemps Landing students and to staff.

Brickell said he has had an interest in gifted and talented education since his days with the Beach schools. He wanted to create a high school for gifted students, but during his 19 years with the division there was little time to focus on such an effort as the schools struggled to meet the demands of soaring enrollment.

So, when the magnet school approached EVMS about a partnership, Brickell said ``I thought that's a good match there. . . . We thought it would offer something unique to some unique kids.''

The young people agree.

Thirteen-year-old Kristine Salibio took a break from researching managed health care in the school's library to say she thinks the partnership is a good thing. Kristine, who will take part in the panel discussion with Dr. Pellegrino, hopes to be a neurosurgeon.

``We're lucky. We're getting first-hand experience (through the partnership). We can get an early start,'' she said.

Daniel Young, a sixth-grader, attended the brain dissection.

``That was very interesting,'' he said. And as for the partnership in general, ``it enhances the curriculum a lot.''

And Heather Denby, 12, a future geneticist or pediatrician, said the joint effort is ``a really good thing.''

``A lot of kids are interested in medicine,'' she said. ``This will help them.''

Ultimately, the hope is the partnership will benefit both the magnet school and the medical school.

Brickell said he's always glad to have early contact with potential EVMS students from the area and his doctors are being reconnected with what medical students are before they become medical students.

And, next year, there are plans for Kemps Landing students to participate in some of the medical school's charitable efforts, giving the magnet school students a chance to give back to EVMS.

``We don't always want to be on the receiving end,'' said Pam Ellis, coordinator of the magnet school's partnership program. ``We want to share with them.''

``People ask, `How did you get EVMS?'' ' Ellis continued. ``We didn't get them. We just met with them and offered a plan.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

Pam Ellis, who coordinates the Kemps Landing Magnet School's

partnership program with EVMS, talks with seventh graders Wesley

Pendarvis, left, and Heather Denby and Nick Tsougas.

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