DATE: Friday, May 30, 1997                  TAG: 9705290402

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   48 lines

EYES AND EARS

CHESAPEAKE

Images of War. . . Fourth-graders in John Sammons' class at Greenbrier Intermediate School had no first-hand, thankfully, and very little second-hand experience with war, but that didn't stop them from writing Memorial Day poetry honoring the veterans who do.

But even without their own experiences to guide them, the students visualized what war might be like as they wrote their poems.

``The war can start like at night. The war can start anytime,'' said Shanta' Seymore, 10. ``You fall asleep and you don't know what could happen.''

``I was picturing an image of what the war must have been like,'' said Katie Hazzard, 10, whose dad is in the Navy. ``I pictured a soldier standing up with a gun, with others lying on the ground around him.''

How did the soldier feel?

``Kind of brave, and also sad for his fellow soldiers.''

VIRGINIA BEACH

Rites of passage. . . The Class of '97 has filled Kempsville High School's auditorium. The occasion: the senior awards assembly. Kempsville's principal, Louis Tonelson approaches the podium to make opening remarks.

He congratulates the class and reminds them how hard they've worked to get to this point.

``You've worked toward this for 13 years.''

He pauses.

``And some of you more than 13 years.''

The crowd laughs and the ceremony commences.

PORTSMOUTH

Pass the remote control. . . A group of Hunt-Mapp Middle School students spent a recent evening working on the construction of an ``ultra-light flying vehicle,'' which the group began assembling about two months ago.

At one point, a boy noticed a man filming the action as students and volunteer helpers plugged away.

The boy asked someone who the man was and found out that he was a district worker from Channel 47, Portsmouth's cable-access channel.

The boy and several of his buddies practically doubled over in laughter once they realized their work might be televised on Channel 47, on which much of the local education news consists of school-lunch listings and information about the School Board.

``Nobody watches that!'' the boy said.

- Vanee Vines

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