DATE: Monday, November 17, 1997             TAG: 9711170223

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Jane Harper 

                                            LENGTH:  120 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ...

. . . Former ``700 Club'' co-host Ben Kinchlow?

Ben Kinchlow had been a popular co-host of the Christian Broadcasting Network's ``700 Club'' for more than 22 years when he left the program in July to start his own ministry.

Although his co-hosting days are over, there hasn't been much down time for Kinchlow since he left the ``700 Club.''

He's been traveling and speaking across the country, often holding his ``Man Alive'' seminars, in which he encourages people to live and work to their maximum potential. Attendance at the forums usually ranges from about 1,500 to 5,000.

He's also working on his third book, which has a working title of ``The Next Step,'' and spending increasingly more time on a couple of humanitarian projects.

In one of the projects, which is called Tel-A-Village, Kinchlow and others try to improve health and sanitation conditions in tiny countries where babies seldom survive their first year and the average life span for adults is 45.

``The people who live in these places don't even name their children until they are a year old because so many of them die before then,'' Kinchlow said. ``The health conditions are just that bad.''

Kinchlow and his followers try to teach the villagers good health and hygiene practices using teaching videotapes played on battery and solar-powered televisions. In one lesson, the villagers are warned of the dangers of drinking and bathing in water that is downstream from where they go to urinate. Gospel songs and evangelical lessons also are included on the tapes.

``Some of these things may seem really basic to most people, but they aren't to these people,'' he said.

``I really feel we can use technology in so many ways to help improve people's lives and to make other people feel that they have made a difference in the lives of others.''

With the Tel-A-Village project, for instance, Kinchlow encourages people to donate $25 to $30 a month to pay for the videotapes sent to developing countries. ``With that little amount, you can bring the Gospel to about 7,000 people and important sanitation and hygiene information that will help them live longer.''

Despite all of the projects he is involved in, Kinchlow said, he is also devoting more time to his family. Kinchlow and his wife, Vivian, live in Chesapeake. They have three sons and six grandchildren who all live nearby.

He stays in touch with his former boss, Pat Robertson, and many of his former co-workers at CBN.

``It (working on the `700 Club') was as stimulating a career and a job that a person could ask for,'' he said. ``I met some of the great people of the world - politicians, statesmen and religious people. But I just felt it was time for me to move on and to begin doing some things on my own that I've been wanting to do for a long time.''

Kinchlow encourages anyone wanting to contact him or receive more information about his projects to write him at his office: 1920 Centerville Turnpike, Virginia Beach, Va. 23464.

...The "Romper Room" teacher critized over a school trip ?

Connie Hindmarsh had been a well-loved host of the ``Romper Room'' children's television show in the late 1960s and early '70s and a highly praised teacher within the Norfolk public school system for 20 years when one of her high school drama students alleged last year that other students were having sex and using drugs while on a school trip that Hindmarsh supervised. Norfolk schools Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. at first recommended firing Hindmarsh but later agreed to let her transfer to Rosemont Middle School.

It's only been a year and a half since the accusations against Hindmarsh made headlines and television news broadcasts throughout Hampton Roads, but it ``seems like a million years ago'' to Hindmarsh.

And things could not be going much better for her.

At the end of her first year of teaching math at Rosemont Middle School, Hindmarsh was named the school's Teacher of the Year.

She's gained even more praise at Rosemont this year for a new program she designed and implemented in which she tries to help at-risk students enjoy school and succeed.

The program, which Hindmarsh calls ``High School Bound,'' is for students who have failed a grade at least once and are in danger of dropping out. This year's class consists of 12 boys who had failed the sixth grade more than once.

``They're kids who were turned off from school for one reason or another,'' she said. ``It just didn't seem that we were fulfilling their needs in the traditional classroom setting, and they were giving up.''

Hindmarsh teaches the students all subjects except physical education. And she tries to get them through two grade levels in one year.

``We go over everything: manners, dressing properly, current events,'' Hindmarsh said. She tries to make the lessons fun for them by including topics they are interested in. For instance, she often teaches math using football statistics.

They also spend a lot of time writing. They have a journal and are putting a book together.

``We rarely have anyone absent; and if we do, it's because they are really, really sick,'' Hindmarsh said. ``The parents have been especially supportive. I've gotten such beautiful letters (from them.) They make me want to cry.''

Her program and teaching skills are praised by more than just her students and their parents. Rosemont Principal Melanie Yules and PTA Treasurer Carol Parker said the staff and PTA are thrilled to have Hindmarsh at their school.

``She's always so up and positive,'' Parker said. ``She really loves the kids, and she believes that every child can learn and do well.''

The fact that Hindmarsh was named Teacher of the Year after her first year at Rosemont shows what kind of impact she has had, Yules said. ``I have nothing but accolades for her.''

As for the allegations that were leveled against her, Hindmarsh said that is all behind her.

``In education, that just goes with the territory,'' she said. ``You just have to be prepared for that. And of course, they (school officials) have to investigate.''

And although Superintendent Nichols had recommended firing Hindmarsh at one time, she said there is no animosity between them. ``There's no hard feelings on either side,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: FILE PHOTO/The Virginian-Pilot

Ben Kinchlow has been busy with projects - and spending more time

with his family - since his co-hosting days on the ``700 Club.''

FILE PHOTO/The Virginian-Pilot

Connie Hindmarsh, formerly of the children's TV show ``Romper

Room,'' now can be found teaching at Rosemont Middle School.

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