Cathy Benson | The Botetourt View

The class with the helicopter crew.

On Tuesday, June 23, students in one of the afternoon classes at the weeklong Journey program for gifted and talented students at Central Academy, had a real treat. Summitt Helicopters flew in a shiny cobalt blue and silver helicopter and landed on the CAMS football field.

Erryn Barkett, a local pilot and businessman from Fincastle, taught the class last week.

The interested students, who were all boys, quizzed helicopter pilot Art Sanford about many of the gizmos sticking off the whirlybird in various places. Sanford uncovered the engine located on the top rear of the chopper. It is about the size of a car engine but much more souped up. Sanford told the kids that he learned to fly as a Marine at the end of the Vietnam War though he did not go to the country. His primary service was Sea Knight flying a CH-53, and he landed on and off carriers.

He told the students he had been in two crashes, one in the Marines and the other working with a Guatamalan co-pilot who crashed their copter during a government drug enforcement in Latin America years ago. He displayed the scars on his arm and head to the awed students. He told the students, "We are careful, sometimes because we work around AEP lines [one of the things they do as a business] you do have to be aware."

Some facts about the helicopter: The copter weighs a ton. It is for sale at a price tag of $300,000. He told the students a brand new one from the factory would cost $1 million. Some of the items on the exterior include the radio antennae and air gauges, flaps and a touch down hook.

Each student took a seat in the pilot's control while they had a photo op from one of Barkett's employees, Shana Perkey. Afterward Barkett gave the word and the students raced across the field and behind the chain link fence. Sanford and his co-pilot Rick Chase hopped in the blue machine and fired it up. Blades whirred and spun and the familiar, "Chop, chop, chop," filled the air. He flew to the left to the right into the wind and then flipped the copter around and soared into the eastern sky. He whirled around and over the field with Chase waving from the passenger side, the copter swooped off to Cloverdale. "Cool" emitted from many throats along the fence -- both adult and child.

Students in the class were: Alex Ford, Logan Ferrell, Blake Horne, Mathew Whitely, Tristan Lowdermilk, Jadon Reed, Brody Harris, Kyle Sperber and Jack Buchanan.

Central Academy Middle School hosts Botetorut Summer Gifted Program

Third- through eighth-graders in Botetourt County were educationally entertained for the week of June 22. Central Academy Middle School hosted the Botetourt Summer Gifted Program, a series of creative and educational classes for gifted students. Just a few of the classes offered include Making Art with Everyday Objects, I Know Who Did It, and Lights! Camera! Action! Students got to pick their classes based on their interests and everyone seemed to enjoy their choices.

In Making Art with Everyday Objects, taught by Meagan Stump of Hilltop Studios, the students use natural, found and recycled objects to create their own art. They were working on painting papier-mache creations and river rocks. Throughout the week the class was going to be doing numerous other projects with recycled materials -- many of them found at Goodwill.

I Know Who Did It is a class that focuses on writing mystery stories. Taught by Kristyne Bryant, the students are learning how to write their own mystery, including creating setting, brainstorming, establishing characters. At the end of the week the stories will be published online for family and friends to see. Many students chose to do most of their work on laptops, but some got creative by drawing their characters and how they imagined them.

Lights! Camera! Action! took place entirely on computers with students learning how to make movies. Jenna Sprinkle and Lacey Loope, both recent graduates of James River High School, took the students to take photos outside, then helped set the photos to the students' favorite songs. By the end of the week each student will have a 30 minute movie, or multiple short films. The students seemed to have just as much fun picking out the music they did anything else, turning up the volume whenever they found something they liked.

Journey for gifted and talented hosts Remarkable Trees author

Last week The Botetourt View covered some of the nine classes held for Journey, the Botetourt County Public School's program for the gifted and talented; 87 students were participating in the week of adventure at Central Academy Middle School.

On Monday, June 22, the Botany class traveled to a garden in Southwest Roanoke County off Virginia 419 called "Calvin's Garden." The horticulture in the garden is primarily of endangered plants from many continents that are being grown by the owner, said Emily Parnell, a Cloverdale student who is participating in the class. The students were using story teller technology on computers to place photos in a file. They were taken during the trip.

Tuesday was a big day for the class in more ways than one. Jeff Kirwan, Ph.D. in Forestry at Virginia Tech and 4H Extension Specialist for the Remarkable Trees of Virginia book and project sponsored by 4-H, was on hand to talk to the students and take them on a 5K hike to see the Virginia State Champion Honeylocust at Fincastle United Methodist Church. The second place tree is located in Godwin Cemetery. The Fincastle Methodist Honeylocust is the second largest in the United States and is up for re-measurement next year.

First, Kirwan gave the students a slide show of some of the thousands of trees nominated for inclusion in the Remarkable Tree project and in the book published in 2008. One of the students' favorite trees is a tree that is growing out of an ancient pick up truck and is featured in the book.

The trek from Central Academy featured the identification of trees in the CAMS yard, trees in the BTEC front area, along Springwood Road and throughout the Town of Fincastle to the Methodist Church and Godwin Cemetary. Along the way, Kirwan and the students discovered the catalpa tree in front of Breckinridge Elementary School is large enough to be nominated for the project.

He gave the students some interesting facts about the honeylocust being a cemetary type tree, and that is where it is listed in the book. He also said the Native Americans planted honeylocust near gardens because it has the knack to pull nitrogen out of the air.

Some hints he gave for tree care included, "Do not park under a tree." That act will damage a tree's root system.

Students in the class included Alex Ford, Chris Bradd, Christopher Fechisin, Chris Thrasher, Thomas Harrison, Audrey Stultz and Emily Parnell. Instructor for the class is Todd Merrille and was assisted by Marcia Peters, Gifted and Talented Specialist and a volunteer, Forestry teacher and FFA sponsor from James River High School, Richard Furman, also took the hike through town with the class.

Troutville Elementary School honors Cecil Hoyt's memory

Prior to fifth-grade graduation on Friday, June 12, Troutville Elementary School honored one of their own, Cecil Hoyt. He was the head custodian at the school for many years prior to his death from cancer last fall. "Cecil Hoyt carried a huge ring of keys and used to say, "That's why they pay me the big bucks" to teachers," said Kim Trask, who coached soccer with Hoyt and is on the faculty at the school. "He was popular with students, administrators and faculty," said Trask. His family was also in attendance.

The school purchased a beautiful green Twist and Turns bench inscribed "Cecil" and a dogwood tree to place on the grounds. "So Cecil can forever watch over us," said Principal Karen Crush.

Central Academy Middle School holds CO2 Dragster Competition

The Technology Education program at Central Academy Middle School in Fincastle holds a semi-annual CO2 Dragster competition where students build and race model dragsters.

The students start with a block of wood, create a design they hope is visually appealing, and race competitively against their classmates.

While designing their dragsters, students learn and apply concepts such as acceleration, friction, force and resistance.

Students have the opportunity to investigate careers in the automotive, design and engineering fields while taking part in a process that culminates in a tournament.

The winner of the 2008-2009 tournament was eighth-grader Matt Middlecamp. The runner up was Shawn Rock, who was fastest in first semester.

The instructor, Randy Brinkley, thanked all of his students for their hard work and dedication in making technology education and this tournament a successful learning experience.

Eighth-graders at Read Mountain Middle School celebrate the end of three years of middle school at a celebration dance. Friday, June 12, ended the middle school experience for these students. The day began with an awards assembly and ended with the traditional eighth grade dance. These students are now officially high school freshmen!

-- Submitted by Heather Simmons

BTEC ladies run the shopHeadline goes here please

Three young Botetourt Technical Education Center (BTEC) students have spent the year rebuilding a 1972 Volvo. However, this normal project by students in Donnie Sale's Collision Repair I is made a little more unusual since these three students are Paige Sprinkle (of James River), Cheyenne Rickard (of Lord Botetourt), and Dawn Phoenix (of James River)--that's right, three girls. Since the beginning of the year, the three girls have completely rebuilt the car, only recently putting all the parts back together to resemble the vehicle they make up.

After given a budget to start with, it was the girls' responsibility to fix the parts that came with the car or buy parts from other cars in order to get it up and running again. For one hour everyday this school year, the girls have been roughing it with the boys to work on their project on which they are graded. This year the girls focused on the actual rebuilding and repairing process, while next year they will paint and redo the interior; not to mention the car will be returned to the owner when they finish it, making the project about more than just the grade.

The girls were mainly inspired by family to take the course, for reasons ranging from having that certain family member who often gets in fender benders or having relatives involved in racing. Each of the students worked on the car equally, all helping with the entire rebuilding process and gaining well rounded skills. The best perk, though? As the only three females in the class, the girls got to keep working on the Volvo all year while the guys were often moved around to work on the numerous other cars in the shop. "It's kind of like we run the class, it's not strange at all," Paige said. Dawn and Cheyenne agreed.

Where some may feel out of place, these three do not feel odd at all working with the boys. The challenges are the same for everyone in the class, which sets the stage for equality in the course.

While sanding was the quick least-favorite activity among all the girls, the future task of painting and pinstriping was by far the favorite. Unfortunately, the latter tasks have to wait for next year. The girls were planning to attach the hood and make some final adjustments before covering the car and putting it away for the summer. Luckily for the public, Paige, Dawn and Cheyenne hope to continue their trade as a hobby (at least) once this course and Collision Repair II are over, so keep an eye out--one day in the near future they may be helping you out with your auto woes.