Kara Kayrouz fixes the tassel of Danielle Stump before the ceremony.

Coach Mark Ingerson and forensics mom Artice Ledbetter gathered and relayed news from the National Forensics tournament in Birmingham, Ala.

Jerrel Ledbetter (10th grade), Clay Bradshaw (10th grade), and Michael Robertson (11th grade) competed at the National Forensics League (NFL) Nationals in Birmingham, Ala., June 15 through 19.

Michael made the cut for the top 40 in the nation in Impromptu Speaking, which works like this: Each competitor is given three topics (ideas, quotations, proverbs, people, or events) and he/she has five minutes to prepare a five minute speech. The speech should be well organized with an introcution, 3 main points, and a conclusion. Quick thinking skills, clarity of logic, and clean speaking skills are all part of the judging criteria.

In the earlier part of the competition, Jerrel broke into the top 60 in the nation for International Extemporaneous.

Jerrel competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking as his primary event. Jerrel won the VA NFL Qualifying tournament in January at the University of Virginia. Jerrel was the Virginia High School League Group AA state champion in Foreign Extemporaneous in 2009.

Clay's primary event was Humorous Interpretation. Clay won the the VA NFL Qualifying Tournament in HI in January at UVA. Clay is the VHSL 2009 state champion in Humorous Interp. Last season he was the VHSL state champ in Children's Storytelling.

Michael's primary event was in U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking. Michael placed 4th at the Qualifying Tournament at UVA in January. Michael was the VHSL runner-up in Impromptu Speaking in 2009. In 2008, Michael was state champion in Impromptu.

To read more about the tournament, visit The Notebook on sosalem.com

Submitted by Mark Ingerson

Perfect

A few days before heading out with the high school graduating crowds to beach week at Myrtle, Salem High School's only perfect school career attendance graduate of 2009, Derek Pendleton, told So Salem how he managed to go to every single day of elementary, middle, and high school. And even though the summer month brunch-time wakeups have begun for most, there might just come a time -- like at the end of August, maybe? -- that these tips might come in handy.

1: How do you stay well throughout the school year? Wear a jacket when it's cold outside, especially if it's after working up a sweat.

"If I've just played a basketball game, I'll put a jacket on, because you can get pneumonia from that" cold air exposure, he said. He also says he's been blessed because the rest of his family doesn't get sick often, either.

2: What if all your friends are playing hooky? Don't do it, Pendleton says.

Even if mom and dad say it's okay -- "It hasn't really bothered me since my fifth grade year because I saw that all my friends were getting missed grades."

3: Be an early bird. It's easier to prepare for the day that way.

"Well, I don't like doing it," said Pendleton. "I'm used to it and I don't like being rushed. I'll wake up like 30 minutes before everyone else does so I can take my time getting ready."

On-site history

Eighth-graders at Andrew Lewis Middle School took a walk through local history at East Hill Cemetery on Friday morning, May 29, and their teachers incorporated math, science, social studies, English, and even physical education into the lesson.

"I think they were probably kind of puzzled about what we were going to do," said Brian Hooker, the eighth-grade World Geography teacher. They started the unit after their World Geography SOL test. "I didn't tell them any specifics. The teachers and I made the sheets up and I didn't pass them out until they got on site."

In the cemetery, students were given a worksheet and searched through their assigned plots -- questions about the headstones' weathering and which stones might last longer dealt with science. Math questions entailed finding the youngest and oldest occupants of the graves -- as well as figuring average ages of females or males.

Social studies questions dealt with indications of social standings and religious faith, the cemetery's location, and places people came from before dying in Salem. English queries included finding interesting epitaphs and how they indicated things about their owners.

It all started with the end of their World Geography lesson on May 21. Hooker's inspiration was the book "Salem: A Virginia Chronicle" by Norwood C. Middleton.

"I used it as a main resource to talk about local history, and I learned a lot. And I'd like to say that my students learned a lot, too," he said. They started out at the Indians, and by May 30 they were in the Civil War, Hooker said.

A quick chat with students Jordan Dixon and Josh Carr proved that the knowledge was sinking in.

"You were more distinguished if you had a bigger stone," said Dixon. A memorable epitaph for her was that of David Bittle's: "Faithful unto Death."

Carr learned that Andrew Lewis isn't just an obscure mention that Salem has held onto -- he realized that Lewis is actually buried in East Hill. Another famous family he noticed was that of Nathaniel Burwell.

Glenvar Middle School's guidance office nationally recognized

Glenvar Middle School applied for and received the American School Counselor Association's Model Program Designation and was recognized at the May 14 Roanoke County School Board meeting for the award. "That recognition shows that we're using data and diff accountability strategies to make sure that we're meeting all of the students' needs here at Glenvar," Kristen Moran said.

The program uses surveys to gauge students' feedback on the guidance office. It took about two years for the school's office to get equipped to apply for the recognition, valid for the next three years, which they applied for this February.