Emily Flora | Special to So Salem

Glenvar students of the Glenvar Coalition Prevention Council: Samantha Hannabass, 10th grade; Amanda White, 11th grade; Caryn Martin, 10th grade; Kenna Chapman, 10th grade; Kendall Jarvis, 10th grade; Kaleb Reed, 9th grade; and Tucker Hudson, 9th grade.

On Thursday, Jan. 28, students and parents at North Cross School welcomed Glenvar High School students from the Glenvar Coalition Prevention Council.

The Glenvar students presented messages on how to make good choices and better ways to form communication between parents and teens.

The students from Glenvar have been traveling to several schools in the area to give their presentation.

Scholarships help fund teacher projects Masons Cove begins a new chapter

At an awards ceremony held Jan. 20, more than 90 teachers from 25 schools across Roanoke County received 70 grants totaling $20,280.29 from the Roanoke County Public Schools Education Foundation. The grants help to fund various education-related projects.

The grants are funded through general Education Foundation donations and sponsors from the Foundation's golf tournament held each fall. These sponsors include Athem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Ball Corporation, BB&T, Blue Ridge Copier, Brambleton Imports, Inc., Carilion Clinic, Delta Dental Plan of Virginia, Kroger, Martin Bros. Contractors, Inc., Pepsi Cola Bottling Group, RRMM Architectures, Stop-In/The Country Store Deli and Wing IT.

"I want to congratulate all of the recipients of the classroom scholarships. We are delighted to be able to provide funding assistance in order to help Roanoke County teachers do the great job they do everyday," said Education Foundation vice-president Lenora Downing.

Each year the Roanoke County Public Schools Education Foundation awards scholarships to students and teachers. In addition, the Foundation recognizes excellence in education each spring with the Golden Apple Award, presented to the top teacher in Roanoke County.

Masons Cove begins a new chapter

Well-behaved children and their rosy cheeks gladly braved the cold during the official groundbreaking ceremony of Masons Cove Elementary school on Bradshaw Road on Friday afternoon, Jan. 29. In addition to the entire school and their staff and teachers, the school board, superintendent Lorraine Lange, the building's contractors, and even parents were present.

The new school, designed by RRMM architects, will be LEED certified, said Catawba school board representative David Wymer. G&H Contracting will build the school, and Carroll Construction will do the masonry work including several different patterns and types of brick, even a little bit of stone to make the environmentally friendly school attractive, too. It is scheduled to be completed by 2012.

Behind the shovels, the old school sat, still heated by a coal furnace. Classes can be held there until the new building is ready to move into, and then it will be demolished and replaced by a new baseball field. The Moose Lodge and Whispering Pines are generously allowing the school to hold its rec league sports practices on their fields while the transition is taking place.

"It's an exciting time to be a leader," said Principal Ashley McCallum. She took her post at the beginning of this school year.

"The whole community has embraced this," she said. "We're really excited. These kids will be the first kids in a brand new building. They deserve it. The community deserves it."

-- Miranda Adkins

Superhero talent show at Glenvar

The Glenvar Community Action Team will host the "Be Someone's Superhero Talent Show" at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 5, in the Glenvar High School auditorium.

Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for youth.

Glenvar High School Honor Roll

"A" HONOR ROLL

9th Grade

Kyleigh Alleman, Jacob Bookman, Victoria Brown, Jenna Figaro, Brenna Finck, Julia Holland, Hanah Lee, Sabrina Muncy, Cara Neikirk, Taylor Parks, Walker Peterson, Jordan Tawney, Sarah Thomsen, Jonathan Wilson, Samantha Yates

10th Grade

Brooke Bennett, Felicia Duncan, Hayley Field, Kyle Jacobs, Brittany Warren

11th Grade

Colin Bittner, Abby Caldwell, Emily Dingman, Haley Goodes, Timothy Howard, Caitlin Hurt, Nicholas Kidd, William Meredith, Matthew Rosendahl, Elizabeth Sherer, Chelsea Witt

12th Grade

Aaron Akers, Richard Bryant, Patrick Ferguson, Kyle George, Dawn Harris, Lyndsey Hunter, Rose Kohinke, Jayce Layman, Michael Leistman, Abigale Lockard, Anna Noble, Anne Parrish, Sarah Perez, Anthony Ratliff, Jacob Tyree, Amy Vincel, Paul Walker, Ruthanna Walker

"A/B" HONOR ROLL

9th Grade

Jacob Barfield, Samantha Batista, Christopher Bell, Logan Bowbeer, Tabitha Chewning, Tyler Crockett, Bryan Daunt, Alexander Dunkenberger, Sydney Ferrell, Marina Hafey, Kendall Jenkins, Bryce Mallette, Samantha Maxey, Morgan Miller, Ethan Mills, Amber Montgomery, Forrest Morris, Sarah Mullins, Morgan Neal, Kristopher Newman, Matthew Ohl, Raj Patel, Daniel Pinard, Kara Reich, Derek Reynolds, Richard Roberts, Katherine Sirry, Amanda Statome, Aretta St. Clair, Kristina Tuttle, David Walker, Ronald Walker, Cierra Wellons, Erin Widener, Lynsey Wyatt

10th Grade

Delali Agblevor, Jessie Allen, Alexander Burke, Andrew Cheatwood, Susan Clark, Aleisha Clyburn, Katie Cundiff, Kayla Dehart, Jeremy Dolan, Tamara Dowdy, Melissa Downey, Andrew Dunbar, Karlyn East, Kimberly Eaton, Brandon Ellis, Nicholas Foley, Liza George, Hunter Graham, Conner Grubb, Samantha Hannabass, Rebecca Hartley, Christopher Hodges, Kendall Jarvis, Caryn Martin, Jacob Noble, Victoria Noel, Andrew Oliver, Zachary Parrish, Seth Ratliff, Hannah Richardson, Sarah Schobert, Kayla Short, Todd Simmons, Woodelyn Smith, Jessica Strom, Thomas Taylor

11th Grade

Matthew Anderson, Luke Brookshier, Alexandra Clark, Samuel Damiano, William Dunkenberger, Kelly Garman, Ashley Gearthart, Kelly Hill, Cameron Holshouser, Kristen Knighton, Kevin Lampert, Christian Martin, Chelsea Mollette, Corey Montano, Sarah Nester, Ryan Page, Michael Roache, Melissa Rondeau, Lindsay Schnur, Marshall Shank, Nicholas Trinchere, Jarrett Tyree, Emily Vincel, Kaytlyn Washenberger, Michael Webb, Sydney Wells, Amanda White, Hannah Whitt, Shawnte' Wiley, Maria Williams, Lauren Willis, Haley Woolwine

12th Grade

Chelsea Arthur, Meredith Bean, Brooke Blevins, Haley Brazeau, Breanna Brogan, Brandi Bryant, Trevor Campbell, Devin Carroll, Jessica Carter, Kathleen Chester, Garrett Clay, Rachel Ely, Jennifer Feller, Jeremy Ferris, Kelsey Field, Morgan Gart, Zackary Herington, Holly Hicks, Zachary Hicks, Zachary Hill, Katherine Holland, Edward Kasper, Spencer Lovell, Jonathan Marino, Victoria Marshall, Megan Marsico, Bryce McCraw, Deshera Miller, Kasie Mills, Brittany Newman, Conner Porterfield, Destiny Richard, Andrea Spence, Kalley Thompson, Caroline Thomsen, Joseph Walker, Stephanie Walsh, Molly Wilbourne, Brian Winslow, Shelby Wynn

Roanoke College sponsors Haiti relief efforts

A variety of groups and organizations at Roanoke College are sponsoring events to benefit the Haiti earthquake victims.

Students from Dr. Chad Morris's freshman intellectual inquiry class, "Do Unto Others, An Anthropology of Service," organized "Team Haiti" after a class discussion about the disaster. The volunteer group is raising funds for the nonprofit organization Partners in Health, which has an existing presence in Haiti and whose goals include bringing medical services to those most in need.

Team Haiti raised $1,132 for PIH during a fundraiser at a local Kroger store and received additional donations during a door-to-door collection in the freshman residence halls.

The students also partnered with the College's dining services for a meal exchange event. For two days, students were encouraged to donate one or two of their dining hall meal credits to PIH, for which the College contributed four dollars per meal. Over 1,000 meals were exchanged for a College donation in excess of $4,000.

Team Haiti students also have written solicitation letters to local businesses and hope to receive additional contributions in response. Supporting Team Haiti's efforts are the chaplain's office, the Center for Community Service, the sociology organization Alpha Kappa Delta and Students Interested in Health Careers, the campus health professions club.

In addition to Team Haiti's efforts, the Lutheran Student Movement is sponsoring "Here I Stand," a shoe and sock drive. They will distribute donations through the Village of Hope, a non-denominational Christian organization focused on helping the children of Haiti. The student group will be collecting new and gently used shoes and new socks through January 29.

The College's Catholic Campus Ministry is raising money to assist Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church with their ongoing ministry in Haiti. The OLPH Haiti Project pairs the Salem parish with St. Gabriel's, a rural parish northeast of Port au Prince in the town of Lascahobas.

Local physician and project director Tom Fame notes that food and building expenses are likely to skyrocket as a result of the earthquake disaster.

He says, "The money [received] during this time of giving is going to help...provide school lunches to the 1,000 students at these rural schools."

In addition to these initiatives, the chaplain's office is receiving donations to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Disaster Response Fund, 100 percent of which will be used for immediate relief and ongoing recovery in Haiti.

The College invites the Salem community to join in the campus efforts. All items and monetary donations can be dropped off or sent directly to the chaplain's office at 221 College Lane, Salem, VA, 24153.

Online contributions to PIH can be made at www.pih.org. For more information, please call (540) 375-2300 or contact the Rev. Paul Henrickson at henricks@roanoke.edu.