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With the opening of the Taubman Museum of Art and with the placement of statues and sculptures around town, Roanoke has been on a public art kick recently.

Now come Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools, which are looking to join the artistic movement with new bus shelters.

Although a bus shelter may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of public art, these are not ordinary shelters. The city and the Greater Roanoke Transit Co. are splitting the $80,000 cost to design, build and install two whimsical bus shelters at the city's two high schools.

The shelters will be designed by Ed Dolinger, an artist from Bassett, with help from art classes at the high schools.

At Patrick Henry, students built models to make the shelter resemble an umbrella, so that standing under the awning would be like standing under the staves. Dolinger incorporated the umbrella idea unto the final design and added an accent resembling the plume of a patriot's hat, as a nod to the school's mascot.

The shelter, made of steel and polycarbonate set on a concrete base, should be in place by the end of spring, said Susan Jennings, Roanoke's public art coordinator.

The same project is just getting started at William Fleming, where the new school building is still under construction.

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Call it a sign of the times. Effective immediately, Roanoke County students will no longer have to pass a half-credit keyboarding class to graduate. The school board members voted to eliminate the requirement at their meeting last week.

The school system introduced the mandatory class in 2002, as a way to prepare students for an increasingly computerized world. Now, however, teachers have found that students know all about typing on keyboards (not to mention on cellphones) before they come to high school.

"Its time has passed," said school board Chairman Jerry Canada. "I think it was a good idea at the time."

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With college costs expected to rise considerably as the state faces a depressing budget outlook, the Virginia Western Community College Foundation has ramped up its giving. The foundation awarded scholarships to 99 students last week totaling $121,761, about $28,000 more than it did in the 2007-08 academic year. The money will be used for tuition, textbooks and other expenses, according to the foundation.

The foundation also awarded about $12,590 in emergency student funds this year. The money helped 44 students buy books and 23 students received money to help with expenses such as bus tickets, child care, eyeglasses, utility bills, gas, food, housing, emergency dental work and shoes.

Of the 99 students who received a scholarship this year, 89 were in the Roanoke area: six were from Bedford County, nine were from Botetourt County, 28 were from Roanoke, 28 were from Roanoke County, four were from Salem, 10 were from Franklin County, one was from Montgomery County, one was from Rockbridge County and two were from Vinton.