Nora Strock, the 3-year-old sister of second-grader Ava Strock, helps with the fundraiser for Haiti. The youngsters made $266 selling their goods.

Photos courtesy of Sarah Woolsey

From left: Gilbert Linkous Elementary School second-graders Jamye Perks, Emma Grace Woolsey, Gracie Madigan, Maggie Calvert and Ava Strock sold crafts with cookies and lemonade to passers-by in their Blacksburg neighborhood this past weekend to raise money for rebuilding efforts in Haiti after the earthquake in January.

| Anna L. Mallory

anna.mallory@roanoke.com, 381-8627

A group of second-graders at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School put some of their winter recess time to good use this school year.

On Saturday, classmates Emma Grace Woolsey, Melissa Meng, Mara Adams, Maggie Calvert, Gracie Madigan, Hailey Smith and Ava Strock made $266 selling crafts they made during snowbound playtime in Alex Greenman's classroom.

The girls made coloring books, brightly colored pictures, paper airplanes, snowflakes and other recycled-paper products.

The children coupled crafts with cookies and lemonade for passers-by in their Blacksburg neighborhood this past weekend. Proceeds from the sale in their Blacksburg neighborhood will benefit rebuilding efforts in Haiti after the earthquake in January.

Emma Grace and Melissa originated the idea and enlisted their classmates. The sale's profits will be donated to Partners in Health, a Haitian relief organization.

SAT PREP

NRCC offers test-preparation course beginning Saturday

High-schoolers taking the SAT can take advantage of a preparation course at New River Community College that begins Saturday.

The class begins at 9 a.m. and runs Saturdays through April 17.

The course will emphasize math and verbal drills and offer hints and shortcuts for test taking.

The cost is $86. The textbook is $45. Students should bring their own graphing calculators.

More information can be found at the Office of Workforce Development at 674-3600, Ext. 4323.

ACADEMICS

Blacksburg High School wins state championship

Blacksburg High School won its first AA-division state academic competition in a decade last month, two weeks after the roof over the school gym collapsed.

On Feb. 27, 24 teams competed in the 13th annual Virginia High School League's Scholastic Bowl championship at the College of William and Mary, vying for the top three positions in their respective classifications in the double-elimination tournament.

Blacksburg defeated New Kent by 45 points.

In A-division competition, Eastern Montgomery High School brought home third place.