Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

McHarg Elementary School first-grade teacher Betty Whitley bites into her copy of "First Grade Jitters" while reading the book to her students on the first day of school. Whitley read the book and acted out some of the parts to put her students at ease.

McHarg Elementary School physical education teacher Betty Holcomb (left) gets a hug from returning student Emma Jackson as she arrives for the first day of school in Radford.

Students hang up their backpacks in the hallway of McHarg Elementary School.

Auburn Middle School teacher Pamela Bostwick has been named a finalist for a national award.

Bostwick is up for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and she is one of two teachers in Virginia nominated for the award, according to a news release from the Montgomery County school system.

The winner will receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation and a paid trip for two to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of recognition events and professional development programs. The White House, through the National Science Foundation, can select up to one recipient from each state.

"We are very proud of Ms. Bostwick," said Guylene Wood-Setzer, Auburn Middle School principal. "She is a fantastic teacher and is an integral part of our team at Auburn Middle."

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is the highest recognition that a kindergarten through 12th-grade mathematics or science teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States.

Enacted by Congress in 1983, this program authorizes the president to bestow up to 108 awards each year. The National Science Foundation administers the award on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

TIME CAPSULE

Auburn High grads unearth memories

Members of Auburn High School's Class of 2000 recently gathered at Claytor Lake for their 10-year reunion-- and they certainly had something sweet, or at least the remnants of it, on which to reminisce.

On Aug. 12, four former classmates -- Stacy Cunningham, Miranda Bishop, Kayla Chaffin and Adrienne Smith -- went to the grounds at Auburn Middle School to unearth a time capsule their sixth-grade teacher urged them to bury, according to AHS Principal Carl Pauli.

Sixth-grade science teacher Kitty Brennan said they were a special class, being the first of the new millennium to earn high school diplomas.

After digging about a foot, the group came upon a plastic shoebox. In it, they found candy-bar wrappers, hard candy wrapping, a mechanical pencil and a Crayola marker -- all the makings of a 1993 sixth-grader's good times.

The group, joined by Brennan's son, Kelly, also recalled how their teacher inspired them. Pauli said she was the most creative teacher they had ever known.

Brennan died in a car wreck in 2004.

AWARD

2 area teens earn safe-driver honors

The Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Services has awarded two New River Valley students $1,000 U.S. Savings Bonds as part of its Teenage Driver Safety and Education Program.

The program is designed to reward safe, responsible drivers, according to a news release.

The winners are Steve Brower of Radford and Edward Dapper of Blacksburg.

Under the program, the company promises to give the awards to teen drivers who complete a driver safety education course before their 18th birthday; who have no traffic convictions or wrecks during a three-year period following completion of the course; who maintain a continuous valid Virginia driver's license during the three-year period; and who are continuously rated on a private passenger-type vehicle providing liability coverage with the company for the three-year period.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for those ages 15 to 20.

The program started in December 1996, and the first savings bonds were awarded in December 1999. More than 2,800 teens have successfully completed the program since its inception.