Dos and Don’Ts of Knighthood Cave Spring High School

By Jennie Tal jennie.tal@roanoke.com 981-3269

Do your homework.

Pay attention.

Don’t fall asleep in class.

Follow the dress code.

And keep your cellphone off at all times — no matter what.

A student expects to hear instructions from teachers on the first day of school.

But at Cave Spring High School, more than 100 rising freshmen learned the do’s and don’ts of high school from their soon-to-be peers almost three weeks before they don their back-to-school clothes and hear the first bell.

About 220 students will start ninth grade at Cave Spring on Aug. 25. More than half already got a taste of high school at the Roanoke County school’s second Knights in Training program — 165 students preregistered for the half-day orientation.

The almost-high schoolers participated in sessions where they learned Cave Spring traditions, academic tips and rules of the school before being treated to a cookout.

One former eighth-grader learned a very important rule before she made it to the “Dr. Phil Show” activity — the one where older students explain the laws of the land.

Lea Hamilton, 14, was still in the gym, playing team-building games, when a teacher saw her cellphone.

“I was actually just turning it off,” Lea said. Cellphones aren’t allowed in middle school, either.

But learning the rules wasn’t exactly why Lea went to school that day.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing all of my classmates again,” she said. “And getting to see what the school’s going to be like. Oh, and the food.”

The Knights in Training program started last year as the result of a grant awarded to Cave Spring for being in the High Schools that Work Network, explained Diane Herchenrider, the assistant principal in charge of freshmen and sophomores.

Herchenrider said the PTSA cooked hundreds of hot dogs to help bring the new students — and their parents — together at the end of the day.

While the hot dogs were important, and probably a big a draw to the program, Herchenrider said one of this year’s new programs, How to Succeed in High School By Really Trying, was one of the most meaningful.

A panel of former freshmen led by guidance coordinator Marsha House told stories and gave advice to the up-and-coming students.

During her presentation, House asked if anyone wanted to attend the University of Virginia.

Anna Smith raised her hand.

House told the class that only one student with less than a 4.0 grade-point average got accepted to UVa from Cave Spring last year.

Anna, 14, got straight A’s in middle school and thinks she can keep it up.

“There’s going to be more distractions, but I think if I really crack down I can do it,” she said.

And that’s exactly what House and Herchenrider want to hear.

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