www.newrivervalley.com

Both teams will advance to playoffs next week. Learn more here.

The Blue Demons head to Tunstall on Monday for a playoff match. Read more here.

Both teams posted dominating performances Thursday in Botetourt County. Learn more here.

The Radford School Board meets tonight at 6 p.m. Here's the agenda.

The Montgomery County Education Association today announced its endorsements in local elections.

The association's education committee endorses Phyllis Albritton, District A, for the school board and Annette Perkins for the Board of Supervisors.

The association represents teachers and staff in the Montgomery County school system.

You can see Sunday's Current for a closer look at the school board candidates.

Here's the complete announcement.
The Montgomery County Education Association Political Action Committee (MCEAPAC)
has voted to recommend Phyllis Albritton for re-election to the Montgomery County
School Board and Annette Perkins for re-election to the Board of Supervisors. Both
candidates represent District A which includes a portion of the Town of Blacksburg and the
Northeast corner of the county.
The Educator PAC chose not to make any recommendation for candidates running in
either District C or D.
“Both Albritton and Perkins have lifelong records of service to children and public
education,” said MCEA President, Erin Bull. “Moreover,” Bull continued, “as they have done
the challenging work of elected leaders on the School Board and the Board of Supervisors,
their determination always to do what is best for school children and the professionals who
work with them has never waivered.

While there are also two candidates running for the School Board Seat in District D,
MCEA PAC chose not to make a recommendation in that race. In District D Lenny Session is
challenging incumbent Jamie Bond. “We had long conversations with both District D School
Board candidates,” said Karen Trear, MCEA-PAC Chairperson. “Both had much to offer.
Ms. Bond is a very enthusiastic person and demonstrates a far better grasp of the position than
she did four years ago. Mr. Session is very analytical and posseses a savvy understanding of
how the school board should function. In the end we decided that we could support
whomever the voters of District D elected."

And how does that compare to others around the state?

We have the latest stats on the Datasphere, our site for searchable data. You can find the graduation rates here.

Vaccinations begin Wednesday for lower grades at five schools in the New River Health District — two elementary schools in Floyd County, two elementary/middle schools in Giles County and one elementary school in Montgomery County.

Reporter Duncan Adams has more on this story.

The Radford University faculty senate may soon consider a motion expressing no confidence in the academic leadership of Provost Wil Stanton.

Reporter Tonia Moxley has more on this story.

Shawna Morrison

SHAWSVILLE — When Master Deputy Chris Lucas  asked a Shawsville Elementary School  class  what they had learned during their first day of the DARE program, hands flew up.

“Don’t smoke.”

“Don’t chew tobacco.”

“Don’t be drunk.”

“How to make good decisions.”

In one day, the fifth-graders had already learned the gist of much of what Lucas was going to spend the next nine weeks teaching.

Lucas — who taught DARE at Price’s Fork Elementary School  for 10 years before adding Shawsville, Elliston-Lafayette and Belview  elementary schools this year — is good at connecting with children.

It’s part of what earned him the Mike Bentowski  DARE Officer of the Year Award from the Virginia DARE Officers Association  in July.

“I was pretty flattered,” Lucas said. “There’s a lot of folks who are probably more deserving than I am.”

Lucas, who works for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, tries hard to drive home to fifth-graders the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use and how to resist peer pressure.

At the same time, he manages to become their buddy.

He gives them high-fives. He gets down on his knees to talk to them. He eats lunch and plays kickball with them.

In the letter she wrote to nominate Lucas for the Officer of the Year award, Jenna Swann, a fifth-grade teacher at Price’s Fork Elementary, wrote, “I believe in the lessons taught, but no matter how great the lessons are, they cannot reach troubled children or make a difference in all of our children’s lives unless the DARE officer teaching them inspires, motivates, and excites.

“This is exactly what Chris Lucas does.”

She included in her nomination a comment from the DARE essay Nathan Hjulstrom  wrote last year when he was a fifth-grader at Price’s Fork. Hjulstrom said Lucas “has the playfulness of a kindergartner, the respect of an adult, and the love of a huge stuffed teddy bear all rolled into one.”

“Chris has a remarkable talent for relating to all types of audiences, especially kids,” said Montgomery County Lt. Brian Wright.

Lucas said he thinks DARE — Drug Abuse Resistance Education — classes are effective.

“I tell all of our kids that at some point in time they’re going to be faced with a situation where they’re going to have to make some type of decision about whether to do something or not to do something,” Lucas said. “You can’t get that message out early enough.”

Another benefit to DARE, Lucas said, is that the program allows children to meet a law enforcement officer.

Some youngsters, he said, will greet him right away. Others are shy around officers.

Senior Trooper Gene Ayers  of the Virginia State Police, the state’s DARE coordinator, said he doesn’t know how many times he has heard a parent say to a child, “There’s a police officer. If you’re not good, he’s going to lock you up.”

One girl began to cry as soon as she saw Lucas at Elliston-Lafayette, saying she was scared of police, he said. He went to talk to her.

“She said, 'I thought you were going to shoot me,’ ” Lucas said. “I told her, 'I’m your friend.’ ”

The next time she saw Lucas, the girl high-fived him.

That sort of interaction, Lucas said, helps children trust their school resource officers when they enter middle school. He also stops by the preschool through fourth-grade classes at each school to introduce himself to the children and make sure they know how to dial 911.

Lucas, a 41-year-old Blacksburg native, has been with the sheriff’s office since Jan. 1, 1997. He began teaching DARE 10 years ago. He worked as a school resource officer at Christiansburg Middle School until a Christiansburg police officer took over this year.

Now, Lucas is one of two full-time crime prevention officers at the sheriff’s office.

Lucas is also running the department’s Citizens Police Academy. The father of two boys, 11-year-old Aaron and 8-year-old Jacob, he helps coach football and baseball.

He is also a tournament bass fisherman — with a room full of trophies — and is the director of the Angler’s Choice Marine Team Tournament at Smith Mountain Lake.

Part of what makes Lucas a good DARE officer is his natural ability to communicate with children, teenagers and adults, Ayers said.

“He is one of the fellows that I’ve always looked at as a strong DARE officer,” he said, even when Lucas went through the two-week class required to teach DARE several years ago.

Now, he is working to become a DARE mentor to teach other DARE officers. He spent a week late last month in Kansas City, Mo., taking class all day and doing several hours worth of homework each night. He will shadow another mentor for two weeks, then will be shadowed while he mentors before he becomes certified.

Lucas said it’s rewarding to watch a group of fifth-graders complete the DARE program, knowing they may be better prepared to face tough decisions.

“If you touch the life of just one, it’s worth it,” Lucas said. “But I think, by far, you touch the lives of many others.”

Should the drinking age be lowered to 18? Some college presidents think so; some don't. Data editor Matt Chittum has more details on who's in favor and who's against -- and why on our Datasphere site of searchable data.

You can start with this post on who wants to change the rules and this post on whether public or private colleges are most in favor of a change.