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Even though it might not have sounded like it at first, the clanging and banging away of ten students' hammers was a terrific learning opportunity at Home Depot on Thursday morning, November 5. Kathy Mallette's special education class completed a lesson while making a fire station-style piggy bank in their "Life Skills" class.

"Hammering is just one of those skills that's important in life," Mallette said. Following written, spoken, or step-by-step photo directions as well as using fine and gross motor skills and coordination were a large part of the lesson. The bank they built was divided into three sections: spend, save, and share. Some of the students earned money for building their banks which they later used to buy something.

"What's good is that we're focusing on prevocational things so that our kids can transfer into any kind of independent living or occupation skills class or setting," said Ruth Herron, an instructional assistant.

Home Depot's classes for kids are typically on the first Saturday of each month. The next one is this Saturday, November 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and will help kids build a trivet. The one from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, will build a wagon. For more information, call the store at 265-7655 and ask about the Kid's Workshop.

A rezoning application has been filed to rezone 0.349 acre from R-1, Low Density Residential District to I-1C, Low Intensity Industrial District with Conditions, for the purpose of expanding an existing cabinet shop, located at 8529 Wood Haven Road, Catawba Magisterial District.

The Ronk Rezoning Community Meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Roanoke County School Board Administrative Board Room. Please visit www.roanokecountyva.gov/pzcommtg for more meeting information. For any other questions, contact Susan Carter at 540-772-2068 or at planning@roanokecountyva.gov.

Donna Nevers, an artist from Moneta, receives her prize from the Salem Museum's raffle: a 60" HDTV from Lee Hartman and Sons in Roanoke. Lee Hartman congratulates Nevers while former Salem mayor Howard Packett, a member of the museum's Capital Campaign, looks on.Second prize, a necklace from R. M. Johnson and Sons jewelers, went to Darrell Semones of Salem, while third prize, a Garman Nuvi GPS unit, was won by Ralph Baker of Salem. Ten consolation prizes of books, Homes Tour Tickets, and other merchandise went to Ry Hubbard, Nancy Burns, Mary Hill, Carol Nunnaly, Lynn Wilkerson, Blake Travitz, Julie Chapman, Inez Good, Harry Minarik, and Betsy Barker.

The raffle raised over $2000 for the Salem Museum building fund.

Submitted by the Salem Museum, John Long

These photos are from the North Salem Tigers U10 girls soccer team of the Salem Parks and Recreation League, and along with them, proud coach Todd Neff sent this account of their great season to go along with the pictures:

"This age group doesn't keep official rankings but our girls did VERY WELL. We lost our first game, made some adjustments then won the next 8 games in a row. Our record was 8-1 and we (unofficially) came in 1st place in our division. The next 2 best teams came in at 5-2-1 by my account.

Our girls were a joy to coach and improved DRASTICALLY as the season progressed. We avenged our only loss (4-2) with a 1-0 victory!

Info on the Coach and assistant coach: My name is Todd Neff and I'm the Mechanical Engineering Manager at ITT Night Vision (coach). My wife, Debbie Neff, was the assistant coach and team coordinator. We loved coaching and look forward to being involved in Salem Parks and Rec league next season."

The team included Alexa Warme (forward), Sydney Willinghan (defense), Molly Willingham (forward), Marlie Gregory (halfback), Isabel Baynum (goalie), Mackenzie Neff (forward), Saylor Bane (defense).

Got local sports team photos? Anybody from the little ones to the adult league are welcome to show off their pictures here! Just send them to news@sosalem.com and we'll post them here.

John Bryant at SuperKicks Karate in Salem had a special treat for kids at Pumpkinfest on Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Salem Farmers Market in coordination with C.H.I.P. He helped them learn some simple tips on how to get away from strangers. Bryant shared these photos from that day.

"In the demonstrations I did, we had an interactive class for all the children that wanted to participate. We got to talk about what to do if a stranger approaches you, how to get away if a bad guy grabs you, and we also spoke about making sure you set a good example in everything you do," Bryant said.

1
This first picture is of us putting our hands together to get away from a stranger.
2 This picture is of us me teaching grabbing the children's hands saying "give me your Halloween candy" and them getting away

Sheryl and Hugh Huff from Salem

We have photos of some of the Salem people who were at last weekend's Lyle Lovett concert at the Roanoke Civic Center -- at left and below.

These photos come from Hank Ebert. You can see his entire gallery here.

As always, if you have photos involving people from Salem, you can share at news@sosalem.com.
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The Salem Prevention Planning Team will hold a town hall meeting to present the findings from a Youth Risk Behavior Survey at 6 pm Tuesday, November 10 at the Salem Family YMCA. We encourage parents, educators, professionals, and all members of the Salem community to attend this meeting to learn more about our youth and how we, as a community, can continue to make Salem City a safe and wonderful environment for our children as they navigate the challenging road between childhood and adulthood.

The Salem Prevention Planning Team is a coalition of youth-serving organizations working together to promote the healthy development of youth. In the spring of 2009, the SPPT, in cooperation with the Salem City Schools, administered the YRB survey to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. The survey was developed by the Center for Disease Control and is used locally, regionally, and nationally to assess risky behaviors in youth and a variety of other health and safety related activities among youth.

Submitted by Ray Bemis, Salem Prevention Planning Team

Here's a link to find more information about the RAYSAC Salem Prevention Planning team

Glenvar High senior Evan DeHart got 10 extra credit points in AP Government for spending an hour with a campaign volunteer.

We have details here.

We'll have election results and analysis tonight on our 2009 election site.

Complete election coverage: Posts from precincts around the valley, candidate profiles, results and more.

At least 50 parents, grandparents, family friends, and residents of Knollwood Apartments in the Richfield Retirement Community listened to Mrs. Beverly Adams' vocal and piano students perform a Halloween costume concert on Thursday, October 29.

Costumes ranged from Hannah Montana to Harry Potter to the inspector from the Pink Panther.

Performers included Andrew Lewis Middle students Skye Blackwell and Jonathan Conner; East Salem Elementary students Levi Garman and Katherine Atkins; Fort Lewis Elementary students Adalynn Eller, Emma Crowe, Hudson Crowe, Madison Bourne, and Callie Bourne; Glenvar Elementary students Olivia Nicholson and Collin Hughes; Masons Cove Elementary student Sidney Ogle; Salem High student Ashley Conner; Glenvar High student Hannah Moran; Patrick Henry High student Ishmel Paige; and Fishburn Park Elementary Student Jai-Din Tinsley.

Cecile Barker, age 7, held a lemonaid stand for the Children's Miracle Network on Saturday, July 18, 2009 beside her daddy's office - Barker Realty. She raised $150 which was turned in that Sunday at a Mill Mountain Zoo celebration.

Submitted by Lewis Barker