February 9, 2000
DSLCC Press Release

Rollinson Named Coordinator of Jackson River Governor's School

Dr. Susan W. Rollinson has been named as Coordinator for the Jackson River Governor’s School, located at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College.

The Jackson River Governor’s School is a regional public school for high school juniors and seniors who want to go beyond the traditional high school offerings in science, mathematics and technology. Students will attend college level math, science and technology classes in the morning at DSLCC and return to their home high school for classes in English, social studies and electives.

Students in the Alleghany Highlands, Bath County, Botetourt County, Buena Vista City, Covington City, Lexington City and Rockbridge County School Systems will be eligible to participate. Superintendents from each of these systems and Dr. Terry King, Dean of Instruction and Student Services at DSLCC, make up the governing board for Regional Governor’s School. The 2000 chair is Dr. Marty Laughlin, Superintendent of the Alleghany Highlands School System.

Currently, Rollinson is working with DSLCC and the governing and planning boards to organize and develop the courses for the school. She is proposing classes in environmental science, statistics, precalculus and science technology for juniors and calculus, physics and advanced science technology for seniors. Students may also be able to take additional college-level courses such as chemistry, biology and computer science. In the spring semester, internship programs will connect learning to the real world.

Faculty for the Governor’s School will be made up of current DSLCC faculty, as well as outside individuals who have a master’s degree in one of the Governor’s School’s disciplines. Eventually, Rollinson hopes the school can maintain its own faculty.

Each high school will choose its own participants based on their course work in math and science, test scores, faculty recommendations and their motivation to succeed in the challenging environment presented by the Governor’s School.
"The Governor’s School is an exciting opportunity for highly motivated high school students to study advanced science and math and earn college credit in a stimulating and cooperative environment," said Rollinson. "Laboratory work and research will be an integral part of the Governor’s School experience—an opportunity often not available in high school.

"I encourage all current tenth and eleventh grade students in the area who might be interested in attending the Governor’s School to come to the student-parent information meetings that will be held at each of the six high schools."

Rollinson’s teaching experience includes being a lecturer at DSLCC for chemistry, computer and pulp and paper courses; a teacher with Project SEARCH for children in grades first through seventh; an instructor for Jackson River Technical Center for adult evening courses in computers; as well as several professorships and teaching positions at various four-year institutions. She is also the owner of Alleghany Micro, a firm specializing in computer consulting and programming.
"Ms. Rollinson’s impressive academic credentials are indicative of the excellence that DSLCC and the local school systems can expect from this collaborative venture," said Dr. Terry King. "The Governor’s School concept is a win-win situation for all parties and will provide an opportunity for motivated students to gain invaluable skills in math, science and technology." Rollinson, of Clifton Forge, received her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois, where she majored in organic chemistry. She has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Carleton College.

She is also very active in the community, where her activities include the Alleghany Highlands School Board, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Alleghany Highlands Chorale. She is a member of the All Saints Lutheran Church in Covington, where she also serves as organist.

Rollinson is married to Dr. Lon Rollinson, Technical Director at Westvaco and has three children, David, 15; Christy, 13; and John, 10.

For more information about the Jackson River Governor’s School, contact Rollinson at 863-2841 or toll-free within the DSLCC service area at 877-73DSLCC or visit DSLCC on the web at www.dslcc.edu.