And although their schools may be rivals on the football field, Camden, Lugoff-Elgin and North Central students are enjoying the unique experience.

Teachers at all three high schools are taking part in the Distance Learning courses, which are designed to give students a wider variety of class choices at each school. In a lean budget year, the system also is a money saver for the district.

Each Distance Learning classroom is equipped with at least two TV monitors and two cameras. Students can not only see the teacher but also their peers from around the district also taking the course.

Students sit at microphone-equipped tables, and when one of the students speaks into a microphone, a camera zooms in on that student`s table, so all three classes can see and hear the comments and questions of others.

Gabby Munn is a senior at CHS and is taking a sociology course taught by L-EHS instructor Bill Epps. She is enrolled in the course along with three classmates at CHS and 26 L-EHS and NCHS students.

``It`s very different,`` she said. ``It`s kind of strange at first, but you get used to it after awhile.``

Julie Putnam, the district`s Distance Learning coordinator, said the key to the program`s success is planning and coordination between the three schools.

``It took a lot of coordination, because the schools had to figure out what classes all of the schools needed,`` she said. ``The idea was to accommodate schools who had smaller class numbers and who wouldn`t (be able to offer the course otherwise).``

L-EHS Principal Dee Christopher: ``It`s a good way to get some students some classes who otherwise wouldn`t be able to get them. It`s a neat program.``

According to Christopher, the program also saves schools money so they can combine efforts on mandatory classes for which they would have otherwise had to pay.

Other Distance Learning courses being offered in 2003-2004 include French I, Spanish III, AP Statistics, Honors Physics and an SAT Prep course.

``It has just worked really well,`` said Putnam, who spends her days traveling between the three schools monitoring the program. ``The kids would always prefer having a teacher there in the room. But generally it`s better to have (Distance Learning) classes than for a course not to be offered at all.

``It`s really going quite smoothly.``

According to Putnam, CHS teacher Jean Redfearn will rotate between CHS, L-EHS and NCHS when she teaches a statistics class through Distance Learning this spring. On Mondays, she will originate the class from CHS, then travel to L-EHS on Tuesday, NCHS on Wednesday, etc.

``She`ll rotate where she is physically because her schedule allows her to do that,`` Putnam said.

In addition to the cameras and monitors, every classroom also comes equipped with a desktop camera which enables teachers to display handouts to students in the classroom and around the