3 options..

enter the names on a clean unshaded sheet
do the sort
copy the names and
go to a sheet with the shaded lines
and edit... paste special... values

or
have a list of pupils on a shaded lines sheet in alphabetical order
just mark cells next to the names

or
use a macro to do the sort and re- shade the lines after the sort

Sub ShadeEveryOtherRow()
Dim Counter As Integer

Sheets("sheet4").Select
Range("A1:M40").Select
Selection.Sort Key1:=Range("A1"), Order1:=xlAscending, Header:=xlNo, _
OrderCustom:=1, MatchCase:=False, Orientation:=xlTopToBottom, _
DataOption1:=xlSortNormal

Range("A1").Select

For Counter = 1 To 40
'If the row is an odd number (within the selection)...
If Counter Mod 2 = 1 Then
'Set the pattern to xlGray16.
Rows(Counter).Interior.Pattern = xlGray16

Else
Rows(Counter).Interior.Pattern = nil
End If
Next

End Sub

You will have to adjust the ranges to suit.
--
Greetings from New Zealand

"LisaD" wrote in message
...
I am creating a spreadsheet similar to a school attendance record so I have
a
white row and then a gray row. When I enter the children's names and run a
sort to put them in alphabetical order, it also sorts the cell format. Is
there anyway to make the form permanent and just the data sortable?