Tag: Arts & Culture

Reconnecting McDowell Board Approves Location for Teacher Village

The Reconnecting McDowell board of directors approved a plan today to purchase property in downtown Welch, W.Va., on which to build much-needed,…

The Reconnecting McDowell board of directors approved a plan today to purchase property in downtown Welch, W.Va., on which to build much-needed, affordable housing for teachers and other professionals.

“This is a huge milestone for a greatly anticipated endeavor intended to help retain teachers in McDowell County and to spark economic development,” said Gayle Manchin, chair of the Reconnecting McDowell board.

Since Manchin and the American Federation of Teachers started the partnership in December 2011, it has grown into a vibrant effort to improve the county’s schools, provide more social and healthcare services, and encourage economic development. Reconnecting McDowell now has 125 partners from government, nonprofit organizations, labor, corporations, the community and the school system engaged in providing sustainable programs and services to improve the quality of residents’ lives. 

Community Housing Partners, the architecture firm that is designing the housing, presented the board with a few options for a Teacher Village in downtown Welch. The board chose to enter into a purchase option on the property of the long-closed Best Furniture and Katzen buildings. The partnership will pursue in the next several weeks whether to renovate the existing buildings or construct a new building. The housing would include approximately 30 apartment-style units, group areas for teachers to collaborate, work out and relax, and community amenities such as a coffee shop on the street level for the general public. The board also agreed to explore the viability of other housing options throughout McDowell County.

“Reconnecting McDowell made new housing a key piece of its plan to revitalize the county. A Teacher Village will attract and retain teachers, provide good jobs and encourage more economic development,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “We are helping this proud community reclaim the promise of great schools and access to the services and programs they need to thrive.”

Manchin said the partnership will be working on obtaining financing this winter and expects groundbreaking this spring. Reconnecting McDowell would own the building and hire an outside firm to manage it.

 
 

West Virginian Cites Video Game Experience in Application for Coaching Job

Marshall University graduate and systems integration analyst Chris McComas wants to become the next head coach of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux football…

  Marshall University graduate and systems integration analyst Chris McComas wants to become the next head coach of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux football team. The way he went about applying for the job is genius.

He began his pursuit for the position by emailing Brian Faison, the athletic director of the university. In that email McComas attached a hilarious Powerpoint presentation detailing his coaching philosophy that wasn’t short of brazen confidence.

Sports websites like Deadspin began picking up the story.

McComas even landed an endorsement to become the coach at North Dakota from another popularsports website, SB Nation.

Local media personalities around West Virginia began to rally him on, using the hashtag #chuckthepigskin.

And then media in North Dakota began showing their support.

As did other locals and football enthusiasts.

And then national mainstream media, like ABC World News and CBS Sports, got in on the story.

Thursday morning, McComas was keeping the dream alive, mapping out his go-to Hail Mary.

Even EA Sports, the maker of the Madden and NCAA Football video games, has been getting in on the fun:

Book Lovers of Charleston Celebrate 90 years

In December, 1923, 13 African American women in Charleston met to discuss their love of books.  The club these women formed would continue to thrive for the next 90 years.  The Book Lovers of Charleston is celebrating this weekend with a party.  Membership to the book lovers club is by invitation, but this party is open to the public as the group’s gift to the community.

Yvonne Moore was asked to join the Book Lovers of Charleston 16 years ago.

“Mrs. Ruth Stevenson Norman, who died not too long ago, was the last was the last remaining founder. I met her. She met me not long after I came to Charleston in 1972 so I can honestly say that I knew and visited in her home and had tea with her.  She was an unbelievable educator in this valley.” Yvonne Moore, member of the Book Lovers of Charleston The Book Lovers of Charleston will celebrate its 90th  anniversary with a party at the Women's Club on Virginia Street in Charleston on Sunday afternoon at three o'clock.  The public is welcomed to attend.

Parents of Children with Special Needs Lean on Each Other

Often referred to as, ‘the greatest job in the world’, taking care of a child with special needs can be challenging for parent. Parents of children in Mercer County have formed their own support group. 

Living in rural areas often means living significant distances from medical specialists, and sometimes treatment. For example the best form of treatment for Autism is applied behavioral analysis. While there are limited specialists across the state, there is not a single specialist south of Charleston in West Virginia.

Support groups are no different. There are very few in the region. 

“Unfortunately where we are in a very rural area there’s not a lot of access to support groups like you would see in bigger cities,” Carla Poseno said.

Carla Poseno is the Vice President of the K.I.D.S Project.

“So what we decided to do is make an all-inclusive special needs support group to work in the community,” she said.

While the support group is meant to help parents and caregivers of children with special needs, the group is also to help remind the children that they are kind, important, determined, and strong … which is what the “KIDS” in “K.I.D.S Project” stands for.

“It’s really helped me because my daughter is kind of my full time job,” she said. “Best job on earth but at the same time it can be stressful.”

Poseno knows that raising a child with special needs isn’t always easy.  

“Sometimes it can be hard it can be stressful,” Poseno said. “You have sleepless nights there are days that sometimes you are lucky to get a shower because your child needs so much from you.”

“It’s worth the fight to fight for your kids when they have special needs.”

Children with various diagnoses and disabilities are all welcome and so far parents of children with special needs that range from autism, to spina bifida, to bipolar have attended meetings.

Kristal Jones, coincidentally a McDowell native, is the president of the group.  

“The very first meeting it struck me that this is something that we really need in our area,” Jones said.

The group is also a place for parents and caregivers to share resources and advice. Jones’s daughter has A.D.H.D.

“If you don’t request certain things they may not know that your child needs that additional help on testing per say,” she said.

The group meets every fourth Monday of the month at Princeton Public Library. The next meeting on December 30, however, will be at the Glenwood Green Valley Fire Department. The K.I.D.S project is hosting a holiday party for families with members with special needs.

Historic Win: Martinsburg Football is Four-Time Champion

The Martinsburg High football team made West Virginia high school sports history Saturday by beating Huntington High 9-7 to win the state AAA championship in Wheeling, W.Va.

It’s the first time in West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission history an AAA ranked school has won four state football championships in a row.

Martinsburg (13-1) was ranked number two during the season and Huntington (13-1) was ranked number one.

“Anytime you have number one versus number two it should be a tight ballgame and it was today,” Martinsburg Coach  Davis Walker said.

“It was just a knock-down, drag-out brawl,” he said. “And fortunately our kids played enough to come out on top.”

Hundreds of supporters gathered at Martinsburg High School about 7:30 p.m. Saturday to welcome the team home. Player Troy Walker scored the only Martinsburg touch down.

“I’m just glad we won,” Walker said. “We made history, something not too many people get to do.”

“The game was kind of nerve wracking, but it was great,” Martinsburg Principal Trent Sherman said. “Our kids really played hard and their kids really played hard and we got the win, which was important.”

Sherman credited the Martinsburg football program’s success to the coaching staff.

These Two Mountain Stage Performances Encapsulate Nelson Mandela's Rise to Prominence

With the passing of the anti-Aparthied revolutionary and former South African President Nelson Mandela, we wanted to connect you to how West Virginia played a small part in another famous South African’s fight for Mandela’s rise to international prominence.  

Legendary South African musician Hugh Masekela  performed for the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta crowd gathered for Mountain Stage on September 3, 1989. Masekela performed his song “Bring Him Back Home,” an anthem of the movement to free Mandela from prison.

When Masekela returned to play Mountain Stage on May 8, 1994, the battle cry had turned into a celebratory hymn. Two days after that appearance, Masekela performed the song at Mandela’s inauguration as the President of South Africa.
 

Mandela.mp3
Masekela performs the same song on May 8, 1994 on Mountain Stage.
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