Awards Story Archives - Page 2 of 3 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

State DEP to Honor Educators For Promoting Environmental Awareness

Starting next week, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will honor three West Virginia Environmental Teachers of the Year for their work in promoting environmental awareness in their classrooms.

One teacher is chosen at the elementary, middle and high school levels to be honored for going above and beyond in promoting environmental awareness and stewardship in their classrooms and communities.

Tiffany Pace of Cross Lanes Elementary; Amelia “Amie” Mullens of Barrackville Middle and Renee Haines of Martinsburg High are this year’s award recipients.

Haines will receive her award at 2:45 p.m. on May 9 at Martinsburg High. Mullens will be honored at 12:45 p.m. on May 12 at Barrackville Middle, and Pace will be recognized at noon on May 15 at Cross Lanes Elementary.

Each teacher will receive a $500 personal award and a $1,000 check to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education at their schools.

WVPB Wins Multiple Awards At Virginias AP Broadcasters Competition

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is proud to announce four first place awards and seven runner ups across nine categories for the 74th Annual Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards. The first place awards include Best Documentary or In-Depth, Best Light Feature, Best Multi-Platform and Best Mountain State Heritage.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is proud to announce four first place awards and seven runner ups across nine categories for the 74th Annual Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards.

The first place awards include Best Documentary or In-Depth, Best Light Feature, Best Multi-Platform and Best Mountain State Heritage.

WVPB has won first in Best Mountain State Heritage for the third year in a row. Stories from WVPB programs Inside Appalachia and Us & Them were finalists in two categories.

These are all stories filed in 2022.

WVPB awards include:

Best Radio News Anchor: Second Place, Teresa Wills, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Bridge Safety and A Discussion About the State’s Personal Income Tax on This West Virginia Morning.”

Best Podcast-Audio: Second Place, Trey Kay and Emily Haavik, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Court of Second Chances.”

Best Spot News: Second Place, Caroline MacGregor, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Airport Expansion’s Potential Impact on Coonskin Park Worries Local Residents.”

Best Documentary or In-Depth: First Place, Trey Kay and Marisa Helms, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “The Gun Divide”; Second Place, Jessica Lilly, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “West Virginia Water Trails: Rebuilding Buffalo Creek’s Identity.”

Best Light Feature: First Place, Mason Adams, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Floyd’s Friday Night Jamboree Builds Community from Music.”

Best QA (One-on-One) Interview: Second Place, Eric Douglas, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Arthur’ Author Appears at Book Festival.”

Best Specialty Reporting: Second Place, Chris Schulz, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Mon County Bans Pride Flags in Schools, Receives Pushback.”

Best Multi-Platform Story: First Place, Jessica Lilly, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “West Virginia Water Trails: Rebuilding Buffalo Creek’s Identity.”

Best Mountain State Heritage: First Place, Zack Harold, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “A Guitar Surgeon Gives Old Instruments Their Voices Back”; Second Place, Lauren Griffin, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Dirt, Soot, Smoke and Oil: Mechanics Take on the Dirty Job of Repairing Antique Trains.”

The Virginias AP Broadcasters competition pits WVPB against stations across West Virginia and Virginia.

Four divisions compete in thirty categories. The divisions include Television I (Large Market), Television II (Small Market), Radio I (Metro) and Radio II (Non-Metro).

W.Va. Schools Recognized By U.S. Department Of Education

C.W. Shipley Elementary School in Jefferson County, Evans Elementary School in Jackson County and Culloden Elementary School in Cabell County were three of the 300 schools recognized as Blue Ribbon Schools nationwide.

Three West Virginia schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.

C.W. Shipley Elementary School in Jefferson County, Evans Elementary School in Jackson County and Culloden Elementary School in Cabell County were three of the 300 schools recognized nationwide.

They join a group of 9,000 schools distinguished since the program was created in 1982.

The honors are given out based either on a school’s high-performing academics or by closing specific achievement gaps. All three West Virginia schools were recognized on the basis of their academics.

The program’s website says these schools have some of the “highest achieving students (the top 15 percent) in English and mathematics, measured by state assessments.”

The announcement was made by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who also visited WVU Wednesday to discuss mental health issues with students.

Cardona said in a statement that the schools recognized had gone “above and beyond to keep students healthy and safe” while the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic while “meeting their academic, social, emotional and mental health needs.”

WVPB Celebrates 13 Finalists In 2021 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Contest

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s news team and radio department are finalists in the 2021 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters contest, including Outstanding News Operation.

WVPB’s 13 finalists are represented in 11 categories. Thirty-seven news organizations in Virginia and West Virginia submitted 587 entries. While technically not part of the news department, Teresa Wills was nominated for the first time as best anchor for WVPB’s morning radio show West Virginia Morning.

First and second place winners will be announced at the Virginias AP Broadcasters Awards Luncheon on Saturday, March 26 at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs.

The list of WVPB finalists below are in random order:

RADIO I/METRO:

Best Continuing News: Liz McCormick, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Closing the COVID Gap”; Ben Paviour and Whittney Evans, WCVE-FM/VPM, Richmond, VA, “Marijuana Legalization in Virginia.”

Best Documentary or In-Depth: Trey Kay and Ryan Katz, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Those Who Lack Good Oral Health Face Far More Than a Toothless Hillbilly Stereotype”; Megan Pauley, Sara McCloskey and Crixell Matthews, WCVE-FM/VPM, Richmond, VA, “Dreams Deferred: How an Overlooked Type of School Debt Is Affecting Thousands of Students in Virginia.”

Best Light Feature: Jordan Christie, WHRO-FM, Norfolk, VA, “The Legacy of Grace Sherwood, the Alleged ‘Witch of Pungo'”; Zack Harold, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Friends and Family Remember Russell Yann, Iconic Owner of Fairmont Hotdog Hotspot.”

Best Serious Feature: Jessica Lilly, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Woman Underground — How One W.Va. Miner Found Family and Fatherly Connection in Coal”; Sam Turken, WHRO-FM, Norfolk, VA, “It’s Coming Quicker Than We Realize: Reckoning With a Future of More Flooding.”

Best Sports Feature: Jessica Lilly, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Fayetteville Native Takes 7th in Paralympics 100-Meters”; Ian Stewart, WCVE-FM/VPM, Richmond, VA, “One Year In, Black Girls Hike RVA Still Breaking Stereotypes.”

Best Reporter: June Leffler, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV; Jessica Lilly, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV.

Best QA (One-on-One) Interview: Gene Marrano, WFIR-AM/FM, Roanoke, VA, “Dopesick-Hulu Interview”; Liz McCormick, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Returning Home: Berkeley County Special Education Teacher Lifts up Students With Disabilities.”

Best Website: WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV.

Best Radio News Anchor: Jeff Stapleton, WRVA-AM, Richmond, VA; Teresa Wills, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV.

Best Mountain State Heritage: Zack Harold, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Retired Miner Makes Traditional Cream Pull Candy”; Trey Kay and Brad Stratton, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Us and Them: Blair Mountain.”

Outstanding News Operation of the Virginias: WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV; WVTF-FM, Roanoke, VA.

The VAPB is an independent association comprised of local members of The Associated Press, a not-for-profit news cooperative that represents thousands of newspapers and broadcast stations across the United States.

Inside Appalachia, Us & Them Win National Awards

Two award-winning West Virginia Public Broadcasting programs — Inside Appalachia and Us & Them — can each add a Public Media Journalists Association 2020 Award to their lists of achievements.

Inside Appalachia, WVPB’s weekly news magazine show, which broadcasts to the world the beautiful complexities of life here, won second place in the Audience Engagement Program category for its episode, “Without Enough Support, Working Moms Struggle to Make Breastfeeding Work.” Roxy Todd is the show’s producer. She had help on this episode from Appalachia Health News Reporter Kara Lofton, Assistant News Director Glynis Board and Associate Producer Eric Douglas.

For this story, host Trey Kay visited the protest line at West Virginia’s only center that offers affordable access to abortion to see if people can talk across this divisive topic. He also sat down with Margaret Chapman Pomponio, executive director of West Virginia Free, and Karen Cross, the political director for the National Right to Life Committee. This story won a second-place Public Media Journalists Association 2020 Award in the Podcast category.

Us & Them won second place in the Podcast category for its episode, “Abortion Divides.” The podcast is a joint project of WVPB, PRX and Trey Kay Productions that explores all sides of the cultural issues that too often divide us with the intent to make us rethink our opinions and bridge divides. Trey Kay is the podcast and radio show’s creator and host. Marisa Helms co-produced this episode.

Executive Director Chuck Roberts said he’s proud of the work that goes into both programs.

“We continue to see great things come out of each of these programs,” Roberts said. “Inside Appalachia brings our region to the world, and Us & Them continues to take on divisive topics in a way that promotes conversation rather than confrontation. We are so proud of these programs and the talented people behind them.”

At its first-ever Virtual Awards Gala, PMJA announced the awards for work done in calendar year 2019. WVPB’s awards were given in Division A, which includes organizations with reporting staffs of eight to 15 people, for stories published/aired in 2019. The awards recognize the best work in public media journalism from across the country. Stations compete against others with similar sized newsrooms. Overall, judges reviewed nearly 1300 entries.

PMJA is an association representing those responsible for the day-to-day direction, reporting and editing of local public media newsrooms with the mission to enhance news and information services and programming throughout public media.

"Vietnam: West Virginians Remember" Wins National Documentary Award

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s film “Vietnam: West Virginians Remember” has won a top award from the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) for outstanding achievement in the documentary category.

The one-hour documentary, written and produced by award-winning executive producer, Suzanne Higgins, features the experiences of five West Virginia combat servicemen. It explores the reasons more than 36,000 West Virginians served during the Vietnam War and speculates on why the death rate was so high for West Virginians who served. The documentary is a companion film to Ken Burns’ PBS series, “The Vietnam War.”

Chuck Roberts, executive director and CEO of WVPB said it’s an honor to be among NETA award winners because there were only five documentaries nominated from PBS stations across the country.

“NETA Awards recognize public broadcasting’s finest work,” Roberts said. “We couldn’t agree more that ‘Vietnam: West Virginians Remember’ was an incredible production that told a complex and sensitive story that truly needed to be shared.

“Per capita, our state residents served the most and lost the most in Vietnam, a war that lives on as our country’s most controversial and, for the thousands of surviving West Virginia veterans, haunting memories remain. We were humbled to hear those stories and honored to share them.”

The award was presented during the 2019 NETA Conference and CPB Public Media Thought Leaders Forum at the Marriott Downtown at City Creek hotel in Salt Lake City.

The film also examines the conservatism and political environment of the time, both nationally and in the Mountain State. It traces public opinion of the war, from support of actions by the Kennedy administration through the U.S.’s ultimate pullout of Southeast Asia in 1973. Higgins said the films shows a variety of perspectives on the war.

“The process of making this film showed me there are as many perspectives on the Vietnam War as there are those who served, each one unique,” said Higgins, who met and talked with dozens of Vietnam veterans. “But I heard shared experiences as well: fear, horror, loss, rejection, disillusionment, detachment, anger – and perseverance.”

With an original musical score, “Vietnam: West Virginians Remember” threads intimate conversations with Vietnam veterans with background and analysis, using personal photos and home movies. Additional video and film was provided by the West Virginia State Archives, the James E. Morrow Library of Marshall University, and the West Virginia and Regional History Center at West Virginia University Libraries. Visual material was also obtained from the National Archives, the Library of Congress, veterans’ groups, the U.S. Defense Department, and various private and public domain collections.

“Vietnam: West Virginians Remember” received financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support was provided by AARP, the West Virginia Lottery, and Bowles Rice, Attorneys at Law.