Wayne Co. High School Receives National Recognition For College Readiness

Spring Valley High School in Wayne County has been named a 2023 School of Excellence by ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning

Spring Valley High School in Wayne County has been named a 2023 School of Excellence by ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning’s American College Application Campaign (ACAC). 

ACAC is a national effort to increase the number of first-generation college students and students from low-income families pursuing a college degree or other higher education credential. 

Spring Valley is one of 27 schools from across the country to be recognized for its College Application and Exploration Week and its work with West Virginia GEAR UP to remove many of the common obstacles in applying to college.

Debra Asbury, school counselor and GEARUP coordinator at Spring Valley, said that means providing every chance for students to learn about different careers.

“It’s our job…to provide them with opportunities to meet with admissions counselors, FAFSA coordinator, anything that’s getting them ready for post secondary, whether that is for a trade school, beauty school, or whether that’s to go to Harvard,” she said.

The application process can be confusing and daunting, and Asbury said exposing students to opportunities after graduation and helping them fill out forms is key to their future success.

“They need to break the cycle for some of these kids because they’re from areas where their parents didn’t graduate or they didn’t go on to school, and they’ve got to know their goals are achievable,” she said.

Lindsay Ellis is also a school counselor and GEARUP coordinator at Spring Valley. She said the recognition was an honor, especially after doing the same work for several years.

“These are things that we’ve always done as school counselors, but it really means a lot to get recognized for that,” she said. “I feel that all school counselors, especially the ones that we come in contact with, everybody is deserving.“

Asbury and Ellis believe that Spring Valley stood out in part because of a FAFSA completion rate of 62.5 percent, the highest in recent school history, as well as a strong social media presence.

“Show the community, show parents what we’re doing,” Ellis said. “Keep everybody in the loop, which is very important.”

Both counselors recognize the importance of the school-wide investment, from administrators to students, that was needed to receive the ACAC’s attention.

Student Success Summit Focuses On Being ‘Career-Ready’

Hundreds of teachers from across the state will gather in Charleston this week – to learn how to incorporate the concept of being “career-ready” into their lesson plans.

Hundreds of teachers from across the state will gather in Charleston this week – to learn how to incorporate the concept of being “career-ready” into their lesson plans.

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the West Virginia Community and Technical College System, and the West Virginia Department of Education will host this year’s West Virginia Student Success Summit. This is a collaborative event focusing on creating seamless and supportive lifelong learning systems for the state’s students. 

The 2023 theme is “Creating a Career-Ready West Virginia.” The plan is to focus on forging student pathways to meet the demand of future job markets. 

Sarah Tucker is West Virginia’s chancellor of higher education for the state. She said the summit is meant to refresh teachers on the state’s new educational goals.

“It’s really an opportunity for them to have a couple of days to workshop things that are working well in their classrooms,” Tucker said. “To take a step back and think differently about the work that they’re doing. This one is particularly focused on becoming career ready.” 

She said many students are not aware of the state’s many new economic development job prospects, such as Nucor Steel and Form Energy. She hopes this summit will help teachers enhance their educational message.   

“Our students don’t know about them,” Tucker said. “They don’t have any idea. They are concerned that staying in West Virginia will mean that they don’t have very many prospects, and the exact opposite is true right now. And so how do we get that message across to them? How do we arm them with that information so that they know that they can talk with their students about all of these opportunities and possibilities that are happening in our state right now?”

Participants will include educators, counselors and administrators from the pre-school, elementary, secondary and postsecondary education systems; workforce professionals; business and community leaders and military personnel. 

 Additionally, there will be a student showcase in the afternoon on the first day of the summit where student organizations will demonstrate innovative career-driven projects and programs.  

The Student Success Summit runs Wednesday and Thursday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. 

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