Tag: Education

Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses Owners With Big Goals Wanted

Colleges and technical schools in southern West Virginia are teaming up to encourage entrepreneurs.

Concord University, Marshall University, the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI), the Natural Capital Investment Fund and TechConnect West Virginia are collaborating to encourage tourism and advanced manufacturing across southern West Virginia.

Concord University and the Robert C. Byrd Institute are hosting a workshop to share business growth and opportunities in southern West Virginia.  The workshop will explain how the 3rd District Accelerator grant can help people who have businesses or business ideas reach their goals.

The 3rd District, or 3D, Accelerator provides integrated business support efforts and technical assistance, including grant writing workshops, training and more.

Small business owners, entrepreneurs and those interested in more information are encouraged to attend the workshop to learn how the 3rd District Accelerator grant can help them realize their small business goals.

It’s funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The workshop is scheduled for next Tuesday, Dec. 3 at the Mercer County Technical Education Center in Princeton from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

New and favorite episodes spread cheer with fun and educational holiday programs

Families can kick off the holiday season on West Virginia PBS with the return of the blockbuster hit The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas! on…

Families can kick off the holiday season on West Virginia PBS with the return of the blockbuster hit The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas! on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m.

The entertainment continues with additional programming from favorite series across the schedule featuring the variety of holidays that families celebrate at this time of year, including an Elmo Christmas special from Sesame Street, new episodes from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and encore presentations from favorites such as Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, and Arthur’s Perfect Christmas throughout December.

WV PBS will also feature holiday- and winter-themed games from The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! and other series starting in early December on pbskids.org.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas! — This adventure finds the Cat in the Hat, Nick and Sally on a journey around the world to help a lost reindeer find his way home to Freezeyourknees Snowland in time for Christmas. On the way, the Thinga-ma-jigger breaks down, and they depend on a variety of animals – from African bush elephants to bottlenose dolphins to red crabs – and their remarkable abilities to help them make an amazing journey home.

When to watch The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas! on WV PBS:

  • Nov. 27 at 8:30 a.m. & 3:30 p.m.
  • Nov. 28 at 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
  • Nov. 29 at 2:00 p.m.
  • Nov. 30 at 7:00 a.m.
  • Dec. 1 at 7:30 a.m.
  • Dec. 13 at 8:00 a.m. & 3:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 24 at 3:30 p.m.

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas – Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat are having a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas. There’s only one dilemma – neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present! In the end, both gift-giving predicaments are simply and beautifully resolved, revealing the true spirit of the holiday season.

Watch Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas on WV PBS on these days:

  • Dec. 9 at 8:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m.
  • Dec. 14 at 7:00 a.m.
  • Dec. 25 at 8:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m.

Caillou’s Christmas – Caillou goes out caroling for the very first time with Mommy, Daddy, Rosie, Grandpa and Grandma. He finds out caroling is lots of fun – you get to stay up late and surprise your friends with carols, and you even get treats! At Playschool, Caillou and his classmates learn about the many ways of celebrating the holiday season. The children bring various seasonal objects for show and tell – Caillou brings his Christmas stocking to show. And finally it’s Christmas Eve and Caillou is planning to stay up all night to see Santa, but when the time comes he finds this to be a lot harder than he thought it would be. Just as he’s dozing off he faintly hears Santa calling out “Merry Christmas!” And in the morning his stocking is full of treats!

Watch Caillou’s Christmas on Dec. 23 and 25 at 1:30 p.m. on WV PBS

Arthur’s Perfect Christmas – Everyone’s favorite aardvark gives kids a new spin on seasonal traditions in his first one-hour primetime special, showing children many ways to celebrate “the holidays.” Plans are underway in Elwood City for the best holidays ever as Arthur, D.W., their family and friends make preparations for perfect gifts, perfect parties and perfect family traditions for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and even “Baxter Day” (Buster and his mom’s special celebration). The only problem is, just like real life, perfection is hard to attain and things start to fall apart.

Arthur’s Perfect Christmas can be seen on WV PBS on these days:

  • Dec. 10 at 7:00 a.m. & 4:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 25 at 7:00 a.m.

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood — Two new episodes: “A Snowy Day” and “Snowflake Day”

“A Snowy Day” — It’s snowing in the Neighborhood! Miss Elaina is coming over to Daniel’s house to play in the snow. When it’s time to go outside, Mom Tiger helps Daniel change out of his pajamas into clothes that will keep him warm and he learns how important it is to choose the proper clothes.

Watch “A Snowy Day” on WV PBS on Dec. 2 & 10 at 11 a.m. and Dec. 24 at 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

“Snowflake Day” – Daniel has a special role in the Snowflake Day show.

Watch this episode on Nov. 27 & 28, and Dec. 11 at 11 a.m.; Dec. 25 at 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

Elmo’s Christmas Countdown – There’s a miracle on Sesame Street in this special holiday tale. Elmo, Abby Cadabby and their new friend Stiller the Elf (voice of Ben Stiller) are going to count down to Christmas with the Christmas Counter-Downer. But all the counting boxes have gone missing and Christmas may never come again! Can Elmo, Abby and Stiller the Elf save Christmas? With the help of very special guests Sheryl Crow, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Brad Paisley, Ty Pennington, Steve Schirripa, Tony Sirico and Kevin James (as Santa Claus), Elmo and friends learn to believe in Christmas miracles.

Watch Elmo’s Christmas Countdown on WV PBS Nov. 27, Dec. 11 and Dec. 25 at 11 a.m.

Industry Says Students Need Soft Skills to Succeed

More than 42,000 West Virginians are employed by the manufacturing industry and state lawmakers were told that number is expected to grow in the coming years, but industry leaders say the state needs to focus on educating those workers now.

President of the West Virginia Manufacturer’s Association Karen Price said the problem with the state’s manufacturing industry is not a job shortage, but a labor shortage.

Price said Armstrong, a flooring company located in Randolph County, was recently looking to expand and add more than 150 jobs, but couldn’t find the workforce to fill the positions.

She told lawmakers during an education committee meeting instead, the company is pulling the expansion.

 “The average wage in the manufacturing industry is about $45,000 a year,” Price said Tuesday, “and in the chemical industry it’s about $75,000 a year so those are pretty good paying jobs.”

Price said lawmakers need to focus on integrating soft skills like work ethic and communication into the education system and to start introducing kids to the field in middle school to promote the industry.
 

If you’re not wired yet, you may be soon

West Virginia Internet providers say they're working hard to reach the nine percent of people who lack broadband access, but hurdles remain.The internet…

West Virginia Internet providers say they’re working hard to reach the nine percent of people who lack broadband access, but hurdles remain.

The internet providers spoke Monday at the third Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation Broadband Summit in Morgantown.

The Foundation was formed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller who noted when the last broadband summit was held four years ago, less than 72 percent of West Virginians had access to broadband. Today, 91 percent have access.

Frontier’s Kathleen Quinn Abernathy said Connect America Fund grants help extend service to rural areas, and more than 60,000 people will get service soon. She said it will take much longer to reach the remaining 20,000 households.

Suddenlink spokesman Michael Kelemen said it’s hard to reach everyone when coverage maps are incomplete. And he calls 100 percent a “lofty goal” when water and sewer service doesn’t even reach 90 percent of homes.

Mark Reilly of Comcast said tougher regulation won’t help either. He noted telephone service has yet to reach every U.S. resident.

Other speakers at the event included Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission, and Mohammed Gawdat, a vice president at Google.

Rosenworcel talked about broadband as both a technology and a platform for opportunity, and its importance as essential infrastructure for the 21st century.

Gawdat’s remarks focused on innovative ideas for the future, including Google’s Project Loon, which has experimented with using high-altitude balloons to bring Internet access to remote communities.

Local schools take part in national afterschool program

As part of a nationwide celebration of afterschool programs, Lavalette Elementary in Wayne County took part in Lights on Afterschool, “Get up and Go” last…

As part of a nationwide celebration of afterschool programs, Lavalette Elementary in Wayne County took part in Lights on Afterschool, “Get up and Go” last week.

  At nearly 9,000 schools around the country students from elementary to high school took part in the annual Lights on Afterschool program last week. Over 150 kids attended the event here at Lavalette Elementary. The students had dinner, listened to instruction and participated in STEAM related activities.

The afterschool program was sponsored by Playmates Preschools and Child Development Centers, the Wayne County Board of Education and the Afterschool Alliance. Amy Wagoner is with the Playmates Preschools and Child Development Centers and the 21st Century Wayne County Community Learning Centers program.

“Afterschool programs all over the United States are celebrating today and it’s to help raise awareness and promote afterschool programs locally within your communities and its helped raise awareness with the parents, children and community members about the importance of having safe afterschool programs to go to in your communities,” Wagoner said.

Wagoner said afterschool programs play a vital role for young students.

“The afterschool time is the high-risk time between 2 and 6, so it’s important for them to have a safe place to go afterschool and be able to have dinner or a snack and have enrichment activities, tutoring services or just a safe place to be while their parents or family members are working,” Wagoner said.

At 30 sites in Wayne County and three in Cabell County the students are taught by certified teachers who work after hours in the afterschool program. The goals of the program they say are to help raise the academic level, cut down on dropouts and to increase school attendance.

The focus during the annual Lights on Afterschool celebration, was STEAM, or Science Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. Through activity stations that had students creating robots out of Leggos, looking at rocks from prehistoric times and creating their own plastic, students touched on each of the STEAM areas. Jessica Williamson and her daughter, 4th grader Jessalyn Perry took part in the program.

“It gives them something to do, it also helps them learn, they had different activities and different learning programs for them, so to me that’s very important as a parent to make sure that my child has something educational to do rather than being out on the street and getting into trouble,” Williamson said.

Williamson said the program teach the students in a unique and interesting way.

“It’s really neat to see how the different kids react to it, to see which ones actually enter into the different activities, because some of them will draw to the Leggo’s and some of them will draw to making homemade slime, it’s kind of neat to see which kids draw to which activity,” Williamson said.

Perry said all the activities were fun to her.

“I like to take part in the Leggo’s and the slime and the airplanes,” Perry said.

Jeanette Barker is the executive director of Playmates Preschools and Child Development Centers Inc. She said the fun atmosphere is beneficial to both the students and teachers.

“The teachers I think find it refreshing because they don’t have as many restraints and they’re not on such a tight schedule, so they’re able to do things that they might not typically be able to do during the regular day, so it motivates teachers to want to be part of the expanded learning time,” Barker said.

The Lights on Afterschool Program is in its 14th year.

Davis & Elkins increases enrollement by 68%

Davis & Elkins College recently announced admission figures which demonstrate the College’s fifth consecutive year of increased enrollment.

Davis & Elkins College reports a total growth of 65.8 percent since 2008. The Office of the Registrar reported the official figures for the new academic year totaling 847 full-time students, 318 are new students and 529 are returning students.

The president of the College attributes the rise in enrollment to various factors including the Highlands Scholars program, recent upgrades in facilities, the highly credentialed faculty and staff, and the revision of curricular and co-curricular programs.

Recent upgrades and improvements include new $600,000 synthetic turf field and Locker Rooms,  renovations to the school’s Ceramics Studio, and the addition of a dance program an arts and entertainment season for students and the public.

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