Tag: Health & Science

Can West Virginia's Laid Off Coal Miners Find New Careers?

Some miners are looking for new occupations because they worry this current down swing in coal production won’t be an ordinary ‘bust’. Workforce West Virginia is reporting that more than 4,200 West Virginia coal miners have lost their jobs since March 2012. Although mining jobs were created during that same, the agency couldn’t quantify the number. 

In March of 2012, the bureau of labor statistics forecasts that coal mining would decline between 2010-2020, saying that support activities for mining is projected to experience little or no growth.  The bureau said declining employment in these industries is mainly attributable to technology advancements that boost worker productivity.

More than 700 West Virginia coal miners are expected to lose their jobs by the end of this year and many them are being forced to find new occupations. 

What other types of work are displaced miners looking for?

  •  Commercial Freight/Truck Driver 
  •  Welder
  •  Health Care Technician
  •  HVAC Repair Technician
  •  Diesel Technology and Chemical Processing
  •  Electrical Engineer
  •  Robotics Technology Operator

Federal and state dollars are helping to pay for these types of retraining programs.

"Their first hope is they’re going to get called back to their job or get another mining job and the reality may be that it won’t happen," said Brett Dillon, Director of United Mine Workers of America Career Center in Beckley.  

What groups are offering help for retraining?

The state  just wrapped up a series of ‘rapid response’ meetings which are designed to help miners sign up for unemployment benefits and learn more about various training options.

  •  The West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services which is offering $6,000 towards retraining for miners who qualify. This is reserved for miners with conditions like diabetes, ADD, ADHD, etc. 
  •   The US Department of Labor awarded the Coal Mining National Emergency Grant to West Virginia. Workforce West Virginia is administering the $1.8 million  emergency grant awarded in late June 2012. Up to $5,000 is available for miners and their family members for classroom occupational skills  training. 
  •  Coal Mining National Emergency Grant also provides money for travel, child care, gas, food at the rate of $20 per day for the days attending class up to  $100 per week
  • UMWA Career Center partners with several of the community colleges and universities throughout the region including New River, and Southern Community and Technical College, and The Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) to offer training in different occupations.  RCBI has created an individual program designed specifically for coal miners. The school is working to condense a two year Associate’s Degree in robotics technology into a 9-month training program.

Retaining takes some encouragement

Robert Lafever recently lost his job driving a coal truck. The Clay County resident started work in the coal business in 1980.  

“They sent me papers to come up to get retrained,” Lafever said, “so I wanted to see what they got to offer.” 

“They’re devastated because they just lost a good paying job.  One of the best paying jobs in West Virginia,” Dillon said. 

He said every miner to reach out for some form of retraining. 

“I tell them that, while they’re drawing unemployment, don’t sit on the couch watching TV, go ahead and get some training,” he said. “Maybe you’ll get called back to the mines. Maybe you’ll get another mining job. You may not need this training.”

But Dillon said some miners are worried a lack of experience elsewhere tends to be discouraging.

“What I tell the guys when they say, ‘all I’ve ever done is coal mining. I can’t do nothing else,’ well the first thing I say is ‘that’s bull’,” Dillon said.

“’You have been a coal miner for a number of years and coal miners are very resourceful you can call a lot of them ‘MacGyvers.’”

Homeschoolers cooperate

As efforts to improve West Virginia’s standing in the ranks of academic achievement continue, some parents are opting out of the public school option and…

As efforts to improve West Virginia’s standing in the ranks of academic achievement continue, some parents are opting out of the public school option and homeschooling their children instead.

“‘Homeschool’ is a misnomer. We’re rarely home! It’s not like we’re sitting at home just by ourselves, looking at each other. We’re out there every day.” –Homeschool mom, Ericka Rhodes-Edwards

Ericka Rhodes-Edwards decided to homeschool her two young children, but says making that decision wasn’t easy. She had to overcome misconceptions, do a lot of research, commit to an education plan, make sacrifices. She says she and her husband had to recognize priorities.

“I loved school,” Rhodes says. “I really enjoyed going to school.  I loved my friends. I didn’t want my son to miss out on THAT. That was my fear—that he was going to miss out on something really fun and special. So I think this program, LEAP, did it for me. If this weren’t available, I’m not sure I would have made the same decision.”

Rhodes found LEAP—Learn, Explore, and Play—in Marion County, a new co-op for homeschooling families.

LEAP

In West Virginia, school is mandatory for kids 5 to 17. But anyone with a high school diploma or GED can homeschool their own kids. Parents or guardians just have to prove that the methods they choose are effective with annual testing and/or a portfolio review. So that’s what founder and co-coordinator of LEAP Erika Fishel decided to do.

Fishel says her husband was brought up homeschooled, so it’s not a foreign concept. But after a brush with some bullying in the public school system, Fishel contacted her county’s board of education to make arrangements to homeschool her son.

So Fishel started a new co-op for homeschooled kids ages 4-8. $125 per family per semester pays for basic supplies and covers facility fees. The group meets once a week from 10-2. Parents collaborate to offer classes in the morning, then they eat lunch together, and in the afternoon they play, or field trips, or venture to the nearby park.

“Being able to see your kid have that moment where they GET it?  That’s priceless.” –LEAP co-coordinator Erika Fishel

Science, art, reading, and geography are among the subjects LEAP is exploring in this pilot year. Rhodes says her son Kaleb LOVES LEAP.

LEARNING

“The information that they’re learning here is good information to have but it’s not like they’re going to be tested on Venice in Kindergarten. Right now, it’s just, this is HOW you learn. This is a learning environment. It’s not necessarily important what they learn; it’s that they’re learning to learn,” Rhodes says.

The environment at the co-op sort of harkens back to the days of the one-room school house where a wide age range existed in a single class. Rhodes says the diverse age range creates social dynamics that bear edifying benefits.

“These kids range in age from 2 – 10 years old. So there’re probably about 15 kids here on a full day. We’ve not had any discipline issues, no one cries, no one fights, no one is mean, no one is hurt. They have good role models in the older kids and the older kids feel responsible for the younger kids. There’s compassion. That’s what they’re learning and it’s really beautiful,” Rhodes says.

SUPPORT

Dani Glaeser is also a coordinator of LEAP along with Erika Fishel. Glaeser has been homeschooling her kids for several years and has been involved with other co-ops as well. She stresses the importance of the co-op’s function as a support group for families. Glaeser says it’s important to be able to compare notes, as well as interact with other kids and adults.

“It’s a support network.” –LEAP co-coordinator Dani Glaeser

“If your child loves dinosaurs so you spent a full year studying every sort of dinosaur that exists, but that’s not on the test! Regular school systems, they don’t teach like that,” Glaeser says. “So it’s a support network. You’re always wondering if you’re doing enough. As a mom you’re always wondering and homeschooling, to have a support system is really important because then you can have somebody just say, ‘You’re doing just fine.’”

Glaeser explains that there are many different types of co-ops throughout the state, secular and religious, who interact in a variety of ways, but for her family, LEAP is a good fit.  She says her daughter is easily overwhelmed by to too much sensory information and so the small co-op provides a gentle environment for her to learn to socialize and make friends.

LEAP kids at Rich’s Farm

“We were at Rich Farms a couple weeks ago, and she is terrified of slides. And she was in this big bouncy house with a slide. I thought she would just stay in the first part but then I came around and she was sitting at the top of her slide with her sister Hunter, her friend Gavin, and Kaleb, from here, and they were talking about her being scared. Kaleb puts his arm around her and says, ‘We’ll do it together.’ And they all come down the slide together. She went on that slide the rest of the afternoon,” Glaeser remembers.

“So I watch these kids here and their gentleness and their kindness when they play together and tell stories together and THAT is what it’s all about—kids coming together and reaching out.”

Healthy Moms = Healthy Babies

Any substance a woman takes, whether it’s tobacco, alcohol or methamphetamine, can effect the development and structure of a fetal brain. That’s the…

Any substance a woman takes, whether it’s tobacco, alcohol or methamphetamine, can effect the development and structure of a fetal brain.  That’s the message today from a leading researcher of child development.

Dr. Ira Chasnoff, one of the nation’s leading researchers in the effects of maternal alcohol and drug use on newborn infants says early intervention is the key for healthy babies.

“The interesting thing is most people jump right away in thinking about addicts.  But the reality is most of the woman who are using during pregnancy actually aren’t addicted.  And just with some education will quit.  Now a lot of the studies that we’re doing we have a screening program where five simple questions is very efficient and effective in identifying woman at highest risk and then you administer a brief intervention  of less than five minutes and it’s been shown that these brief interventions does help significantly reduce the number of women who continue to use during pregnancy. And the sooner you can get a woman off any of her substances, the better for the baby.”

Chasnoff,  who is president of the Children’s Research Triangle in Chicago, says even a little alcohol during pregnancy can produce changes that an effect the behavior and the learning abilities of a child long term.      

“Any substance a woman takes, whether it’s tobacco, or alcohol or methamphetamine, can effect the development and structure of a fetal brain and the question is what impact does that have long term.  You see a lot in the media that “well, it’s OK to have a little bit of alcohol or a little cocaine is fine during pregnancy.” But what we know is that there is no amount of any of these substances that is safe. Even a little alcohol during pregnancy can produce changes that an effect the behavior and the learning abilities of a child long term.” Dr. Ira Chasnoff, president of Children's Research Triangle in Chicago and a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Chasnoff is in Charleston today to speak at 2013 summit of the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership.

State council backs pseudoephedrine prescriptions

A state task force says West Virginia should require prescriptions for cold medications that contain an ingredient used illegally to make methamphetamine.…

A state task force says West Virginia should require prescriptions for cold medications that contain an ingredient used illegally to make methamphetamine.
 
     The recommendation is one of several approved Wednesday by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Substance Abuse.
 
     The Charleston Gazette  says the council also recommended that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin oppose any legislation that would legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use.
 
     Council member the Rev. James Patterson says there’s evidence that requiring prescriptions for cold medications containing pseudoephedrine reduces the number of meth labs.
 
     House health committee Chairman Don Perdue says the council’s pseudoephedrine recommendation is good news. Perdude plans to introduce such legislation in January.
 
 

Elkins fire victim's organs gave life to three others

The father of one of four children killed in a West Virginia house fire says his daughter’s donated organs are keeping three transplant patients alive, so she continues to bring joy to other families.

     Dmitriy Bolgar said during a Monday night vigil in Elkins that 11-year-old Katie Bolgar’s liver went to a 1-year-old girl. Her kidneys went to two other people. All are doing well.
 
     Bolgar is from northern Virginia.
 
     Hundreds paid their respects to Katie Bolgar, 29-year-old Alan Chamberlain and his three children, 4-year-old Isabella Chamberlain and 2-year-old twins Brianna and Alanna Chamberlain. They died in the Oct. 28 fire in Elkins.
 
     The children’s mother and uncle – 34-year-old Jennifer Chamberlain and her brother, Jeff Hyde – remain at the West Penn Burn Center in Pittsburgh.

Efforts to help state veterans continue

The author of a study published last year on state veterans is trying to do more to help them.Joseph Scotti has started a new organization called WHOLE…

The author of a study published last year on state veterans is trying to do more to help them.

Joseph Scotti has started a new organization called WHOLE Veterans. It stands for Welcome Home: Overcoming, Living, Engaging.

Scotti says it takes a lot of different people within a community to encourage veterans to reach out for help when they need assistance. He says there simply aren’t enough people at the moment to deal with absolutely every veteran who needs care.

The American Psychiatric Association’s guide on how to treat post-traumatic stress disorder has been updated. Scotti says veterans shouldn’t be worried about stricter qualification standards for treatment.

Scotti’s next study is geared specifically to hear from Gulf War veterans.

Exit mobile version