Latest news with #FairmontState
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fairmont State graduate students complete Zen Garden community project
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — Two Fairmont State graduate students have taken what they've learned in the classroom and applied it outside for everyone to enjoy. Madison Corbin and Caden Moore celebrated the completion of their community project, a Zen Garden, with a ribbon cutting at Morris Park in Fairmont Thursday morning. The project was completed in collaboration with the city of Fairmont and Morris Park. Corbin was happy to have had the hands on experience. 'This project, it allowed us to go beyond the book, go beyond the textbook,' Corbin said. 'So, it allowed us to show this project in real life and get hands on experience.' Morgantown student to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee Moore was also grateful for the experience and the opportunity to give back to the community. 'It just offers a peaceful space, tranquility. Just somewhere to come and relax and just get away from work.' East Fairmont High School students also added to the project by decorating the path to the Zen Garden with a fairy garden theme. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Fairmont State and Middle College officials reflect on program's inaugural year of successes and challenges
FAIRMONT — With the first year of Middle College pretty much behind them, Fairmont State University officials hope lessons learned throughout the year provide a firm foundation for future success. "I'll say this overarching [thing] about higher education," Fairmont State President Mike Davis Said. "We're gonna make mistakes. We're gonna think we can do things, we're gonna try stuff out that doesn't work. That's what higher education's supposed to do, right? For hundreds of years in our country, we've been the testing ground." In partnership with KVC West Virginia, Marion County Schools and the West Virginia Department of Education's Schools of Diversion and Transition, Fairmont State launched an ambitious project last August aimed to uplift foster kids. The goal was to give 16-17 year old foster students the opportunity to earn a GED or associate's degree, while laying the pathway for a degree at a four year institution. Foster students would also benefit from having access to the benefits an institution of higher education provides through its learning environment. The program gives kids who might otherwise never have a chance to earn a degree an opportunity to attend college. However, the first year came with its share of challenges. A foster student ran away to Kentucky after getting drunk at a football game, and the school's of-age student population traded rumors on YikYak, a social media app, about how some of the foster students were seen partying with older college students in the dorms. Other rumors proliferated and one of the program's key features — housing the foster students in one of the college dorms — raised concerns among the community. The school denied there was any truth to the rumors. The program began with 18 students last August, and ends the school year with 7. In February, Middle College officials made the decision to cease housing the foster students in Prichard Halls on campus in February. For year two, the program is making two key changes. Rather than house the foster students on campus, KVC West Virginia will house them off campus at a residential property it purchased, according to Christina Santiago, public relations and media relations director for KVC West Virginia. The space, which can hold up to 10 youth at any given time, is licensed as a transitional living space for vulnerable youth through the West Virginia Department of Human Services. KVC West Virginia didn't answer a question asking how much it spent on the property. Under the improved plan, KVC West Virginia would solely focus on providing housing and counseling services for students. Fairmont State would focus on education. "One of the things we learned is, there are experts in housing and living arrangements for foster students," Davis said. "We are not those experts. We are experts in educating students." Santiago said KVC West Virginia would provide transportation to and from campus for those directly under KVC's care. However, the organization will also provide mental health services and case management to youth who are part of the program but reside off campus. Fairmont State University staff will also offer some of those services on campus. The second change is Middle College is now open to any child in foster care within the area. Middle College Dean Emily Swain said the academic component will be open to youth who are in a kinship placement with grandparents or extended family, however, those students will be responsible for their own transportation. There will also be new benefits for traditional students. "We're going to launch a campus based support program for traditionally enrolled college students who have had experience in [foster] care," Swain said. "We know West Virginia has a really high youth lived experience in foster care population, and we're aware that there are traditionally enrolled, bachelor's seeking students here on campus that have experienced out of home placement. "Some of those experiences they've had as teenagers can translate to their ability to adjust to the college atmosphere and becoming a college student." Another change is next year's cohort will be kept small so students can build relationships. Davis believes the program could eventually serve 100 students, but it won't happen in the next two or three years. It's something down the road as the program builds up. For now, the key is baby steps. "That's probably what we should have done from the start," Davis said. "I think everyone was excited because it's a first of its kind program. You saw it at the state and federal level." However, had the program been able to draw a large enrollment in its first year, Davis said, some of the problems it faced might have been side stepped. Davis said the downside to having a small cohort is, students try to find connection with whoever is available, and in this case it happened to be traditional college students. Davis said that wasn't necessarily the environment the program wanted the foster students to have. Had the program begun with two or three cohorts, foster students would have had other kids around them going through the same experience to bond with. Another challenge the program faced was the lack of a youth leadership cohort within Middle College, which couldn't form by virtue of it being a first-year program. One of the goals for the program was having students who had already gone through the program mentor the younger students. "Being a first of its kind program, you go into it thinking certain things will work, and then they don't," Davis said. "When we started going down this road, I said we're going to start with the premise these students deserve an education. Everything we figure out from there will be a learning process for us." Davis forcefully pushed back against the atmosphere of rumors that developed around Middle College from the greater Fairmont community. As to the criticism there wasn't enough oversight over the program, he said Middle College has more oversight than anything else the school does on campus. He said systems are in place to protect foster students and the university follows those systems. He said it's not the responsibility of the University to tell everyone what's going on with the 16-18 year-olds who are in a program on campus. Part of protecting those students is making sure oversight is done at the state level, he said. "At some point, the public has to trust the Department of Human Services is doing their job," Davis said. "DOHS has investigated anything that's happened on our campus and found the University was not responsible for anything that was actionable. In my mind, that's oversight." Davis said his biggest frustration this first year was how people ran with rumors with no basis in reality. Part of the problem is that people don't trust the process that's put into place to protect students, he said. While he's all for transparency, his number one job is to protect students, he said. "I'm never going to have us disclose information that puts those students reputation or lives at risk," Davis said. "So I think when you say there's a lack of transparency, I think part of it is the type of information people want isn't in the best interest of our students to disclose." Davis still thinks the program can be a model for the rest of the country. He's excited for Middle College's future and with a more iterative approach, he thinks the program can get there. One of the biggest failings the nation has is it doesn't take care of people who are most vulnerable, exemplified by how children in the foster care system are treated over the course of their lives. State Sen. Joey Garcia, who has supported the program from the start, supports the changes. He said it was probably a smart idea to separate, to some degree, the programmatic efforts and the support and residential systems provided by KVC and the educational component provided by Fairmont State. He said it was a good safeguard when you have children under the age of 18 and students over 18 sharing the same educational space. Foster care is an ongoing issue for West Virginia. The state faces a severe shortage of Child Protective Service workers. The state legislature didn't touch the issue this year, despite early talk of studying the problem in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Garcia was especially disheartened that Gov. Patrick Morrisey cut 75% of the funding the legislature gave to Court Appointed Child Advocates to expand their services. CASA workers help kids who face abuse or neglect find placements in foster care. While Garcia is supportive of the program, he's also cautious. "I think it has yet to be seen," Garcia said. "I'm not going to say this is success yet, because I really don't know what the percentage of success was. I don't know where people are now, and we may not know for a couple years. But, I do think we have to continue to try new things and try to figure out what are alternatives that can help a child be successful when they're in the child welfare system in West Virginia."
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Augustana Acrobatics advances to semifinals
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AUGUSTANA) — The No. 4 Augustana acrobatics & tumbling team made an immediate impact on the national scene, knocking off No. 5 Fairmont State 256.815-248.695 in the NCATA national quarterfinals inside the Elmen Center in front of over 1,300 spectators. RecordsAugustana 7-0 | Fairmont State 10-2ScoreNo. 4 Augustana 256.815 | No. 5 Fairmont State 248.695Event Augustana Fairmont StateCompulsory 36.575 36.075Acro 27.825 27.800Pyramid 29.325 24.825Toss 27.825 27.400Tumbling 53.275 53.175Team Event 81.990 79.420Total Score 256.815 248.695Notes– Thursday marked the first NCATA National Championship meet for Augustana, one of two first timers in the field. – Augustana earned its seventh win of the season, setting a new program record for single-season victories. – It is also their fourth ranked win on the year.– The Vikings won all four heats in the compulsory event, with each coming within 0.2, to take the early lead. – In the Acro event, each team won a heat while tying the third heat to keep it close but the Vikings saw a slim advantage. – The Vikings tallied a program-record 29.325 in the pyramid event while taking advantage at the midway point.– Another event sweep came in the toss event when the Vikings took all three heats to gain a marginal increase. – A back-and-forth tumbling event came down to the final two heats where AU took a 0.2 advantage to earn another event victory. – The Vikings sealed the deal in the team event, wowing the home crowd and – Won 15 of 19 heats in the victory. – This was Augustana's 18th win in program history. Up NextThe undefeated Vikings will take on top-seeded Baylor in the national semifinals at 7 p.m., on Friday night. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kickin it for Katy returns to raise awareness about suicide
FAIRMONT — Four years after the death of a Fairmont State student to suicide, an annual walk/run to raise suicide awareness has grown to become a prominent resource for mental health. Kickin it for Katy returns to Fairmont State University this year on May 3, where Kaitlynn Jade Newbraugh, 17, attended as a student. The run/walk is part of the Marion County Race Series. Newbraugh's grandmother, Gina Dixon, organized the 5k run/1 mile walk in Newbraugh's honor. 'If we can save one person, that's all that matters to me,' Dixon said. 'The 988 hotline, we can get that number out, I mean right now it's on the back of probably 1,300 shirts we've done.' Proceeds from the run/walk will go to the Kaitlynn Jade Memorial Fund, a 501©3 nonprofit that helps students pay tuition at Fairmont State. The nonprofit recently raised money for their first endowed scholarship for the school's forensics department, where Newbraugh was a student. To be endowed, the organization had to reach $25,000. Some of the proceeds also go to help the Marion County Humane Society. The nonprofit is working toward a second scholarship. 'Anybody that wants to get into the mental health field, whether it's psychiatry, whether it's sociology, whether it's nursing, you know, anything that has to do with a mental health field, that's what our next goal is,' Kirk Harris, Dixon's right hand man, said. 'To do another $25,000 scholarship, and then after that, who knows. This year, the event will host tables from the Depression-Bipolar Support Alliance, the MVA clinic, Hope Domestic Violence Center and Marion County Quick Response Team and tables dedicated to treating addiction. The Humane Society will also hold an adoption day. However, the most poignant display will be a memory tent, which displays pictures of people lost to suicide. It will also include some who have been lost to addiction. Dixon encourages anyone who lost a loved one to suicide to display their photo in the tent. More than 720,000 people die to suicide every year, according to the World Health Organization. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15-to-29 year-olds. In the U.S., there's a suicide once every 11 minutes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Groups with the highest suicide rates are non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people, followed by non-Hispanic White people. Other groups with higher than average suicide rates are veterans, people who live in rural areas, workers in certain industries such as mining and construction and young people who identify as LGBTQ. The Trevor Project found laws targeting transgender and nonbinary people are directly responsible for raising suicide rates among that community of people. 'That causation is the key aspect,' Ronita Nath, co-authors of a study on suicide rates and anti-trans laws, told NBC News in 2024. 'State-level anti-transgender laws caused — so, not associated with, not linked to — we can say very confidently, they caused up to a 72% increase in number of past-year suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary young people,' as well as a 49% increase in the percent of trans and nonbinary young people who made at least one attempt in the past year.' West Virginia has passed laws targeting trans and nonbinary people. The CDC found in 2020 the financial toll of suicide on society was over $500 billion in medical costs, work loss costs, value of statistical life and quality of life costs. The CDC calls suicide a serious public health problem. This year will be the first year Kickin it for Katy has grief counselors onsite, Dixon said. The registration fee is $25, however, registrants who enter as a team pay $20. The price goes up two days prior to the run/walk. Dixon said registration won't be available the day before the walk, and 'door' tickets will cost $30. Food trucks, which will be present at the event, will be free to registrants. Register at where tax-deductible donations can be made. 'Katy was an amazing, amazing little girl,' Dixon said. 'She was her family's center.'
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Viking Acrobatics and Tumbling earn No. 4 seed for national championships
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Augustana) – The Augustana acrobatics and tumbling team secured its first ever postseason berth, earning the No. 4 seed in the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) 2025 National Championships. The Vikings will take on fifth-seeded Fairmont State in the NCATA quarterfinals at 7 p.m., on April 24 inside the Elmen Center. The Vikings completed the regular season 6-0 overall, the first undefeated season in program history. Their record includes three ranked wins and three wins at the Elmen Center. The Fighting Falcons enter with a 10-1 record. Tickets for the 2025 NCATA National Championships are on sale now (Click here to purchase online). All meets will also be streamed live on ESPN+.2025 NCATA National Championship ScheduleElmen Center | Sioux Falls, S.D. Quarterfinals (Thursday, April 24)Meet #1: #3 Quinnipiac vs. #6 Iona – 10:30 #2: #2 Oregon vs. #7 Mary-Hardin-Baylor – 1:30 #3: #1 Baylor vs. #8 Limestone – 4:30 #4: #4 Augustana vs. #5 Fairmont State – 7:00 (Friday, April 25)Meet #5: Quinnipiac/Iona vs. Oregon/Mary-Hardin-Baylor – 4:30 #6:Baylor/Limestone vs. Augustana/Fairmont State – 7:00 (Saturday, April 26)Meet #7: Semifinal winners – 5:00 Finals (Sunday, April 27) – 11 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
