Latest news with #MonongaliaCountySchools
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ridgedale Elementary holds Careers on Wheels Day
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — Ridgedale Elementary School held its annual Careers on Wheels Day for its Pre-K through 5th grade students on Tuesday, allowing them to learn about several different jobs they could have. For Careers on Wheels Day, the school invites in different businesses throughout the community and parents of students to come in and share what they do, as well as how they use a vehicle to promote their career. Some of the representatives on Tuesday included Mon Power, a finance company, a former law enforcement agent demonstrating fingerprinting, a coach from West Virginia University (WVU) to speak on the importance of education in athletics, the West Virginia Division of Forestry, City Crane & Equipment, as well as the Maintenance department for Monongalia County Schools. 'It's very important because having exposure to different careers is one of the standards that we like to promote for our elementary students,' said Principal Sheri Petitte. Petitte told 12 News that this event has been put together for the past decade by school counselor Meghan Beech, adding that they've only had to cancel it once due to inclement weather. 'Careers are different and the level of education is different, but everybody has to learn,' said Petitte. 'They have to be able to do math, they have to be able to do reading in order to perform any of these jobs that are represented here today.' Morrisey signs bill allowing teachers to remove students from class By participating in this annual event, Petitte says that the students are able to connect the lessons they learn in the classroom to real-world applications. 'We talk about all these things in the classroom, but we don't always have the opportunity to show students how it works in the real world,' she added. 'For them to be able to come out and be exposed to the careers and see how people are using math and science and reading, even social studies […] it gets them excited about wanting to learn and then take their skills to another level.' Petitte shared that she hopes following this Careers on Wheels Day, that students are excited about their futures and begin exploring some of the different career options. 'College is a great thing but it's not for everyone, there are a variety of different trade schools that students can do too,' she stated. She added that the staff at Ridgedale Elementary School also would like for the students to consider other options like the Monongalia County Technical Education Center (MTEC) and career opportunities through Monongalia County Schools. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Mohigan Idol' nets nearly $19K for WVU Medicine Children's
Feb. 25—Big talent. Big stage. Big check. Saturday night's annual "Mohigan Idol " fundraiser for WVU Medicine Children's brought in exactly $18, 773.86—for the hospital that treats young patients across the Appalachians and oceans. It was also an exact accounting of the diverse range talent across Monongalia County Schools, as Gretchen Gibson has said over the years. Gibson is the faculty advisor of the student council of Morgantown High School, the group that has planned and hosted the event since 2008 — the year the-then council approached her with the idea. They were looking for a way to raise money for the hospital. "What about something like 'American Idol ?'" they ventured, referring to the network TV talent show then at the top of its viewership. "That's a great idea, " their adviser said. "Have at it." Have at it, they did. Acts over the years have included pop-rockers, poetry slammers and metal dudes. Guitar-shredders and roadhouse troubadours. Interpreters, both of modern dance and the Great American songbook. This year, the vocal duo of Lincoln Nichols and Samantha Tubice of Eastwood Elementary took top honors for their version of "A Million Dreams." Jahlia Skefferty of Mountaineer Middle sang her way to the top trophy for her rendition of "Forgetting You." MHS students Khloe Smith and Gulse Polat won in the high school division, joined by Keri Radonovich, of University High. Smith sang and played piano on "The Truth " and Polat lent her vocals to "Please Don't Make Me Love You." Radonovich sang "All That Matters, " to complete the trio of winners. "Mohigan Idol " has raised some $250, 000 for WVU Medicine Children's, during its 17-year run. That includes a banner $40, 000 in 2022. At the height of COVID two years before, the Met was dark because of the quarantine, but distanced, online "Idol " still brought in $10, 000 for the cause.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WEIGH IN: Should cellphones be banned in West Virginia classrooms? Governor says yes
CHARLESTON, (WBOY) — West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey called on the West Virginia Legislature during the State of the State Address Wednesday to help eliminate distractions in the classroom. Morrisey brought up multiple aspects of education during the address that he hopes to reform, from school choice to teacher pay. He also called for a bill that would 'allow schools to ban cell phones in the classroom,' saying that 'other states have already seen success from similar laws.' He did not call for a bill that would all-out ban cellphones on its own. Several school districts have already put classroom phone bans in place. At the beginning of the fall 2024 semester, Monongalia County Schools started using Yondr pouches, locked bags that prevent students from using their phones during school hours. Buckhannon says 'Certificate of Need' repeal will close its hospital Although the policy was met with some concerns from parents, especially regarding contacting their children during emergencies like school shootings, according to Morgantown High School's website, the pouch supplier claims that 84% of schools who use Yondr pouches see a positive change in student engagement. Many other school districts across the country made similar policies last summer, including Ohio County Schools in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle. At the state level, eight states have enacted measure restricting the use of cellphones in schools, and bans are supported by members of both political parties, according to the Associated Press. Tell us what you think of a statewide policy on restricting cellphones in schools in the survey below: Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mon Schools' director of federal funding: 'We're just gonna have to wait -- and see what happens'
Jan. 29—Joyce Walker Bennett wanted to do something special when she retired in 2021 from Monongalia County Schools. Bennett spent 25 years as a social worker with the school district's Head Start program, counseling young moms and their families in households that, more often than not, were economically needy. "I can't stop caring, even though I'm quitting work, " she said then. So, she put a cookbook together and added her primer of life lessons to recipes. There were observations on why the burgers you fry up at home are always going to be more tasty, and less expensive, than the ones you might grab at the drive-through. And how one can never go wrong, socially, by sending a thank you card, handwritten. "These are things I would have wanted someone to tell me when I was starting out, " said Bennett, the mother of two grown children. It wasn't immediately clear Monday if the national story of Head Start — the federally funded program came into existence in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty initiatives — would continue being told. That's because of President Donald Trump's memo on the freezing of federal grants which could have affected Head Start and countless other programs bankrolled by government dollars. Trump's budget office on Wednesday rescinded that memo, however. Said document and mission to review such programs and how they pertain to the governing philosophy of the White House prompted uncertainty — and the first legal wranglings a bevy of lawsuits questioning its legality. For Norma Gaines, who is the district's director of federal programs, it was a reminder of just how pronounced those funds from Washington, D.C. are — when it comes to bankrolling the business of human service and outreach, as pertained to a school district based in Morgantown. "I was worried, " Gaines said. "That it's a temporary stay, still worries me." Along with Head Start, federal grants and outlays in the district prop up Title I, school lunches and other particulars of special education programming. Programs, she said, staffed by people who care and even see what they do as a calling. "Lots of kids, lots of families, " she said. "We're just gonna have to wait and see what eventually happens."
