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WVACHE Unveils Newly Redesigned Website

The WVACHE website has a fresh new look and new interactive resources to support college-access efforts in the Mountain State.

This new website provides a streamlined set of menu options and several valuable new resources, including a calendar, an enhanced contact form and an Ideas That Work section highlighting low- and no-cost activities that have proven effective at encouraging more students to aspire to and prepare for college.

While we will be migrating content into the site over the next few days, we also want your input! We welcome you to submit a potential addition to the online calendar. Add your contact information to our mailing list, if you’re not already receiving our mailings and email. Suggest an addition to our showcase of Ideas That Work. Or just ask a question or send us a comment via our online form.

Thanks for visiting the newly redesigned WVACHE website!

WVACHE Recognizes Outstanding Educators

The West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education, Inc. recognized outstanding educators from West Virginia high schools during the 14th Annual Conference of the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education and the Appalachian Higher Education Network, of which the WVACHE is a member.

The 2007 Wayne F. White Outstanding Educator of the Year Awards were presented during a luncheon at Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville, Ohio. The awards recognize school personnel who have made an extra effort to encourage and assist students to go to college. They may have made a positive difference in a variety of ways, e.g., increasing the college-going rate, taking a special interest in students, or developing excellent relationships with college representatives and/or businesses.

David Wayne, guidance counselor at Clay County High School, was named Wayne F. White Outstanding Counselor of the Year. He was honored for his diligent work to help students realize their dreams for their future.

“David Wayne helps with scholarship applications and financial aid packages well beyond the scope of the regular school day,” noted Cindy Willis, associate superintendent of Clay County Schools, in her letter of nomination. “One can often find him there continuing his work into the late hours of the night. He has devoted his entire life to career counseling and advising students and has made our students’ future his own.”

Doug Martin, a teacher at Mingo Career and Technical Center, was named the Wayne F. White Outstanding Teacher of the Year for inspiring, encouraging and equipping his students to achieve in and beyond his classroom. In the words of former student Michael J. Brown, “He teaches us on a college level so we will be prepared for entering college and know what to expect.”

“With Mr. Martin’s encouragement I believe that anything is possible because I have won several art scholarships from some of the biggest art schools in America,” said Brady Fields, another former student. “If I had not taken Mr. Martin’s class, I can’t imagine what direction my life would have taken.”

“In my last year of high school, everything changed. The kid that everyone believed would never get a scholarship because of his low grades in core classes finished with three scholarships,” said another former student, Michael Barry. “It was my dream to be able to go to school, but I never thought I actually had a chance to have that dream become a reality.”

The WVACHE’s Outstanding Educator award was renamed in memory of Wayne White, a founding member of the WVACHE board of directors who passed away unexpectedly in 2004. During his 40-year career in public education, including ten years as executive director of the Ohio program on which the WVACHE is modeled, Mr. White demonstrated, and inspired in others, a commitment to helping students attain a better quality of life through higher education.

The WVACHE was established in 1998 with the mission of encouraging and inspiring more West Virginia students to attend post-secondary education. The center relies upon grants and private donations and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

The WVACHE pursues its mission by awarding two-year Access Project grants on a competitive basis to high schools and vocational schools in the Mountain State. These Access Projects implement activities that encourage all students to consider college, by helping them overcome barriers to post-secondary education. Based on pre-intervention levels, data from the most recently completed two-year grant period, nearly 500 more students enrolled in college for fall 2007 than would have without the implementation of the WVACHE Access Project.

For more information about the WVACHE or to support the program, please contact Sarita A. Rhonemus, WVACHE Executive Director, at 304-327-4096 or sarhonemus@wvache.org.