May 16-17
On this leg of the tour, I was off to the southern coalfields of McDowell, Wyoming and Logan counties.
In “the Free State of Mack-Dowell,” I enjoyed lunch with various community leaders at the Welch Library. I then visited with some bright young HSTA students and school principal Deborah Hall at Mount View High School. Those are the type of students we need to attract to our main and regional campuses. They have big dreams and I hope we can play a hand in helping them reach those dreams. Public education leaders there also briefed me on the Reconnect McDowell project.
I had the honor of touring the Kimball African American War Memorial Project at the War Memorial Museum, and to help promote the McDowell CHOICES project, which aims to increase children’s daily physical activity levels to that of the nationally recommended 60 minutes. That project is made possible through a grant to our College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences.
Some of the activities offered to kids there include archery, karate, and Zumba. Where can I sign up?
In Logan County, I spoke to graduates of West Virginia Southern Community and Technical College and visited with President Joanne Tomblin. Hats off – or shall I say ‘caps off!’ – to those who graduated!