Education Archives - The Observer

Morgan Academy Takes Promising New Steps into Future and Beyond

August 20, 2018

Founded in 2004 by teachers Bernardine Somers and her friend Patty Neely (who retired in 2008), Morgan Academy is an innovative K-10 private school (including preschool) offering small classes that allow for on...

Area School Systems Eye New Year on the Horizon

H.S. Leigh Koonce

August 18, 2018

Education, Features

With schools slated to re-open on August 20, both Jefferson and Berkeley County (WV) school systems are continuing to see an upward trend in enrollment, which they are juggling while rolling out new programs fo...

Diverse Network Pushes Full STEAM Ahead on Youth Learning

Wendy Baracka, LICSW

July 22, 2018

Education

Educators taking a closer look at the impact of technology on learning are observing that we need to meet students where they are—at their current level of engaging and absorbing information. Efforts pairing as...

Supporting Community Students When School is Out of Session

Wendy Baracka, LICSW

May 15, 2018

Education

Recently, I attended a local event called “Collective Impact,” sponsored by Bester Community of Hope (BCOH), a San Mar Initiative in Hagerstown (MD). Experts in education reform joined BCOH leaders and partners...

Cultivating Gifted Minds Through Innovative Summer Program

Lena Camilletti

May 7, 2018

Education

The West Virginia Wesleyan Summer Gifted Program was conceived and developed by a college professor who felt his gifted sons were not being adequately served by the local school system. Dr. Joseph Wiest, a p...

Valley College Has an Answer to the Growing Skilled Worker Shortage

Jordan Webb

March 24, 2018

Education

In a January 2017 survey by the Associated General Contractors of America, 73 percent of skilled-trade businesses had a difficult time finding qualified workers and 55 percent identified worker shortages as a b...

Gaming Disorder: Worth Keeping an Eye On

Wendy Baracka, LICSW

March 6, 2018

Education

Pac Man was one of my favorite video games growing up. Dodging the ghosts to gobble up all the dots and the brief immortality that came from scoring power pellets was exhilarating and, well, the arcade was the ...

SU Students to Help with WV National Guard Fitness Program

Staff Contributor

February 5, 2018

Education

Shepherd University is one of six West Virginia colleges that just entered into an agreement with the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) to provide help with the Guard’s Fitness Training Program. Under the mem...

Harpers Ferry’s Lally House First of its Kind in WV

Evan Benhamu

January 30, 2018

Education

The Lally House is a post-secondary transition-to-adult-life education program in Harpers Ferry designed for students with disabilities aged 18-21. Developed, funded, and run by Jefferson County Public Schools ...

Geothermal Energy Switch Brings Major Savings to Berkeley County Schools

H.S. Leigh Koonce

January 6, 2018

Education, Features

The second-largest school system in West Virginia has converted approximately one-fifth of the heating and cooling systems in its district to geothermal power, making it a leader in alternative energy in a stat...