Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
At the December 5 Pocahontas County Board of Education meeting, superintendent Lynne Bostic recognized three educators who were recently honored at the West Virginia Reading Association conference.
Bostic explained that the three women – Stephanie Burns, Erin Murphy and Melissa Walker – were nominated for awards for their contributions to reading literacy in Pocahontas County. Although the educators did not receive the awards, Bostic said they have shown excellence in ensuring their students become excellent readers.
Stephanie Burns is a full-time English/language arts instructional coach and works closely with all the schools on their ELA curriculum. She was nominated for the Madge McDaniel Award which recognizes educators or administrators who have made outstanding contributions to the field of literacy.
“I can say, when I returned to Pocahontas County Schools as a director, this was my go to person for a lot of things,” Bostic said. “She’s a phenomenal person, as well as teacher, and I know she has a lot of respect in our county.”
Erin Murphy is a sixth and seventh grade language arts teacher at Marlinton Middle School and was nominated for the Eddie C. Kennedy Award. This award is presented to certified K through 12 teachers who have made outstanding contributions to helping students become proficient readers, as well as motivating them to be lifelong readers.
“I have never been in Erin’s room that I was not been just blown away,” Bostic said. “Erin brings to Pocahontas County Schools an engagement and encouragement and willingness to share with others. She has unique ways to engage students. I’ve never walked in and seen them working on a worksheet, which makes my heart happy. She’s always working in some way to reach all those students in her classroom.”
Melissa Walker is a fifth grade teacher at Marlinton Elementary School, and she was nominated for the Dr. Jennie Bechtold Award, which is given to a full-time teacher who has been in the field less than five years and demonstrates excellence in literacy education.
Bostic explained that Walker actually began her position as a full-time teacher when she was still student teaching. She was able to fulfill her student teaching requirements while teaching during the pandemic.
“I can’t say enough about how amazed I was,” Bostic said. “I still, to this day, walk in her classroom and those students are on task. It doesn’t matter who is in her classroom, she’s got them on task, and they’re learning.”
The board congratulated the three educators on the recognition and thanked them for their dedications to the students of Pocahontas County.
“It’s an honor to work for all three of you,” Bostic said.
In updates:
• Bostic shared the report of student representative Riley Pollack who was unable to attend the meeting. Highlights from the report included that the welding class offered to fabricate dividers for the stalls in the boy’s bathrooms at Pocahontas County High School, saving the school money; and the school has had several musical programs with performers from the Pocahontas County Opera House, as well as the Veterans Day program provided by the Pocahontas County Veterans Honor Corps.
• Director of maintenance and transportation Duane Gibson gave an update on several ongoing projects. The HVAC systems at Marlinton Middle School and Green Bank Elementary-Middle School are still in progress and are on time as far as the completion day is concerned.
There was a heat issue at GBEMS in November, but it was dealt with swiftly, with the school only being closed for one day.
The roof replacement at Marlinton Elementary School is also going well and is close to completion.
Gibson also shared that the Pocahontas County Commission is preparing a request to release the funds for the demolition of the former board office in Marlinton.
He added that there is a need for substitute bus drivers and shared the procedure followed when deciding if schools are to be closed or delayed due to snowy or bad weather.