To the members of the Pocahontas County Board of Education,
Good morning. My name is Gabriel Walkup. I am a graduate of Pocahontas County High School, Class of 2013. I am sure many of you know of my family, a total of nine siblings that graduated from PCHS between 2000 and 2013. I am writing in regards to some news I heard from a classmate regarding potential cuts to the STEM program at the high school, a decision that would grieve me greatly.
My time at PCHS was extremely formative for me as a teenager and shaped who I am today, especially in the STEM department. It was there that I developed a passion for chemistry. I went on to earn a BS in Chemistry from WVU after receiving two undergraduate awards in Analytical Chemistry(ACS Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry, 2016 and the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh Award, 2017). I have worked for over 6 years in the Greater Philadelphia Area serving the finished lubricants industry. I am a co-inventor on a patent and have worked my way up to Lab Manager for the Americas region. I will be moving jobs soon, still to work as a lab manager. If it wasn’t for the education I received in the PCHS STEM department, I would have never known a love for Chemistry. Investment in STEM classes is absolutely necessary for the future of the county’s students. Even if a student does not directly study Chemistry or Engineering, other fields benefit immensely from their time in STEM courses.
My family has also highly benefited from PCHS’ STEM department. My oldest sister, Jessica, is a Nurse Anesthetist, a field very heavy in Chemistry. My sister Laura is a geologist with the USGS in Menlo Park, CA specializing in volcanic glass geochemistry and tephra correlation in the tephrochronology lab. My brother Jed has a BS in Chemistry from WVU. My sister Melody has her doctorate in Physical Therapy. None of these previous students of PCHS would be as successful and accomplished if it weren’t for the education they received at PCHS, especially in STEM.
I recognize that funding is short. But it seems a cruel future when students are not offered the proper tools and support they need to succeed, as all of us were. Please consider our stories, and the stories of so many other Alumni, as decisions are made, and consider how those may affect the future generations of alumni coming from PCHS.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Warm Regards,
Gabriel Walkup
Dear Members of the Board,
I am writing in concern to a matter of great concern regarding the potential elimination of Science/Math po- sitions at Pocahontas County High School. Upon learning of this possibility, I was deeply troubled. As someone who has dedicated herself to promoting STEM education, including co-creating and serving on the board of the Empower Appalachia Foundation, which provides STEM scholarships to PCHS students, I cannot overstate the importance of investing in our youth’s future.
As many of you may know, I am a product of Pocahontas County – raised by a father, Fredric Gardner, who worked as a logger, and a mother, Cynthia Gurreri, who is actively involved in our community’s arts scene. It was the teachers at PCHS who recognized my aptitude for numbers and nurtured it, ultimately leading me to pursue a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Today, I am proud to say that I am a successful project engineer in the energy industry, all thanks to the foundation laid by my STEM teachers during my high school years.
A decade after graduating, I joined a group of like-minded individuals in founding an organization com- mitted to empowering our youth to dream and succeed. It is essential for the future prosperity of our county that the STEM department at PCHS remains intact. These educators possess the ability to shape our country’s future leaders, provided they receive the necessary support and resources.
I am cognizant of the changes in leadership since my time as a student, and I understand that there may be individuals who need a reminder of the tremendous impact the STEM department has had on former Pocahontas County students.
Allow me to expand on this with a recent experience. At the beginning of 2024, three other graduates from the PCHS Class of 2024, two of whom also pursued STEM education and careers, and I had the privilege of speaking to STEM classes at PCHS. Our intention was to share our post-graduation experiences and offer a $5,000 scholarship to a senior pursuing a STEM education. During our visit, we witnessed the passion and dedication of students engaged in STEM projects and classes. This passion, instilled by the dedicated teachers of PCHS STEM, serves as a testament to the transformative impact of quality education because it’s the same passion that has pushed my peer group to the heights they continue to attain everyday.
There can be no justification for jeopardizing the future success of these students by cutting resources from one of the most successful departments in the school and the county.
I implore you to reconsider the allocation of funds or explore alternative solutions that uphold our commitment to providing future generations with hope and opportunity, not despair.
I have shared my story on Facebook and have received ample amount of rallying support in regards to this matter. It is a problem that many realize could have catastrophic effects. Please take a look to see what our community is saying.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Fredricah Gardner
Co-Founder, President, Secretary, Empower
Appalachia Foundation
Dear Editor;
On March 14th and 15th of last week, some teachers at Pocahontas County High school were notified that at least two teaching positions at the High School (science and math) are going to be eliminated next year due to a budget shortfall. The proposed cuts likely will result in the elimination of a number of highly successful programs at the school, including dual credit and AP math and science, anatomy, STEM engineering, surveying, nutrition, ACT/SAT prep, and a number of other courses that have taken years to develop. The effect of these potential cuts will immediately eliminate some of the best academic programs at the High School; the potential cuts will also seriously impact our children’s chances of gaining acceptance to college; and these proposed cuts will cause significant economic damage to the County because new residents and new businesses will not be attracted to the academic wasteland created by eliminating teachers from their classrooms.
The Board of Education and Superintendent should engage with the students and the entire County before deciding on what cuts to make; they should also closely examine alternative budget cuts that do not eliminate teachers’ jobs. This decision is major, and its effects will be impactful and long lasting throughout the County; it deserves to be debated and discussed in an open public forum and not behind closed doors without the input of all of us.
Our kids’ future deserves better than what is currently being proposed by the Board of Education and the Superintendent.
Josh Hardy
Hillsboro
Open Letter to Pocahontas County Board of Education:
Students at PCHS learned Friday that our Superintendent has notified several teachers at the high school that they may lose their jobs next year. We assume that the Board of Education is in a financial crisis and that they have to immediately reduce expenses. We understand hard choices will have to be made. However, schools are for kids and the young people in our county deserve to have our voices heard before irreversible decisions are made about what our school system loses. Here’s what we want you to understand. If you proceed with these plans, you WILL remove generous, caring, loved adults from our lives who are more than our teachers. They look out for us, care for us, educate us, encourage us, and create new opportunities for us every day. We know that everyone has had a teacher like that before. But these teachers are more than just our supporters and role models. These teachers open doors by allowing our schools to offer kids choices and have an understanding that not every teenager is going to chose the same pathway for their future, or has the same goals as an adult. These teachers allow our high school to offer courses for students who want to get through school and to the workforce as soon as possible. They offer courses for students who want to be doctors and engineers. These courses are not the same. These teachers have developed programs over decades that will immediately be over if you don’t make some time to think of other options. What we need you to understand is that if you remove these teachers from our lives, you remove their positions from our school. And if you do that, you remove choices for our future. We have experienced our school system from the time we were 4 years old. We know what the most important parts have been for us over the years. We know our schools best. If we have to make hard choices, no one should be leaving us out of the conversation.
Ramona Hardy
Kynlee Wilfong
