West Virginia Access Center
for Higher Education (WVACHE)

For Immediate Release Contact: 304-327-4096

West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education (WVACHE)

Recognizes Outstanding Educators

Bluefield, WV – The West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education, Inc. recognized outstanding educators from West Virginia high schools during the 13 th Annual OACHE/WVACHE Conference.

The 2006 Wayne F. White Outstanding Educator of the Year Awards were presented during a luncheon at Zane State College in Zanesville, 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.

Sara Stankus, guidance counselor at Buckhannon-Upshur High School, received the award for Wayne F. White Outstanding Counselor of the Year. Nominator and fellow guidance counselor Ed Vincent credited Ms. Stankus for helping to increase the college-going rate by pursuing and implementing the school’s WVACHE Access Project.

Ms. Stankus takes “a special interest in low-income students, pushing them toward college,” noted Vincent in his nomination. He added that Ms. Stankus has “inspired our seniors to aim high with [their] goals.”

Doug Lambert, superintendent of Pendleton County Schools, was recognized as a Wayne F. White Outstanding Administrator of the Year. Mr. Lambert received praise for his active support in both pursuing and implementing his school’s WVACHE Access Project.

In her letter of nomination, Pendleton High School English teacher Vickie Skavenski praised Mr. Lambert’s tireless assistance in overcoming potential obstacles to help students participate in such Access Project activities as campus visits and field trips to area businesses.

Skavenski also noted that in an earlier position as principal of Petersburg High School, Mr. Lambert provided similar encouragement to pursue a WVACHE Access Project grant, which that school also received. “He pushes us to be competitive,” Skavenski said, “so that our students can also reap the benefit of a WVACHE grant.”

Tammy Wells, principal of Valley High School in Wetzel County, also received an award for Wayne F. White Outstanding Administrator of the Year. Nominated jointly by three Valley High School staff members, Ms. Wells was credited with helping to increase students’ standardized test scores above the county and state averages, as well as helping to increase the school’s college-going rate.

“Mrs. Wells is a woman with a vision,” stated teacher Janice Moore in her letter of nomination. “She can see the big picture and she realizes how important it is to prepare our students for the future.”

Nominators Linda Kirk and Rick Duffield noted that Principal Wells was a former student of theirs. Both Duffield and Kirk praised her leadership, integrity and professionalism. “She has made Valley High School a great place to work and learn,” said Kirk. “She is not only an asset to Valley High School, but to Pine Grove and Wetzel County as well.”

The following nominees for the Wayne F. White Outstanding Educator Awards also received honorable mentions: Sandy Gallimore, teacher, Bluefield High School; Elizabeth Brinkley, teacher, Montcalm High School; Sallye Clark, teacher, George Washington High School; Judy Goodall, teacher, Greenbrier East High School; Candice Blanchard, guidance counselor, Berkeley Springs High School; Karen Fish, guidance counselor, Herbert Hoover High School; April Haught, principal, Ritchie County High School; and Barbara Logue, assistant principal, Oak Glen High School.

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 is a tax-exempt corporation established in 1998 with the mission of encouraging and inspiring more West Virginia students to attend post-secondary education.

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 indicate that an estimated 450 additional students enrolled in college for fall 2005 than would have without the implementation of the WVACHE Access Project.

The WVACHE is currently receiving funding support through grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission and Appalachian Power, along with an award of tax credits from the Neighborhood Investment Program through the West Virginia Development Office. The center relies upon grants and private donations and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

For more information about the WVACHE or to support the program, please contact Sarita A. (Gattuso) Rhonemus, WVACHE Executive Director, at 304-327-4096 or sgattuso@bluefieldstate.edu, or visit www.oache.org/wvache_home.htm.