FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
To be archived after March 1, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — WVU’s newest leaders will show their appreciation
for an evolving tradition Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Charleston when the University’s
president, associate provost and head football coach officially open “Our
Day at the Legislature,” WVU Extension’s tribute to the University’s
service to the state.
More than 700 WVU Extension supporters are registered for the tribute, which will begin in the Cultural Center with welcome addresses by WVU President Mike Garrison, WVU Associate Provost of Extension and Public Service Dave Miller, and WVU head football coach Bill Stewart.
“West Virginia University changes lives," said Garrison. "WVU Extension educators and program leaders take our University out to every county in West Virginia and touch people from every generation. They are a part of the fabric of our state."
Garrison, Miller and Stewart are native West Virginians who assumed their new positions within the last year.
“Every year at ‘Our Day,’ we celebrate and demonstrate the many ways in which WVU serves the people of West Virginia,” said Ann Bailey Berry, WVU Extension’s associate director for organizational advancement. “This day has become a tradition for honoring a tradition—WVU’s service. This year, we are proud to have our new leaders join us in expressing appreciation for the University’s success. WVU continues to help West Virginians improve their lives.”
The day will begin at 9 a.m. in the Cultural Center and will include appearances by Brady Campbell, the current WVU Mountaineer Mascot, and the 4-H Dance Ambassadors, traditional Appalachian folk dancers from throughout West Virginia.
After the welcome program concludes, the visitors will have opportunities
to meet with their respective state senators and delegates and observe the
legislature in session. Some 4-H members will serve as pages.
Extension supporters also will have time to sample exhibits of WVU educational
programs and outreach services. More than 30 exhibits—many interactive—will
introduce youths and adults to programs available in their communities, on
nearby campuses or via computer.
Organized around the theme “WVU Extension Hosts WVU’s Service to the State,” the exhibits are designed to showcase WVU’s contributions to West Virginians in their roles as family members, business owners, agriculturalists, employees, volunteers, lifelong learners and other capacities.
The WVU Extension Service conducts the University’s primary outreach programs and staffs offices in each of the state’s 55 counties.
4-H camping and 4-H health education activities are among many WVU Extension programs to be featured Tuesday. Extension exhibits will showcase the contributions of Community Educational Outreach Service (CEOS) clubs, Master Gardeners, Energy Express, firefighter training, diabetes education, labor training resources, WVU Jackson’s Mill “History Hitting the Road,” and Extension’s other farm, family, nutrition and community programs.
Among the new WVU colleges, departments and programs scheduled to staff exhibits are West Virginia History OnView (West Virginia Digital Photo Archive), West Virginia Poison Center, Distance Nursing Education and Rural Health (blood pressure and other health assessments by the School of Nursing), Biometric Knowledge Center and Appalachian Center for Law in the Public Interest.
Popular exhibits returning this year include WVU Press, Extended Learning, National Research Center for Coal and Energy, Center for Civic Engagement, Center for Excellence in Disabilities, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, University Advancement and Marketing, Potomac State College, WVU Health Sciences Center Charleston Division and Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences.
The focus is on both learning and fun, Berry said, as youths of all ages and adults from all walks of life see or participate in activities that span a wide range of interests.
She said visitors will be led in song by 4-H members, mine for chocolate chips and play recycle “basketball” at a science exhibit, contemplate their role in nature as they make Circles of Earth bracelets, and prepare individual “A Wish, a Hope, a Dream … for West Virginia” messages to be delivered to Gov. Joe Manchin.
The full schedule and other details about the day are available at www.ext.wvu.edu.
—WVU-ES—
CONTACT: Ann Bailey Berry, WVU Extension
Communications
Phone: (304) 293-5691; e-mail: Ann.Berry@mail.wvu.edu
fsm—2/11/08
Last modified
February 15, 2008
Comments to: Extension Service Web
