These need-based scholarships will make the camp more accessible to any families who currently find the cost of attendance prohibitive. Similarly, $2,000 of the grant funding will support the Career Closet, a donation-based program where students can pick out interview-appropriate attire at no cost. The Career Closet aims to provide students in need with clothing to look their best and project confidence while working toward their career goals.
“Our goal is to share our campus with as many people in the community as possible. These funds have afforded us the ability to offer scholarships to our camp and give children the chance to have an experience on our campus they may not have gotten otherwise,” stated Spencer Flanagan, Director of Falcon Center & Campus Recreation. According to Prof. M.E. Yancosek Gamble, Associate Professor in the College of Business and Aviation, “My vision is to eliminate the stigma around borrowing professional clothing, so the students see the Career Closet as just another added resource that FSU provides.” The vision of FirstEnergy’s Foundation Grant program is to invest in transformative causes that improve the vitality, sustainability, and diversity of the communities FirstEnergy serves. Both funded projects aim to offer meaningful, unique opportunities that will improve Fairmont State’s community. The Falcon Day Camp provides educational and recreational experiences to local youth, seeking to increase their self-esteem, respect for different cultures, teamwork, and social communication. The Career Closet intends to mitigate the stress of students who feel discouraged or ill-equipped for job interviews. Moving forward, the Career Closet will continue to be sustained by Prof. M.E. Yancosek Gamble and Susan Rodriguez, Senior Director of Career Development and Civic Engagement. One initiative they plan to pursue is an upcoming donation drive with a focus on gently used business attire to further stock the closet. Falcon Day Camp will continue to provide worthwhile activities for children within the surrounding community. Anne Bolyard, President of the Fairmont State Foundation, added, “Fairmont State University and the FirstEnergy Foundation share a unified commitment to empowering the communities they serve through educational initiatives. The continued collaboration and support between the Fairmont State Foundation and the FirstEnergy Foundation makes key initiatives such as this possible.” Fairmont State University receives grant through EQT Foundation to nourish student success8/23/2024
This grant will fund the purchase of food and hygiene products to restock the Nest and Freddie’s Pantry with quality supplies for students, including the ability to source fresh produce at more regular intervals. This grant will also be used to purchase reusable tote bags and utility carts. The reusable tote bags will allow students to utilize the food bank in a more sustainable way by returning their bags to the Nest once finished with them. The utility carts will serve as portable food carts placed at varying locations to make supplies within the Nest more accessible.
Additionally, this project will foster collaboration between these campus services and the Fairmont State University Newman Center. The Newman Center is a Catholic student center serving the Fairmont State community which offers various religious and secular activities for all students during the school year, including at least two free meals per week. This grant will help to coordinate the free meal events. According to Caitlin Jividen, University Social Worker at Fairmont State and project lead for the grant, “This grant will make a significant difference not only for our students here at Fairmont State, but for the surrounding community. It allows us to alleviate the food and basic need insecurities that many individuals are facing. Addressing these needs allows our students to reduce stress and enjoy their time being college students.” By improving the selection of food and hygiene products available, the Office of Social Work and the Office of Student Success intend to minimize some of the reluctance or resistance students might feel toward using food banks. Similarly, by increasing the accessibility and availability of these resources, Jividen and her project team hope to encourage those who need these services to utilize them. The EQT Foundation aims to fund projects that help communities thrive and develop into healthier, more sustainable regions. Jividen continues, “Our project goes hand in hand with EQT’s mission. Our goal is to enhance community health by ensuring that students have access to essential resources so they can focus on their education and personal development. By supporting students’ basic needs, the grant helps ensure a more resilient community.”
Financial literacy is crucial as it equips individuals with the knowledge and skills to manage personal finances effectively, leading to informed decision-making, responsible budgeting, and debt management. It helps people save for the future, avoid financial scams, and invest wisely, contributing to both personal financial stability and broader economic health. By empowering individuals with financial knowledge, financial literacy promotes independence, reduces stress, and enhances overall quality of life.
The grant will fund seminars on topics such as banking, credit cards, housing loans and leases, budgeting, tax preparation, health and financial benefits, and insurance choices. The goal of the project is to educate participants so they can make good financial decisions. The financial literacy seminars will be organized by the Office of Financial Aid and the College of Business & Aviation, both of whom intend to expand current financial literacy programming. These offices plan to collect and utilize data and feedback from these seminars to improve and refine the program as it continues to grow. “Financial literacy is key focus area of the Truist West Virginia Foundation. All people and communities should have an equal opportunity to thrive. Through our partnership with innovative organizations like Fairmont State Foundation, and a refined focus on supporting key areas, the communities we serve have a chance for a better quality of life,” said Courtney Pack, Executive Director of the Truist West Virginia Foundation. “The Truist West Virginia Foundation is pleased to support this financial literacy initiative. We believe the Truist West Virginia Foundation contribution to Fairmont State Foundation will help make a difference in the lives of many.” Fairmont State University’s Academy for the Arts has received a $10,000 grant from the Truist West Virginia Foundation to provide need-based scholarships to be applied to student tuition for camps, classes and private lessons throughout the summer and 2022 – 2023 academic year.
“We are incredibly grateful for this gift from the Truist West Virginia Foundation,” said Fairmont State University Director of Performing Arts Outreach and Development, Leigh Anne Riley. “Providing scholarship opportunities for students within our communities allows us to increase access to quality training and exposure to the arts. We understand that many in our area are experiencing financial hardships, and we aim to address such needs and support these families and individuals through the utilization of these grant funds.” The Truist West Virginia Foundation grant will enable Fairmont State University’s Academy for the Arts to expand both access and awareness of the educational programing made available to Marion County residents and the surrounding region. In addition to providing need-based scholarships to students and families, the Academy for the Arts aims to increase access to programming through the introduction of supplemental virtual instruction options along with the establishment of a network of contacts among schools, libraries and other community stakeholders to distribute ongoing information about scholarship and programming opportunities to potential students. “We’re pleased to support Fairmont State University’s Academy for the Arts,” said Jacqueline Keene, Executive Director for the Truist West Virginia Foundation. “Truist is committed to our purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities, and we believe the Truist West Virginia Foundation contribution to Fairmont State University will help make a difference in the lives of many.” Both full or partial scholarship options are currently available for students from ages ranging toddler to adult. For more information, visit www.fairmontstate.edu/academyforthearts. To access a scholarship application, contact [email protected] or 304-333-3655. About the Fairmont State University Academy for the Arts The Fairmont State University Academy for the Arts was established in 2012. The Academy for the Arts is dedicated to providing students with quality training and exposure to the arts. Instruction in visual art, music, dance, and theatre enables students to appreciate, perform and create. The Academy utilizes Fairmont State facilities and highly qualified instructors drawn from Fairmont State faculty and area teachers. The Academy uses the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts standards as a base for its curriculum. The Academy for the Arts is integral to Fairmont State University’s long-standing identification with its community, in particular the cultural and social development of the region. About Truist West Virginia Foundation The Truist West Virginia Foundation is committed to Truist Financial Corporation's (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. Since 2000, the foundation and its predecessors have been making strategic investments in nonprofit organizations to help ensure the communities it serves have more opportunities for a better quality of life. The Truist West Virginia Foundation's grants and activities focus on economic development, education, arts, healthcare, social services and financial literacy. Fairmont State University’s Academy for the Arts has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the George W. Bowers Family Charitable Trust. The grant will allow the Academy for the Arts to provide scholarship opportunities to new and current Academy for the Arts K-12 students. Students currently attending Blackshere Elementary, Monongah Elementary and Middle School, Fairview Elementary and Middle School, Barrackville Elementary and Middle School, Mannington Middle School and North Marion High School will be eligible to apply for a needs-based scholarship.
“Fairmont State University’s Academy for the Arts provides a unique and vital arts training environment for the surrounding area,” said Fairmont State University President, Mirta M. Martin. “We couldn’t do what we do at Fairmont State without the terrific support of our community. This grant from the George W. Bowers Family Charitable Trust enables us to uphold our commitment to our community, and add to its cultural richness.” Fairmont State University Academy for the Arts is dedicated to providing students with quality training and exposure to the arts. Instruction in visual art, music and theatre enables students to appreciate, perform and create. The academy utilizes Fairmont State facilities and highly qualified instructors drawn from Fairmont State faculty and area teachers. The Academy follows the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts standards as a base for its curriculum. This program is integral to Fairmont State University’s long-standing identification with its community, in particular the cultural and social development of the region. The Academy for the Arts consists of three departments, music preparatory, theatre, preparatory and visual arts preparatory. The Music Preparatory Department provides the highest level of instruction in music to students of all ages and abilities. This includes opportunities to perform in a safe, positive atmosphere to encourage the creative and artistic growth of members. The program’s primary objective is to stimulate growth and inspire the creativity of the individual student and to identify and address the musical needs of the community at large. The Theatre Arts Preparatory Department provides quality instruction in the theatre arts based on a sequential, age-appropriate curriculum taught by qualified instructors. In cooperation with the Academy for the Arts Youth Theatre Company, the Theatre Arts Preparatory Department also provides students opportunities to apply their learning in an environment that fosters teamwork, creative thinking and professionalism. The Visual Arts Preparatory Department provides all ages with a range of visual art media and experiences. Classes include quality age-appropriate instruction taught by qualified instructors. Children are encouraged to explore creative problem solving, while adults enjoy revisiting artistic interests or learning a new skill through hands-on activities in a group atmosphere. “We are thrilled to be able to offer exciting new scholarship opportunities to North Marion area students. Thanks to funds from the grant provided by George W. Bowers Family Charitable Trust, we will be able to offer full and partial tuition scholarships to deserving North Marion area students throughout the 2021-2022 school year,” said Director of Performing Arts Outreach and Development, Leigh Anne Bolyard. “For many years we have seen the incredibly talented young artists that come from the North Marion attendance area. This is a great opportunity for new families to join our program, and current students to further their arts education and training. Whether they are a beginner or an experienced performer or artist, our phenomenal staff of instructors will help students hone their craft.” Students of all skill levels will be eligible to apply for a scholarship. No prior experience or training is required. The Academy for the Arts offers private lessons and classes in Music, Visual Art, Dance and Theatre for ages 5 to adult. For further information or to obtain a scholarship application, contact [email protected]. Dominion Energy has awarded Fairmont State University a grant of $25,000 for the ongoing restoration and preservation of Hickman Run Stream in Marion County, WV.
This grant was provided through the Environmental Education and Stewardship Grant program offered by Dominion Energy and funds will be used to establish a monitoring station with equipment that measures water and environmental conditions at Hickman Run Stream. This station will allow Fairmont State University faculty and students to remotely collect data that helps them assess the current conditions of the stream and the overall impact of the project’s rehabilitation efforts. “We are happy to award this $25,000 Environmental Stewardship grant to the Hickman Run project,” said Christine Mitchell, chair of the WV Community Investment Board for Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. “Rehabilitating an impaired stream is a great example of working together with our communities toward a more sustainable future.” When permanently installed, the new water monitoring equipment will provide continuous monitoring of the stream’s water quality and provide additional data on rainfall, air temperature, wind speed and other important information that improves analysis of stream health. This continuous monitoring method will help researchers to establish a baseline for stream conditions and leave them better equipped to identify deliberate pollution events. “The advancement of this project would not be possible without Dominion Energy. This grant allows us the capabilities to expand our research from one stream to two local streams. In the past students with Dr. Mark Flood were conducting site visits to manually collect samples, but now they'll have access to many more data points so the stream can be analyzed at many different phases, including before, during and after a storm,” said Fairmont State University’s MS4 Coordinator, Stephanie DeGroot. Hickman Run Stream, which feeds the Monongahela River, serves as a drainage basin for roughly 1,700 acres of land in Marion County. The waterway has been affected by both household and commercial activities, and as a result, has suffered from pollution and a decline in critical biological diversity. The Hickman Run Stream Rehabilitation Project, established in 2018 in partnership with the City of Fairmont, hopes to reverse environmental damage to the stream and foster the return of natural plant and animal life that is essential for the health of this waterway. With help from the Dominion Energy grant, the stream will be used in several courses at Fairmont State University for experiential – or hands-on – learning activities in the study of biology, toxicology and ecology. “One feature of our transformative education model is the use of impactful, hands-on learning,” said Mirta M. Martin, Fairmont State University President. “And I can’t think of any example more impactful than our involvement with the Hickman Run Stream Rehabilitation Project. Through this generous grant from Dominion Energy, we’ll continue to give our students a unique experiential learning opportunity while doing our best to keep our region ‘almost heaven.’” In addition to improving Hickman Run Stream and providing educational enrichment for students at Fairmont State University, the project will encourage environmental stewardship through education in Marion County. Students of all ages will be able to learn the value of protecting waterways through summer programs at Hickman Run Stream. Researchers at Fairmont State University also plan to develop a model for future projects of this kind. About Dominion Energy: More than 7 million customers in 16 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy and to achieving net zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions from its power generation and gas infrastructure operations by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more. The grant was provided through the Fairmont State Foundation Inc., the non-profit organization that solicits and administers private donations on behalf of Fairmont State University. The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center has received a grant of $7,500 from the Daywood Foundation in support of Ruth Ann Musick’s Trunk of Tales, a Fairmont State University project to promote folklore and West Virginia cultural heritage studies in K-12 public schools in the state.
Funds will be used to assemble four teacher resource trunks that include copies of Ruth Ann Musick’s book, The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Stories. Each trunk will also include materials and lesson plans for educators, and digital recorders that students can use to collect stories of folklore and heritage from their own families. “Among the reasons to give students the opportunity to record and preserve family history is that listening is a gift, a gift to the speaker and a gift to the listener. Often that gift comes in the form of sharing stories filled with nuggets of wisdom, family traditions and cultural values such as perseverance and resiliency. Plus, interviewing family members requires patience, a skill we seldom have the opportunity to practice.” said Dr. Francene Kirk, Interim Director of the Frank and Jane Gabor WV Folklife Center. Three of the trunks will be donated to school systems in West Virginia’s Barbour, Greenbrier and Kanawha counties as a pilot program. The fourth trunk will remain with the Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University, available on loan to local schools and organizations in Marion County. Teachers will provide feedback during this pilot phase so that the project can be examined and improved before rolling out the project to other counties in West Virginia. The Folklife Center plans to offer three collaborative professional development workshops for educators participating in the pilot program to help them and their students make the most of their experience with the trunks, while gaining input from educators for future program refinement and expansion. “Our mission is to educate students, and that mission doesn’t stop at the edge of campus,” said Mirta M. Martin, Fairmont State University President. “This outreach initiative is such a marvelous opportunity for us to engage with and support educators and students in the West Virginia K-12 system. The Ruth Ann Musick’s Trunk of Tales project gets to the heart of two of the things that makes Fairmont State great– our belief in the importance of family, and the strength of our bond to our region. By helping students tell the stories of their families and their communities, students will not only build up their creative thinking skills, but they will also deepen their ties to their families and communities.” Ruth Ann Musick was a math and English professor at Fairmont State between 1946 and 1967 when it was known as Fairmont State College. She introduced the institution’s first folklore course in 1948. She and her students collected ghost stories from around the state of West Virginia. These stories were grouped and published in three different collections, including The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Stories. Dr. Musick also revived West Virginia’s dormant folklore society in 1950, and she served as the founding editor for West Virginia Folklore Journal from 1951 to 1967. “When we think about West Virginia's history, our thoughts often go to major historical events and famous people, but Dr. Musick's collection tells the story of the common people, the folk. In her ghost stories we learn about the lives of coal miners, farmers and teachers. We hear about acts of courage and selflessness, but we also bear witness to acts of evil and revenge. We connect with those who went before us and build a sense of identity as West Virginians.” according to Kirk. Donors interested in providing additional support for the Ruth Ann Musick’s Trunk of Talesproject can contact the Fairmont State Foundation by phone at 304.534.8786 or online at www.fsufoundation.org. Fairmont State University’s Creative Sustainability Council (CSC), a campus organization focused on sustainability initiatives for the University and community, has been awarded a grant of $27,120 from the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation (ASF) to implement two sustainability initiatives on campus this summer. These initiatives have been designed in partnership with Aladdin Food Service and the Fairmont State Foundation.
The CSC, a group of students, faculty, and staff whose goal is to enrich and extend sustainability practices on campus, is guided by Dr. Erica Harvey, Abelina Suarez Professor of Chemistry at Fairmont State University. Harvey is using her Suarez professorship to support student-centered sustainability initiatives that are fun and community-building, in addition to being practical and impactful. The first initiative, a glass recycling program, will introduce a glass crusher to campus. This equipment converts glass waste like pasta sauce jars and soda bottles into sand that can be used for a variety of applications. Glass waste generated on campus by employees and students will be converted to sand for use in campus landscaping projects, offsetting the expense of buying sand each year. Community members will be able to use the crusher to recycle their own glass waste into sand, which they can take home and use for personal projects. “Facilities trade workers will spruce up the new glass crusher location on the first floor of the parking garage. This location should lend itself to a drop/pick-up and go operation,” Stephanie DeGroot, construction project manager, said. “The identified compost location was agreed to by all parties involved and will be located at the top of the stairs leading from Prichard Hall to Pence Hall. It was a great central location with easy access for all contributing groups.” The second initiative will introduce a composting program on campus. With over 3,800 students, Fairmont State University’s dining hall generates around 100 pounds of total food waste per day. To reduce the amount of waste being hauled to landfills in half, two commercially available, in-vessel systems will be installed behind the Falcon Student Center. The combination of food waste and carbon source materials (yard and grounds waste) in the vessels are anticipated to generate 18 tons of compost and greenhouse gas reductions of approximately 7.5 metric tons per year. The University’s facilities department, the CSC and Aladdin Food Service will collaborate to design, test and refine the composting system. The final product will supplement the landscaping needs on campus and provide a template for future composting initiatives on campus. “This is sustainability for our customers and clients. It helps us educate them about waste. It’s all about waste control, we’ll set up a weigh station when we first set up the compost and show them actually how much they are wasting in a day,” Jeff Swaim, Aladdin Food Services Director, said. “We want to be a part of sustainability and that’s why we want to do this, also to decrease the waste and chemical input in our landfills.” Both projects are underway, with construction and installation scheduled for this summer. As students return to campus in the fall, these programs will be operational, with opportunities for student engagement for data collection and analysis. After implementation and analysis in the coming year, the CSC will host an environmental science and sustainability workshop for public school teachers and community leaders in the summer of 2021. The CSC will share the details of environmental and fiscal impact these programs have and encourage the investigation and adoption of these practices. Harvey and the CSC believe the proposed collection of creative sustainability initiatives will provide an opportunity to have approachable, ongoing campus and community conversations about collective energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. They look forward to identifying both economic and environmental benefits of these changes and sharing what is learned. “Our CSC members are honored and excited to receive this support from ASF,” said Harvey. “Three student members will undertake composting research this fall. Students will be calculating greenhouse gas emission reductions from the project, and we are all looking forward to crushing our glass! The ASF grant projects will elevate the sustainability work at Fairmont State, nicely complementing our existing solar panel array and newly donated electric vehicle chargers from an anonymous donor. Thanks to ASF, we have also initiated collaborations with the sustainability department at Marshall University, and hope to build a statewide sustainability network.” The Appalachian Stewardship Foundation was created as a result of a settlement with Longview Power that set up a mitigation fund to correct the damage to the environment caused by the mining and burning of coal. To date, ASF has awarded more than 1.3 million dollars in funds to promote their mission. This grant was made through the Fairmont State Foundation Inc., the non-profit organization that solicits and administers private donations on behalf of the Fairmont State University. |
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