GHA June 18-July 8, 2023

Governor's Honors Academy

June 18 -July 8, 2023​​​​​

The following students will have the opportunity to stretch their horizons as they study at the Governor's Honors Academy (GHA), June 18-July 8. As with all Governor's Schools, the program is administered at no cost to the students or their families except for providing health insurance and transportation to and from Fairmont State University.

Barbour County​
Mauren Miller
Berkeley County
Victoria Hardy
Josephine Ndong-Mba
Liam McCarthy
Emma Sherman
Braxton County
Arabelle Gentry
Cabell County
Charlotte Tigchelaar
Obianuju Uba
Brooke Barker
Thomas Wait
Calhoun County
Brylee Rowe
Fayette County
Jarrod Curl
Trista Honaker
Kaileigh Alfing
Lily Zukowski
Samuel Keeney
Gilmer County
Alena Gray
Grant County
Bryson Riggleman
Greenbrier County
Riley Robertson
Hardy County
Grant Sherman
Amber Rose Williams
Brianna Walker
James Williams
Harrison County
Cole Goldizen
Alana Chen
Mitchell Honacker
Jackson County
Faith Jones
Lauren Bailey
Ronald Greer III
Jefferson County
Benjamin Caltrider
Anna Sedlock
Jaelyn Anderson
Addison Skinner
Owen Thompson
Kanawha County
William Whittington
Benjamin Valleau
Aneesh Banerjee
Nathan Argento
Sohan Kukkillaya
Kanawha, cont'd
Chase Garner
Melody Zhang
Sneha Dhage
James Basdekis
Neha Chandrasekar
Logan County
Maggie Mahone
Marion County
Megan Greenly
Gracie Russell
Isabella Stanley
Samuel Cox
Mineral County
Madilyn Ruble
Mingo County
Zeb Jude
Gavin Baisden
Olivia Allen
Josiah Hatcher
Brooklynn Rose
Monongalia County
Isaiah Harvey
Supriya Rathinam
Destiny Riggleman
Katherine Wang
Shawn Li
​Monongalia, cont'd​
Benjamin Li
Alexander Dering
Madison Willard
Sawyer Rudy
Wyatt Abbitt
Venkat Das
Steven Tian
Nicholas County
Paola Garcia
Ohio County
Abigail Heilman
Jackson Kiziminski
Grant Kenamond
Josaphine Vosvick
Pendleton County
Kaylee Callison
Megan Smith
Preston County
Ashley Knowlton
Ronald Poier III
Abigail Davis
Mark Ringer
Putnam County
Daniel Lipscomb
Olivia Walker
Raleigh County
Mackenzie McDaniels
Piper Dangerfield
Seth Jenkins
Zadie Worley
Roane County
Jacob Smith
Taylor County
Nathan Castle
Justin Gainer
Aubrey Smith
Sydney Deaton
Upshur County
Lillian Fetty
Wayne County
Ethan Wilson​​
Wetzel County
Macie Boston
Wood County
Shannon O'Connor
Pallavi Sundaram
Wyoming County
Connor Lundy
Chandler Cline
Braeden Gibson
Piper Cook
Ian Blevins
WV School for the Deaf & Blind
Edyn Farley​

GHA  Counselor or Principal Responsibilities (School-level responsibilities)    ​

  1. Inform all qualifying students of their eligibility. Speak with students about the merit of GHA. If a student from your school attended last year, have him/her speak to prospective students. Inform students that the application is available at www.govschools.wv.gov, and guide them to it.
  2. For students who do not have home Internet access, provide an opportunity for the student to complete the application using a school computer.
  3. Set a due date for students to submit applications at the school level. Remember that the county must submit superintendent's selections and alternates to the state office no later than published deadline, so you must check with the county coordinator to see when he/she must have the applications from your school.
  4. Be certain to include first-semester or first-term grades. If they have not been recorded on the transcript, a copy of  the most current grade card will suffice.
  5. Check to see that online application confirmation sheet is on top of the application.
  6. Establish a selection committee composed of the principal or designee, a teacher of gifted or high level courses, the counselor, a technical education teacher, an alumnus of GHA if possible, and others at the discretion of the principal.
  7. Meet with selection committee to review all applications and rank the recommended applications for the county selection team.
  8. Send applications and rankings to county selection coordinator, using the Principal's Recommendation Form. Check to see that the pages are  ordered numerically, with the essay and transcript/test record at the end. Fasten with a paper clip, please. Applications are being scanned, and removing the staples is time consuming. 
  9. Do not send photographs; do not put each application in a separate folder

 GHA  County Coordinator Responsibilities ​

  1. The first thing the county coordinator should do is read through the entire website, looking for appropriate forms and making note of important information. For example, the Superintendent's Selection form is found in a link in item # 8 below.
  2. County coordinators should contact each high school to let the counselor or principal know the central office due date. This includes both public and private schools.
  3. Each county has the privilege of choosing one male and one female to attend GHA. If there are suitable applications from both genders, counties may NOT submit the names of two students of the same gender as superintendent's choices. On the other hand, those names and applications may be submitted for consideration in the statewide pool.
  4. The county selection team shall consist of the superintendent's designee (usually the county coordinator), one teacher of honors or advanced classes from each represented high school in the district, a counselor, a teacher of gifted students, and a representative from career/technical education.
  5. Plan your selection meeting early enough so that if school is cancelled you will still have time to reschedule and meet the deadline.
  6. When selecting students, try to be equitable across schools unless there is a serious breach in the quality of applicants.
  7. Check to see that the pages ordered numerically, with the essay and transcript/test record at the end. Fasten with staple; do not send photographs; and do not put each application in a separate folder.
  8. Submit names and applications postmarked by February 18​ to Jennifer Gill, WVDE, Building 6, Suite 750, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East; Charleston, WV 25305. The address is also on the bottom of the Superintendent's Selection Form.

Parent Information 

​Read about the classes offered in 2023 by clicking here​.

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  1. The Governor's Schools of West Virginia offer valuable and unique experiences for the youth of our state. Parents play a vital part in their children's social, emotional, physical and mental successes, and parental nurturing and high expectations continue to drive students forward.
  2. Please encourage your child to look to the future and apply to attend the Governor's Honors Academy. Many times, students--especially those in high school-- will say that they "don't want to give up their summer."  As a matter of fact, several students who have actually attended GHA have arrived with that attitude, but they had parents who said, "You need to do this." 
  3. The Governor's Schools of West Virginia are provided at no cost to the students or their families.
  4. Parents of home-schooled students need to contact the board of education office in their county to discuss the deadlines for submission to the county office by January 20.  Those parents may contact Ray Lowther, ray.lowther@k12.wv.us, or Joey Wiseman, rjwisema@k12.wv.us,  to find the name of the county coordinator. Because there is not a principal or counselor in the home-school setting, a narrative of what the student has accomplished may accompany the grades and any test scores.

Prospective Faculty

Teaching at the Governor's Honors Academy is one of the most demanding but delightful, exhausting but exhilarating, strenuous but stupendous, and overall WOW experiences you could ever imagine.  Read below to see how you can join the crusade to make the life of 170-175 of West Virginia's most motivated and productive students an intellectual oasis that will spread into the 55 county school systems.​

Employment Details for GHA 2023 at Fairmont State University
  1. The Academy dates are June 18-July 8, 2023. Employment begins June17 and ends July 8.
  2. All classes are currently planned to take place on campus.  Include ways that you will have students interact actively and ideas for keeping enthusiasm high.
  3. There may be an orientation workshop in early spring.
  4. All faculty are required to submit and pass a background check prior to the beginning of the academy. Payment is the responsibility of the applicant.
  5. All faculty are required to teach two courses each​ class day that address the embedded theme of The World We Will Leave Behind.  Courses will be limited to 14 students each, with a minimum of 10 students. The two courses are 1) an Intensive​ Course that addresses a Governor’s Honors Academy student’s greatest academic strengths and interests and 2) a Broad-Based Course intended to expand a student’s knowledge base in areas that are not necessarily viewed as the individual’s strengths or primary areas of interest. Both courses shall include a multi-disciplinary approach to instruction as well as a clear discussion of how the Academy’s theme would be addressed in the Academy in 2023.
  6. The central organizing theme should bring together both the academic and cultural aspects of the academy, making them educational and highly enjoyable for all. A description of the theme is posted on the GHA home page.​​