The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

July 13, 2011

Raleigh BOE ready to accept construction bids

By Sarah Plummer Register-Herald Reporter

Raleigh County School Board President Richard Snuffer announced Tuesday that the board will begin accepting construction bids for the new Marsh Fork Elementary School on August 10. The School Building Authority has approved the school design and the board’s opening of the bid process.

“We are hoping for some good bids and to get going on this process as soon as possible,” Snuffer said.

According to Williamson Shriver Architects, Inc., of Charleston, the school will be a two-story, pre-K through fifth-grade facility, for approximately 226 students. In addition to classrooms, the structure will have a computer lab, dining room, media center, music room, gymnasium and other support spaces.

Construction bid packages include furnishings and equipment.

Site preparation is expected to be within the next 30-35 days, said Snuffer.

Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Assistant Superintendent Janet Lilly and two AmeriCorps volunteers updated the board on this year’s Energy Express, a literacy and feeding program offered through the West Virginia University Extension Office for children from low-income families.

Lilly, while principal at Bradley Elementary, was able to receive the first Energy Express grant in Raleigh County and the first one in the southern West Virginia, she said.

“I’m glad that Bradley has continued this program every year since then, and Coal City started soon after,” she said.

All three sites, Bradley, Coal City and Fairdale (held at Trap Hill), have an enrollment between 35-40 students, said Lilly.

At each location, a site coordinator works with college-age AmeriCorps volunteers who act as mentors or community coordinators.

Stephan Cantley, a Concord University student, creates community service projects at the Bradley site.

His group has planned a Back-to-School Carnival for students attending the Bradley site from 6 to 8 p.m. July 26. Instead of winning candy, the students will receive school supplies, he said.

The students start and end each day with a family-style meal where each child must try everything, explained Bradley volunteer Lindsay Hicks from WVU.

Energy Express volunteers presented each board member with an example of student art. Instead of painting or working two-dimensionally on paper, Energy Express students make art out of found objects, said Hicks.

Students also get a chance to have noncompetitive recreation and work with dramatic arts every day, she said.

— E-mail: splummer@register-herald.com

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