December 7, 2018
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE), West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) and local military representatives joined together today to resign the Common Ground Compact, reaffirming the partnership between education and the military.
Along with West Virginia Superintendent, Dr. Steven Paine representing the WVDE and State Board of Education President, David Perry, representing the WVBE, representatives from the Army, Marines, Navy, West Virginia National Guard, West Virginia Civil Air Patrol, West Virginia Veterans Council, West Virginia Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc., and Prevent Suicide WV took part in the celebration today which was held in the Governor’s Reception Room at the Capitol.
The Common Ground Partnership, established in 2011, focuses on promoting mentoring, training and scholarship opportunities to all students and creating networks of people, organizations and other resources to help support military children.
“I cannot emphasize enough the important work that Common Ground is doing in West Virginia,” said Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard. “Today’s youth face unique challenges that require a whole-of-society approach to create working solutions. Through the partnerships Common Ground has created, together, we’ve been able to tackle problems head on and develop results that benefit West Virginia’s future generations.”
The Common Ground Partnership consists of the Office of Governor Justice; the WVDE, WVBE; West Virginia National Guard; West Virginia Civil Air Patrol; Prevent Suicide WV; Beckley Military Entrance Processing Command; the West Virginia Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc.; West Virginia Veteran’s Council; United States Army Recruiting Battalion, Richmond, Va.; United States Army Recruiting Battalion, Columbus, Ohio; United States Army Recruiting Battalion, Barboursville, W.Va.; United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station, Columbus, Ohio; United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station, Frederick, Md.; and the Navy Recruiting District Pittsburgh, Pa.
“The Common Ground Partnership serves to spark important conversations between schools and the military and allows for shared resources,” Paine said. “Every Common Ground partner shares the vision of working collaboratively to support and inspire West Virginia students to become future leaders and humanitarians in their communities.”
The Common Ground Compact creates a shared role among partners to support the success of West Virginia students and to ensure our youngest citizens are career and college ready. Together partners collaborate to raise awareness about programs, opportunities, resources and information which may be used to support successful outcomes for all students and ensure easy access to available resources such as a speaker’s bureau, career and college planning resources, family support resources, student leadership opportunities, tutoring and mentoring services.
View video of today’s event here: https://youtu.be/Sr1A2xDH7YE. Find out more by visiting the Common Ground page of the WVDE website.