The Governor’s School of Literacy through Arts, Culture, and History (GSLACH) offers 8th graders creative literacy-enhancing opportunities.

Students are invited to explore the literary opportunities afforded through the GSLACH. The GSLACH offers opportunities to read, think, create, listen, speak and experience how literacy impacts your lives day-to-day life.

The GSLACH requires middle schools and county boards of education to actively recruit and assist 8th grade students during the application window. The school counselor should not be the only individual involved in recruitment. Please use the flyer attached below to share this information in classrooms and with teachers who may be able to promote the program.

2024 GSLACH flyer (for 8th grade students)

Middle School Responsibilities

• Inform all qualifying students of their eligibility. Speak with students about the merit of GSLACH.
• Inform students of the application.
• Communicate with the county contact about deadlines to ensure students from the high school have submitted their applications with sufficient time for the school counselor to scan documents and make selections to the county.
• The school counselor must scan student applications as PDF files and establish a committee to determine who will be nominated by the principal. The principal must sign the recommendation form and scan it as a PDF. All PDF student applications and the principal recommendation are sent electronically to the county contact. Each county will have its own deadline for schools. The state deadline for counties to submit their recommendations to the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) is April 22, 2024.

GSLACH Principal Recommendation Form

County Contact Responsibilities

• Review all the information about GSLACH on the WVDE website.
• Establish a county deadline for schools to submit PDF files of student applications and principal recommendations for consideration at the county level. The state deadline for counties to submit the superintendent nomination form is April 22, 2024.
• Share the PDF flyers with all middle school principals and counselors to post and share with students and parents.
• The county contact must establish a county selection committee to select two students (male or female) for GSLACH. Additional nominations may be made based on information within the superintendent’s recommendation form. Please plan accordingly.
• The county contact should complete the superintendent’s recommendation form, ask the superintendent to sign it, and scan it into a PDF file. Please submit the PDF file and the PDF student applications of the nominated students to the state file upload folder.

Please label the PDF as the county name and 2024 GSLACH Superintendent Recommendations (i.e. Pocahontas_2024GSLACH_SuperintendentRecommendations).

State Submission Folder

GSLACH Superintendent Recommendation Form

If you have questions, please contact Dustin Lambert, WVDE State Coordinator of West Virginia Governor’s Schools – dllambert@k12.wv.us or (304) 558-5325.

Thank you for your interest in the GSLACH hosted by the West Virginia Culture Center and West Virginia State University. Please review the qualifications listed below before completing this part of the application.

Required Qualifications

• Must be a current middle school student in West Virginia with plans to attend next school year.
• Must be a West Virginia resident.
• Must be an 8th grade student
• Must have a grade-point average of at least 3.0.
• Must have a recommendation from the school principal (within Part II of the application).
• Must have one teacher recommendation to include with Part II of the application.

The state deadline for application is Monday, April 22, 2024.

Application Part I

Application

A PDF version of Part I is provided here. We recommend collecting all required documents within the application before starting the online form. We do not accept PDF version of Part I. Please submit this part online only.

Part I goes directly to the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE). Students must complete this part of the application below starting Part II.

Application Part II

Part II of the application requires students to type information within the PDF and print pages to be completed by the school counselor and principal.

• Part II Student Application: Non-fillable PDF.
• Part II Student Application: Fillable PDF.

Important: Once you have all the required signatures and supporting documents, please scan all documents into one PDF file and electronically submit it to the school counselor for review by the school selection committee. Once the PDF has been submitted to the school counselor, the application process is complete for the student.

The state deadline for applications from the county superintendent is Monday, April 22, 2024.

If you have questions, please contact Dustin Lambert, WVDE State Coordinator of West Virginia Governor’s Schools – dllambert@k12.wv.us or (304) 558-5325.

Drop Off and Pickup

Please be advised, parents are required to drop off students on June 23 and pick up students on June 28^th at the University of Charleston in Charleston, WV.

Handbook and Itinerary

The 2023 Student Handbook and Itinerary are posted below. We share this information only to inform students and parents of expectations and what the experience may look like for the duration of the school.

Information and events within the documents are subject to change as the hosting college/universities/organizations prepare for the summer. Please only use the information as a guide to what might be expected during GSLACH.

2023 GSLACH Student Handbook
2023 GSLACH Itinerary

The West Virginia Department of Education maintains a Facebook page to showcase students during each school. Please visit the page to view all the exciting activities going on throughout the summer.

Faculty and residential personnel for the GSLACH are selected by the West Virginia Culture Center.

For more information, please contact the dean of GSLACH:

• Andrea Thompson andrea.d.thompson@wv.gov