Closing the COVID Gap

West Virginia's most populous county reported its highest COVID case spike in quite a while.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we meet parents like Megan Hullinger, a single mom with four kids in Pocahontas County. It took her nearly three years to get a spot at a childcare center for her son Nathan. During the pandemic, parents have faced pressures and decisions unlike any before in human history. How do you balance it all, and maintain positivity, in the midst of all these challenges? For many mothers, we’re not just talking about parenting questions — but also how to balance that against work.

For our series finale, we hear from a handful of elementary students from Berkeley and Jefferson counties who reached out to us to share their experiences during the pandemic.

As West Virginia counties return to school, the debate over masks in classrooms continues. Last week, Kanawha County Schools -- home of the state’s capital city -- was the first school system to return for the fall. The county was also the first district to issue a masking mandate for all students in pre-K-5th grade.

On this West Virginia Morning, Kanawha County Schools was the first county school system in the state to return for the fall. The county was also the first district to issue a masking mandate for all pre-K-5th grade. We have a discussion with the Kanawha County Superintendent of Schools.

In this week’s special, two-part installment of our summer education series, “Closing the COVID Gap,” education reporter Liz McCormick sat down over Skype with Grafton, West Virginia native and new head of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Chip Slaven.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ve got an eclectic mix of stories from across central Appalachia. We check in with residents in Kentucky who are struggling with the aftermath of devastating floods there five months ago. We also learn about the dark history of Eugenics in Virginia. We’ll talk with author Elizabeth Catte about her new book, “Pure America: Eugenics and the Making of Modern Virginia.” We also talk with biologists who are trying to figure out what’s causing a mysterious illness that’s killing birds across the region. And on a lighter note, we travel to an artist retreat center outside Asheville, North Carolina, where writers come to enjoy nature and focus on writing.

This week in our summer education radio series “Closing the COVID Gap,” we spotlight the latest news for K-12 schools in West Virginia. State officials announced Wednesday that there will not be a statewide mask mandate for schools this fall -- even as the Delta variant of COVID-19 surges throughout the country. Local school districts will make their own rules on masks.

In our latest installment of our summer education series, “Closing the COVID Gap,” we explore the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on broadband needs and virtual schooling.

On this West Virginia Morning, education reporter Liz McCormick spoke with Chris Harrington, director of Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute at Michigan Virtual School, to get some perspective on ways to have successful virtual learning – and the importance of reliable internet access.