This week's premiere broadcast of Mountain Stage was recorded on the campus of West Virginia University at the Canady Creative Arts Center. On this episode, we hear live performances from Duke Robillard Band, Cedric Burnside, Sam Weber, Las Cafeteras, and The Black Feathers.
Chelsea Price, a high school and middle school teacher from Boone County, has earned West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Above and Beyond Award, which recognizes excellence and creativity in Mountain State teachers.
Price was honored by WVPB in front of her class, nominator and administrator at Scott High School in Madison, West Virginia, where she was presented a monetary award, our signature Blenko Above and Beyond blue apple paperweight, and a host of other special gifts made possible by the sponsorship of Advantage Technology. She is our winner for September.
Price teaches music and film appreciation, theatre, piano and choir at Scott High School and at Madison Middle School, she teaches two sections of choir. Price is also the director of the county’s Scholastic Team for the Arts and Greater Enrichment (S.T.A.G.E.). Since 1998, this program has provided a creative outlet for students all over Boone County in building, rehearsing, accompanying and performing in an annual county-wide musical production.
Emily Price, a Scott High School sophomore who is not related to her teacher, nominated Chelsea Price because her involvement with the S.T.A.G.E. program influenced the teen’s life. “Ms. Price was a student in this program herself and has continued enriching the lives of students with music and drama through it. I have been in S.T.A.G.E. for eight years and have seen all the work that Ms. Price puts into the show,” Emily Price said. “Much of the work is on her own time, evenings and weekends, but what we as students get from it is special. The program has taught me discipline, given me confidence and has given me a love for music and theater.
“I have always enjoyed having Ms. Price as my teacher,” Emily Price said. “She is always encouraging us to do our best and to have confidence. She believes in her students. She has always believed in me, and I know others feel the same way.” In addition to the S.T.A.G.E. program, Chelsea Price is also passionate about choir and community service. “Ms. Price encourages her students to audition for the West Virginia All State Honor Choir and takes the students to the annual conference each year. The annual chorus concerts at Scott High School are always a beautiful sound to hear. She does an amazing job,” Emily Price said.
Chelsea Price is an active member of Zion Missionary Baptist Church serving as choir director. She is a member of the Madison/Danville Jaycees and is a 4-H counselor at summer camps. She views what she does for a living as something special and says that it gives her a sense of pride. “Being a music educator is definitely one of the most rewarding careers I could ever imagine. Waking up each day to share my passion for music and acting with my students brings a new sense of adventure and excitement to each day. Working at my alma mater, Scott High School, and with the S.T.A.G.E. program, gives me a great sense of pride in knowing that something we do or say may spark that little flame of creativity in someone else to share their talents or discover talents they never knew they possessed,” Chelsea Price said. “The S.T.A.G.E. program is one I hold very near to heart… It was this very program that fostered my love for musical theater and the moto of ‘Live Life in the Spotlight.”
Chelsea Price is the final winner in our inaugural class of Above And Beyond teachers. Later this month, we will announce the first winner for our 2021-2022 class of teachers. We are taking nominations at wvpublic.org.
The winners of the 2024 PBS Kids Writers Contest at West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) have been announced. Eighteen stories written and illustrated by children in grades K-5 were chosen out of more than 175 entries from across the state.
“Hope and Healing: A Discussion with West Virginia Youth” is a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting and the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (WVDII). Youth from West Virginia gathered for the project to talk about issues they face on topics including substance use disorder, bullying, social media, and mental health. The project will be screened on Tuesday, April 23, at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Charleston’s Geary Auditorium. The screening is free and open to the public.
Winners of the 2023 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards were announced March 23 at the Awards Luncheon and Annual Membership Meeting at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. WVPB brought home five first place awards and seven second place awards in eight different categories.
Anne Farrow, a social studies teacher at Wheeling Park High School in Ohio County, earned West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Above and Beyond Award for January, which recognizes excellence and creativity of Mountain State teachers.