The Mingo County school system is alive with student activities and planning for educational trips, leadership conferences or competition in five states, all with approval of principals and the Mingo County Board of Education.

The school board gave approval at its last meeting in the central conference room at Cinderella. Other trips were approved at last month’s meeting. President Charles S. West presided at the meeting, also attended by Vice President Jacqueline Branch, William D. Duty, Dr. J.W. Endicott and Michael Carter.

• The Mingo County Career & Technical Center will participate in the National SkillsUSA Competition in Kansas City, Mo. Instructor Doug Martin and leader in the SkillsUSA program, reported to the school board Tuesday that five students had brought in various types of scholarships totaling $677,841 thus far.

#Josh Adams, whose scholarships total $187,778, is a second-year student involved in the SkillsUSA program. He has earned a silver medal for a National art portfolio on Scholastic Arts, exhibited at Carnegie Hall, and a West Virginia art and technology award of $100.

Adams also has received five first-place awards for Chapter display; SkillsUSA; mixed media, Martin Luther King Jr. and at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, poster contests; WVU Advertising and WVU feature layout.

Sarah Rhodes obtained two scholarships totaling $82,000, one a presidential scholarship of $50,000 at the Columbus College of Art and Design, and one at the Art Academy of Cincinnati for $32,000.

Nathan Ward has a Silver medal in National photography/portfolio, Scholastic Arts; a Congressional Art Award - exhibited in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.; Presidential Young Arts award, and first place for a promotional bulletin board, SkillsUSA. His scholarships totaled $268,778, received from various colleges for art and design, creative studies and a Congressional Art scholarship.

#Shane Hatfield acquired scholarships in art and design totaling $139,285 from colleges or academies in Columbus, Cincinnati, Savannah and Pittsburgh. He has a first place award for a promotional bulletin board, Skills USA; two second place awards for a WVU feature layout and a Martin Luther King Jr. poster contest; and was a finalist in a Pittsburgh Art Institute poster contest.

Martin mentioned two first-year students in the Skills USA program: Brittany Colegrove, who won third place in a Martin Luther King Jr contest, and a first place award in SkillsUSA pin design; and Charlie Scott, who won first place in the King contest’s Fine Arts category.

• The school board approved a trip from Charleston, W.Va. to Orlando, Fla., June 22-27 for 10 eligible Health Occupations Science Technology students from Mingo Career & Technical Center (HOSA). They will be accompanied by school employees Debra Catron, Maxine Colegrove and Alichia Cline.

#The HOSA members will be on a field trip to the National Leadership Conference. Due to their success on the state level, these students will represent West Virginia HOSA in the national competition in Orlando.

The 10 eligible students and their placements or awards at the state leadership conference March 5-6 in Huntington, hosted by Marshall University, are as follows:

Prepared Speaking, secondary, first place - Caitlin Cline, and Heather Evans; second place; and postsecondary, first place – Amber Waldrop.

Researched Persuasive Speaking, secondary – Lacey Lockhart; first place, and Catie Perry, second place.

Outstanding HOSA Chapter (Scrapbook), first place – Ashley Messer.

Chapter Newsletter, first place – Kayla Rice. (Incidentally, she was selected to sing the National Anthem a the state HOSA conference in Huntington last month.)

Job Seeking Skills, first place – Kimmie Evans.

Extemporaneous Speaking, postsecondary, second place – Shar Ferguson; and Extemporaneous Writing, third place – Reanna Dillon.

#00020000038A00000F52384,Caitlin Cline was elected as the West Virginia state secretary-treasurer at the state leadership conference and will attend the national HOSA in Orlando with the other state officers elected. With her election, Advisor Debra Catron moves on to the WVA HOSA Executive Council for the 2010-2011 school term.

The Mingo Career & Technical Center’s secondary HOSA chapters received a first place award and were designated as an “Outstanding HOSA Chapter” at the state conference.

The award was based on documentation of a chapter’s affiliation with national HOSA, use of parliamentary procedure in meetings, induction of new members, election of officers, and yearly activities. This year’s scrapbrook was completed by Ashley Messer, a senior at Tug Valley High School and Mingo Career and Technical Center. The 2009-2010 scrapbook consisted of 74 pages and brought honor to the MCTC for the second year.

#The school board also approved three other educational trips this spring.

Thirty-three students in the Mingo County Career Center’s Gifted Education program are getting set for a field trip to Pittsburgh, Pa., June 29-July 2 to explore the museums and sites of Pittsburgh as a culminating activity to “Summer Institute.”

The students will be accompanied by Bernice Carter, Scarlette Moore, Jim Parker, Susan Jude and Naomi Cline, board of education employees. The trip will be made by chartered bus.

Among the things planned for the group to see are the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium; Mount Washington; Carnegie Museum; Carnegie Science Center; the Andy Warhol Museum; a Pirates vs. Phillies baseball game; a visit to architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Falling Water” house and other places of interest.

Fortu-eight students at Burch High School, Delbarton, will travel by chartered bus May 15 to Cincinnati, Ohio, for a Senior Field Trip, accompanied by board employees Mary Hale, David Hanshaw and Tanya Slone.

A group of 37 students from the Lenore K-8 school also will travel by chartered bus to Williamsburg, Va., June 5-8, accompanied by board employees Donna Davis, Sharon Millirones, Katrin Newberry and Beverly Preece.

The trip is planned to reenforce the studies of American History. Students will visit Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg.

Besides the awards recognitions of HOSA and SkillsUSA, the board meeting Tuesday included a Graphic Art and Design Class recognition by Assistant Superintendent Randy Keathley.