Governor's Honors Academy Opens July 2

The Fairmont State University campus will be home-away-from-home for 170 of West Virginia's brightest rising high school seniors during the Governor's Honors Academy Sunday, July 2-Sunday, July 23.

Started in 1984 by then-Gov. Jay Rockefeller, two students from each county and additional students from a statewide pool participate, as well as guest students from Russia. The GHA is designed to stimulate and support academic excellence in education through an intensive residential summer program that includes classes, field trips and cultural events.

Dr. J. Robert Baker, Fairmont State University Professor of English, is in the second year of a three-year term as Dean of the GHA.

"We hope to inspire the GHA students to continue their outstanding achievements because they are, in a significant way, the future of West Virginia," Baker said.

Students, parents and faculty members will assemble at 12:30 p.m., July 2, for the GHA opening ceremony at the Falcon Center.

During the course of the three-week experience, students enroll in one intensive and one broad-based course in the areas of arts, humanities and math/science. In addition, the students will experience a number of field trips and cultural events both on- and off-campus.

For example, on Thursday, July 6, the students will see the one-act play, "Coal Camp Memories," written and performed by Karen Vuranch. The play is a production of WV Enterprises, based in Fayetteville, W.Va. The company brings Appalachian and American history to life through plays, storytelling, living history, lectures and other performances. "Coal Camp Memories," is created from oral histories. It is the story of a girl growing up in a West Virginia coal camp in the 1920s and 1930s. The play is presented in a series of four scenes that chronicle Hallie Marie's life from an exuberant 10-year-old, to a demure teenager, to a young wife, to an old woman wise with years. Karen Vuranch completes the aging process in front of the audience. The production has grown with each performance as audience members come forward with family stories.

On Friday, July 7, Sandy Sowell's Game Show Mania will entertain the students. The TV-style quiz show has been a hit with all ages at fairs, as after-dinner entertainment and at schools, fundraisers and company parties.

The following is a schedule of the evening cultural events the students will attend on campus during the GHA. Each of the events takes place at 7:30 p.m.

__ Monday, July 2: Square Dancing
__ Tuesday, July 4: Appalachian Brass Quintet
__ Wednesday, July 5: T'ai Chi
__ Thursday, July 6: Coal Camp Memories
__ Friday, July 7: Sandy Sowell's Game Show

__ Monday, July 10: Poetry Alive
__ Tuesday, July 11: Svastari (Piano Trio)
__ Wednesday, July 12: Yoga, Terry Miller
__ Friday, July 14: Film, "Supersize Me"

__ Wednesday, July 19: Japanese Sword Dancing, Tad Kato
__ Thursday, July 20: Talent Show
__ Friday, July 21: Performance Expo