executive director of business development and community advancement at Blue Ridge CTC.
Saxe says Berkeley County is working hard to position its education system as a first choice for education. A major advancement for the county’ s schools addresses safety concerns, investing in an emergency management system to ensure quicker and easier response time to emergencies.
“ All school staff this year are equipped with an alert badge,” Saxe says.“ If they are encountering a crisis or something dangerous in their schools, all they have to do is press that button, and first responders will immediately respond based upon their geocoded location.”
Saxe says Berkeley County Schools is also excited about its many partnerships, one of note being a collaboration with WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center to run MedEd, a program offered to seniors at Martinsburg High School and Spring Mills High School, where students participate in classroom health science learning at the schools and at WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center, working alongside health care professionals.
“ We’ re really excited about this program and look forward to being able to expand it to other industries in the future as well,” Saxe says.
Procter & Gamble’ s( P & G) Tabler Station facility is active with the local school system, promoting manufacturing education to local middle schools through the West Virginia Explorers Program.
Photo by Procter & Gamble.
“ We bring things to the school to let students see,‘ How do you make Dawn dish soap or a Swiffer cleaning product, what do those products do, and what kind of work do we offer?” says Patrick Winkleman, environment, health and safety director at P & G.
Community
The Eastern Panhandle works consistently to remain a vibrant and welcoming place to call home.
On September 8, Girl Scouts Nations Capitol honored three Women of Distinction— Vicky Bullett, Joy Lewis and Cara Keys. Annual events like these not only celebrate the region’ s high-achieving women but also serve as an example to young girls.
“ Just think, we have an Olympic gold medalist and county commissioner living in our community and teaching our children,” Collins says.“ If our girls can see women as Olympic medalists, school board members, county commissioners, philanthropists, doctors, lawyers and moms, they know they can be them too.”
An example of collaboration within the Eastern Panhandle, the Eastern West Virginia Economic Alliance( EWVEA) brings together Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties’ economic development authorities and MRB to promote the region.
The EWVEA’ s pitch competitions— Build-Up Berkeley, Jumpstart Jefferson and Make it Morgan— provide opportunities, mentorship and resources to the region’ s aspiring entrepreneurs.
“ It’ s helping launch new small businesses and strengthen the county’ s entrepreneurial ecosystem, which benefits the entire Eastern Panhandle,” says Jennifer Smith, executive director of the Berkeley County Development Authority.
The Jefferson County Convention & Visitors Bureau( CVB) recently conducted its fourth Washington, D. C., domination, where it partnered with Berkeley and Morgan counties to market the region in airports and metro stations.
Annette Gavin Bates, CEO of the Jefferson County CVB, also says visitor numbers are growing in Jefferson County’ s local attractions, such as the Harpers Ferry Water Park, which saw record numbers this summer.
Guests visiting Shepherdstown will also now be greeted by a new welcome center housed in downtown’ s iconic 1800 Market House building.
“ We’ re really proud of that partnership with the town and the fact that they trusted us to be good stewards of that building,” Gavin Bates says.
Mark Jordan, executive director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County CVB, says the Eastern Panhandle is a popular destination for filming and describes the CVB’ s partnership with the state film office to visit California each year and recruit new films to the area.
“ We can promote not only Berkeley County and the Eastern Panhandle but also the whole state of West Virginia,” Jordan says.
Jordan says the fall season is big for the area, with many seasonal festivals taking place in Berkeley County. Raven Lamp, events and promotions manager at Main Street Martinsburg, emphasizes this as well.
Lamp says Martinsburg hosted its fourth Fall Food Festival on October 4, which included more than 20 food trucks and 40 merchandise vendors.
“ The Fall Food Festival isn’ t just about the food trucks. It’ s about the full downtown experience,” Lamp says.“ It’ s so much fun to shop our brick-and-mortar businesses and enjoy our local restaurants along the way.”
Martinsburg will also host its annual Christmas on Main on December 6, featuring a tree lighting and holiday events, and a Christmas Parade will be held on December 9. Once March comes, Martinsburg will host its St. Patrick’ s Day festival— the largest in the state.
Saxe mentions that Berkeley County Schools is making strides in its partnerships with local community organizations to help improve their summer and community-based enrichment programming, including robotics, STEM, theater and Horses with Hearts.
Cox echoes the importance of organizations like Horses with Hearts, providing equine therapy and leadership training; CASA of the Eastern Panhandle, providing services to children experiencing abuse and neglect; and Hospice of the Eastern Panhandle, expanding services to include palliative
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