CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - High school students filed into the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, set to learn about college and career readiness.

“I think the future of West Virginia is an educated workforce,” said Mallory Carpenter, assistant director of West Virginia GEAR UP. “So, we really need students to realize that ‘Hey, this is better for me. It’s better for my family. It’s better for my community, if I can go on and get this training and come back and work in the state.’”

This two-day event is part of the West Virginia GEAR UP grant.

It is a federally funded grant that is designed to help students move on to some form of education or training after high school.

Kerrington Toppings, a Lincoln County High School junior who’s very involved in GEAR UP, said events like this

See Full Page