Clay County Board of Education met on Monday, January 9.

The agenda was approved, as well as the minutes from the previous meeting, the payment of current bills and the financial update.

The resignation/retirement of Brenda Holcomb as autism mentor aide at Clay County High School, effective June 30, was approved. The resignation/retirement of Valerie Facemire as special needs aide at Clay County High School and transportation aide on Bus no. 55, effective June 30, was approved. The resignation of Kevin Isaacs as treasurer/chief school business official, effective January 8, was approved. The employment of Haley (West) Nichols as substitute teacher for the 2016-2017 school year was approved. The employment of Rick Willis as volunteer basketball coach at Clay County High School was approved. Advertisements for substitute bus operators were approved to be published in the local newspaper.

Clay County Middle School TSA attended the meeting to update the board of education on their most recent success. A small team of six boys have brainstormed and put their minds together to create an App for a Verizon Wireless Challenge. Here is the information we were given on this competition.

Our judges have chosen Clay County Middle School TSA’s WV2Volunteer as a Best in State winner for West Virginia in the Verizon Innovative Learning app challenge! We received more than 1,800 app concept submissions in this highly competitive contest. You and your students should be proud of your hard work and innovation!

As a Best in State team, you have won:

• A $5,000 award for your school/organization
• A Verizon Ellipsis 10 tablet and case for each team member
• A T-shirt, cinch backpack, bumper sticker, and certificate for each team member
• A recognition plaque and banner for your school/organization
• Listing on the Verizon Innovative Learning app challenge website
• Eligibility to compete for the titles of Best in Region, Best in Nation, and Fan Favorite

As a Best in State winner, your team is eligible to enter the Fan Favorite contest, in which people across the country vote for their favorite app concept. The team with the most votes will receive more great prizes: an additional $15,000 for your school/group, in-person app development training from MIT experts, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the TSA conference in Orlando, Florida, in June 2017.

The App Challenge Fan Favorite award will be given to the team that receives the most votes for its app concept. 

Voting is simple, and it’s free (standard texting rates apply). Just text the code for your favorite app concept—your team’s code is 2VOLUNTEER—to 22333 using a mobile device.

The voting period begins on January 16 and ends on February 14 at 11 p.m. EST.

The Clay County Free Press will be attending the presentation at Clay Middle when Verizon presents them with a check for $5,000. Coverage for that will be in the first edition in February