The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) will recognize 226 eighth grade students from middle schools across the state as Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. Once again, the WVDE will host three separate ceremonies, and a complete list of winners can be found on the WVDE website.
Local winners from Clay County Middle School include Jaylyn Holcomb, Presley Shamblin, and Matthew Wood.
The first ceremony begins at 9 a.m. and recognizes recipients from the following counties: Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Fayette, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Putnam, Roane, Wayne and Wirt.
The second ceremony begins at 11:00 a.m. and recognizes recipients from the following counties: Gilmer, Greenbrier, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Pleasants, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Summers, Tyler, Upshur, Webster, Wetzel, Wood, Wyoming and West Virginia Public Charter Schools.
The third ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. and recognizes recipients from the following counties: Barbour, Berkeley, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Jefferson, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Taylor, Tucker and the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
This year marks the 307th anniversary of the Golden Horseshoe legacy, and it remains the longest-running program of its kind in the country with the annual state recognitions dating back to 1931. The program’s legacy dates back to 1716 when Governor of the Virginia Colony Alexander Spotswood organized and recognized a delegation of men who explored the land west of the Allegheny Mountains (most of which is now West Virginia). He presented each of them a small golden horseshoe to commemorate their bravery for crossing the mountain.