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On November 14 of 2005 Governor Joe Manchin announced that West Virginia was going to become a model for 21st century education. In this announcement he made public the fact that West Virginia had partnered with the Partnership for 21st century Skills. This started public education down a road that would lead to many changes. This road would lead the state into rewriting its Content Standards and Objectives (CSOs), an internal restructuring of the West Virginia Department of Education, the rewriting of WESTEST and challenge every member of the educational community to re-think the role of public education and what we teach our students.

These changes have not come easy and they are just now beginning to take effect. Starting next school year all teachers will be required to teach to the new CSOS . At the beginning of the year the WVDE will pilot the revised WESTEST, now called WESTEST 2. WESTEST 2 will assess students on the new standards and include a writing assessment. Unlike previous years the exam will test all grades 3 through 11 and the new writing assessment portion will be online. At the heart of all of this is professional development for all educators and administrators helping them to better understand the students of the new millennium and vision the world they will live in.

These changes are starting to garner West Virginia more than a few nods and raised eyebrows. For the last two years running the partnership for the 21st century has recognized West Virginia for its 21st century initiatives. The noted edcational and technology speaker Ian Jukes has visited the state on several occasions and has commented on his blog that West Virginia has the right idea. Educational leaders in West Virginia are being asked serve on committees for national educational reform and to participate in overseas exchanges of ideas. Lessons learned in online assessments and ideas on how to conduct large scale online assessments are being shared at the national level and many more opportunities to show the nation how we are changing arise daily.

One such example is the recent creation of a biodiesel facility in Lincoln County. This facility will allow the students to prepare for jobs in the alternative fuel industry while helping the county to save money. The fuel produced at the facility will be used in the counties school buses. Think about that, students will help to produce the very fuel that enables them to be transported to school. This project alone will save the county over $6000.00 next year.

The stereotype I want to smash the most is that West Virginias are uneducated and do not contribute to society as a whole. The truth of the matter is that West Virginia has much to offer society as a whole and has contributed a great deal to the modern society we live in. When you look through history and start digging you will find that a West Virginian along with a team of scientist and researchers broke the sound barrier. A West Virginia helped to pioneer organ transplant. A West Virginia was an influential black leader and president of the Tuskegee Institute. A West Virginia played a beloved TV icon. I could go on and on. Here is a partial list of famous West Virginias:

• Booker T. Washington - Black educational leader and the first president of Tuskegee Institute, raised in Malden, Kanawha County.
• Brad Paisley - Country music star and actor, born in Glen Dale.
• Brigadier General Charles Yeager, U.S.A.F Retired - first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, was born in Myra, Lincoln County.
• Carter G. Woodson - educator, author and the father of Black History Month, was raised in Huntington, Cabell County.
• Cyrus R. Vance - Secretary of State from 1977 to 1980 during the administration of President Jimmy Carter, was born in Clarksburg.
• Hal Greer - member of the basketball hall of fame, was raised in Huntington, Cabell County.
• Homer H. Hickam, Jr. - Author of Rocket Boys: A Memoir, the story of his life in the little town of Coalwood, WV that Inspired the #1 Bestseller and Award-Winning Movie October Sky.
• Jerry West - former professional basketball star of the Los Angeles Lakers, was born in Cabin Creek, Kanawha County.
• John C. Norman, MD - distinguished surgeon and pioneer in organ transplant techniques, was born in Charleston, Kanawha County.
• Mary Lou Retton - 1984 Olympic Gold Medal winner in gymnastics is from Fairmont, Marion County.
• Pearl S. Buck - Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning author was born in Hillsboro, Pocahontas County.
• Sam Snead - world famous golfer, resides in White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County.
• Samuel W. Starks - Local and national leader of Knights of Pythias fraternal order was raised in Charleston, Kanawha County.
• Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson - born in Clarksburg, Harrison County. The Confederate General’s boyhood home became the first state 4-H Club Camp in the United States.
• Walter P. Reuther - former president of the United Auto Workers (AFL-CIO), was born in Wheeling, Ohio County.