Upcoming Dates
September 12 – GMS Volleyball (Home) 5 pm
September 13 – GCS BOE Meeting @5:30 pm
September 16 – 12:30 Early Dismissal
September 19 – GMS Volleyball (Home) 5 pm
September 20 – Progress Reports #1 Go Home
GV Volleyball @ EHHS (Quad) 5 pm
September 25 – GMS Volleyball @ Davis-Thomas 6pm
September 27 – UEC BETA Club Blooddrive 1-6 pm
September 28 – P/T Conferences UEC 3:30-6:00
September 29 – GMS/GV Volleyball @ Paw Paw 6 pm
MUMS FOR SALE
UEC Senior Class is selling Mums for a fall fundraiser. The cost is $12 per mum with colors rust, orange, yellow, and purple. The money is due Sept. 21 and delivery is Sept. 23rd. Please see any Senior to order.
Counselor's Corner
By Abbi Kifer
Hello Parents, Guardians, UEC Staff, and Community Members!!! This is going to be an amazing year here at UEC! There are several things I will be focusing on in the school counseling program for the school year 2022-2023, as a school counselor, I am not only here for support and mental health, but I focus on data-driven programs. My goal is to improve the range of student learning, academic, and behavioral outcomes. I am here to support the needs of all students and my door is open to everyone.
Let me start by telling you a little more about myself. Prior to becoming a school counselor, I have worked in the health care field as a Registered Dietitian. I have been a Registered Dietitian for approximately 20 years! I am also passionate about fitness and am a certified personal trainer. When my daughter started school, I wanted to strive toward a better work/life balance and the opportunity to become a school counselor presented itself. I went back to school, and I will finish my second master's degree in counseling this May.
With that said, stress management is an important focus for all of us. Stress can affect your sleep, your heart rate, blood pressure, and overall health. One of my personal favorite ways to manage stress is running. Because I know the value of physical activity, I encourage you and your family to be active together. This is a wonderful way to spend time together while helping to improve stress levels. Before stress becomes too big, I can help students develop healthy coping skills. Students can self-refer to come and speak to me, and parents and teachers can refer students to see the school counselor. Everyone, please have a great school year and contact me if you have questions or concerns.
Community In Schools
The 2022-23 school year is off to a great start! I am excited to be back in school and love seeing all of our students every morning when I greet them, as they enter the building! Just like last year, I am here to provide resources to students and their families in an effort to eliminate any barriers that they are facing. Please reach out to me if your family or your student has a need and I will use existing school/community resources or work to create a new resource if that is what it takes to help your student succeed!
I will continue to use the school Facebook page that I created last year to post upcoming and current events. I do realize that not everyone is on Facebook, but I have found that using it is the best way to reach the majority of parents and guardians. I will also continue to send flyers home when we have upcoming events. Speaking of upcoming events....... October is such a fun month here at UEC! We will have the Fall Festival and Monster Mash and I will have the Communities In Schools second TRUNK OR TREAT! I hope that everyone who participated last year will do so again and I hope that others will be interested in joining in on the fun! I already have my “trunk” planned and I am super excited! I hope you are planning too! We had a great turn out last year and I expect that we will have a great turn out once again because it is such a fun evening!
I am looking forward to a wonderful school year and I want nothing more than to see every student excel and succeed here at UEC; if I can assist students please reach out to me if needed.
Kristi R. Evans Communities In Schools Site Coordinator
WELCOME NEW STAFF
UEC would like to Welcome Our new staff. The Yearbook class interviewed the new staff to find a little bit more about them.
Mr. Watts – Music & Art
Mr. Watts chose to be a teacher because when he was in school his band teacher encouraged him to go to school for music and then he decided to become a music teacher to inspire other children to get involved in music.
Mr. Watts chose UEC to teach because he is originally from Grant County. He had heard good things about the school. He also says that it is helpful that the school is a tight group of people who help whenever necessary.
As for college education, He went to Glenville University and studied music education. He also played in the college band and a jazz ensemble. His favorite part of teaching is being able to come and work with so many amazing students and having fun, which makes the job not seem like work!
Mr. Watts motivates his students by having a very enthusiastic personality and he also encourages the children to sing and dance. He makes sure to answer all the questions the children have. He participates while he teaches the assignments to the children, to show he is also trying his best on the work like them. He says that the greatest challenge right now is getting in the groove, seeing what projects he wants to do being a first-time teacher, but it's definitely worth it!
Mr. VanMeter – Health/PE
Mr. VanMeter wanted to become a teacher so he could help his students and show them they can do anything in life. He decided to come to Union because he loves sports and wanted to be our school’s P.E. teacher. Mr. VanMeter went to Marietta College and studied education and played football. His favorite part of his job as a teacher is interacting with the students and giving them the skills, they need to succeed in life. Mr. VanMeter motivates his students by letting them know he cares and raises expectations for his class so they can be the best they can possibly be. The greatest challenge for him is being able to connect to every student.
Ms. Evans – 7-12 Science
Ms. Evans decided to be a teacher because throughout high school and college she became enlightened to teach others about science. She decided to teach at Union because she knew we needed an actual science teacher. She went to the University of Charleston and studied Biology, earning a bachelor's degree in Biology. Mrs. Evans said that her favorite part of teaching is interacting with her students and having them interact with her. She motivates her students by rewarding them with activities, such as labs or incentives. She says that the hardest part of teaching is seven different subjects and seeing how her students learn best.
Mr. Frazee – 7-12 Mathematics
Mr. Frazee says he decided to be a teacher because he likes working with kids. Mr. Frazee came to Union because he was looking for a full-time teaching job and applied for the position. He attended Bethany College, studying sports management. He received a bachelor's degree. He then attended West Virginia University where he earned a master’s in sports management. His favorite part of the job is getting to know all the students and getting to know what they enjoy since there are smaller classes. Mr. Frazee motivates his students by helping them understand that mistakes are going to happen. He says the hardest part of the job is teaching six different grades levels daily, being organized, and prepared each day.
Mr. Shirk – 5th Grade
Mr. Shirk decided to become a teacher to make learning fun and push students to be the best they can. He came to Union because he wanted to work in a small school with small classes. He attended Blue Ridge College and studied physical therapy, with health care science at West Virginia University. He has studied education in graduate school and went to Western Governor’s University to earn a master's in teaching. His favorite part of teaching is having students remember the impact that he has on their learning experience. Mr. Shirk motivates his students by relating learning to his students' everyday lives. He says that the hardest part of teaching is collaboration with and the involvement of parents or guardians.
YEARBOOKS FOR SALE
Union Educational Complex Yearbooks from 1997-2019 are for sale @ $5.00 each. The Yearbook Staff is using the funds to assist with this years’ book. There is a limited supply of certain years so it’s first come, first serve. The year 2020 is one year, unfortunately, UEC did not have a yearbook. If you would like to purchase a past yearbook please see the attached form and send with the money to the office. Yearbooks will be available throughout the school year.
The yearbooks from 2021 & 2022 are still in publishing but are expected to be shipped by the end of this month. I apologize for the delay.
Ms. Chapman, Editor
BETA CLUB
Union High School – Beta Club Bloodrive
UEC HS Gym
52 Tiger Drive, Mt. Storm, WV 26739
Contact: Jamie Tallman, jtallman@k12.wv.us
(304)257-3256 w/questions