Wood BOE recognizes class officers

PARKERSBURG – The Wood County Board of Education recognized the Parkersburg High School senior class officers who raised funds that will allow all seniors at the school to attend home athletic events for free for the 2025-2026 school year.

"We got together at the beginning of the summer, and we thought, you know, we want to make this year unforgettable," Senior Class President Lauren Flanagan said at Tuesday evening's school board meeting.

"Our group is really close knit, and we wanted to continue to unite our senior class. So we decided that we would go to businesses--as we tried to focus on local businesses… not really corporate, because we wanted to highlight why our town is super awesome and why they’re so involved in our school systems," she said.

The group, which included Treasurer Will Hopkins, Senior Vice President Anna Floyd and Secretary Jay Bowling, raised $3,000 from their efforts.

"Now all seniors have free admission to any sporting event during the year," Flanagan said.

The board was also told about a donation made by the late Jim Midkiff by Rick Bush, president of the Erickson All-Sports Facility Development Corporation, that will benefit the new softball and baseball complex being built.

"Our group has put together a package, including the gift for Mr. Midkiff of $300,000 and through some very skillful maneuvering by the superintendent and Kaleb (Lawrence), the assistant superintendent, they have managed to turn that into lighting," Bush said. "And after we give you this $300,000, my group will have close to $100,000 in the bank, and we, along with the baseball parents, are going to fund many of the things that otherwise would have been done through the bond.”

The board also received a human resource update from John Merritt, assistant superintendent of human resources, an inclement weather update from Eric Murphy, technology integration specialist, and a strategic plan update from Amber Hardman, director of federal programs.

Read the full story from Tuesday's meeting in the Thursday edition of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com