Photo Provided From left, Maggie Luma, director of the Young Writers Contest, presents a certificate to Zoey Sturm of Wood County, who placed second in the Seventh and eighth grade division for “Car Crash” in the West Virginia Young Writers Contest.

Zoey Sturm of Wood County and Hailee Johnson of Tyler County have placed in the West Virginia Young Writers Contest. The contest is a collaboration of the Central West Virginia Writing Project at Marshall University, the Marshall University June Harless Center, the West Virginia Department of Education and the University of Charleston.

Sturm placed second in the seventh and eighth grade division for “Car Crash.” Johnson, a student at Tyler Consolidated High School, placed second in the 11th and 12th grade division for “The Barrell.”

Eighteen students from around the state were honored on May 8 at the Young Writers Day ceremony at the University of Charleston where they also participated in workshops with published West Virginia authors.

Lance Craven of Belmont has been named to the Spring 2026 Dean’s List at Belmont University at Nashville, Tenn. Dean’s List eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C.

Three students from the region have been named to the Spring 2026 Dean’s List at Pennsylvania Western University at California, Pa.

Photo Provided Hailee Johnson of Tyler County, right, accepts an award from Maggie Luma, director of the Young Writers Contest. Johnson received second place in the 11th and 12th grade division for “The Barrell.”

They were Chesnee Williams, Ellenboro, who is studying sport management; Kaleigh Rexroad, Parkersburg, who is studying criminal justice; and Trinity Balog, Vienna, a student in sport management.

To be eligible for the Dean’s List, degree-seeking undergraduate students must earn a minimum semester GPA of 3.4 while taking at least 12 graded credits.

The Frontier Alumni Association 1969-1990 awarded $1,000 scholarships to two seniors at Frontier High School: Aaden Bills and Hunter Taylor.

Bills is the son of Michael and Jami Kahlig of Dart and Aaron and Niki Bills of Senecaville. He was accepted by the Mid-East Career Technology Center at Zanesville in the power line technologies program with the goal to receive a power line technology certificate. His dream is to become a lineman.

Taylor is the son of Todd and Stephanie Taylor of Newport. He will attend Washington State College of Ohio in the electrical engineering technician program where his goal is to receive an associate of science and electrical engineer technician certificate. He hopes to become a biomedical engineering technician and become the head of biomedical technology at Marietta Memorial Hospital.

Aaden Bills

The scholarships, awarded for 15 consecutive years, were recently increased from $500 a year to $1,000 a year. They were presented by Jeff Beaver, president of the association and a 1976 alumnus, at the 22nd annual Frontier High School senior awards program on May 17.

Hunter Taylor