All hail the Knights and Ladies of the Golden Horseshoe.
That’s the award and designation honoring West Virginia eighth-graders who have demonstrated a multitude of knowledge about the Mountain State, from civics to current events.
A total of 223 students from all 55 counties and the state Schools for the Deaf and Blind were recognized Friday afternoon in Charleston.
State Schools Superintendent Clayton Burch said he was even more impressed by their dogged pursuit of all things West Virginia.
Especially with one persistent, all-encompassing current event still swirling about: The coronavirus.
“Their resilience to achieve this accomplishment during the height of the pandemic is a reflection of their dedication and learning,” the superintendent said.
“I know they will serve as excellent ambassadors for the Mountain State for many years to come.”
Mon’s honorees: Whitley Hardin, of Clay-Battelle; Wesley Deleurere, of Mountaineer Middle; Gabriel Watson, of St. Francis; and Logan Ross, Caroline Stratton, Andrew Sheets and Maxwell Phillips, all of South Middle.
Preston recipients: Collin Wyatt, of Central Preston; Mudd Klapper, of Terra Alta/East Preston; Kadence Whitehair, of Bruceton; and Anna Maxwell, of South Preston.
Since 1931, the Golden Horseshoe test has been an academic, and Appalachian, rite of passage here.
The symbolism pre-dates the state, in fact.
In 1716, Alexander Spotswood, who was lieutenant governor of Virginia, presented horseshoes painted gold to honor the bravery of a group of explorers who cut a swath across the Allegheny Mountains west of Virginia.
Nearly 150 years after that offering, west of Virginia would become West Virginia.
It’s a point of state pride, said Angel Conley, who teaches West Virginia history at South Middle.
Her classes in that subject are known in the state for History Bowl champions and Golden Horseshoe winners they generate.
“This isn’t ‘boring’ history,” said Conley, a native of the colonial-steeped Eastern Panhandle.
“It’s the cool stuff that stays with them and makes them proud to be from here,” the teacher said.
In a television appearance in 2012, Jennifer Garner gave talk show host Conan O’Brien a quick Mountain State primer.
The movie actress and Charleston native name-checked all the touchstones — state bird, state animal, state song and the like — in the spirit of a Golden Horseshoe study guide.
“You wax rhapsodic about West Virginia,” the talk show host marveled.
“Who doesn’t?” came the reply.
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