CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two dozen high school graduating seniors in the Mountain State make up the sixth cohort of Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars.

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission announced the recipients this week.

The students will receive up to $10,000 a year for four years to help them pursue teaching degrees. Once completed, they will teach in West Virginia for at least five years.

“I’m incredibly proud of these young scholars, and I can’t wait to see what they accomplish over the next four years and beyond,” state Higher Education Chancellor Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker said. “This is West Virginia’s preeminent scholarship that is helping produce new generations of outstanding teachers who are eager to make a difference in their hometowns and in the Mountain State. We now have about 150 scholars pursuing their teaching careers right here at home, and we want them to know how important they are to the future of this great state.”

The program is designed to help address the shortages of teachers in math, science, special education, and elementary education. An Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholar commits to teaching in one of those areas.

Each student is paired with a practicing classroom teacher mentor to provide guidance through their college years.

The 2025 Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars beginning their studies in West Virginia this fall are:

Caelyn Bartley from Berkeley Springs High School will be studying elementary education at Shepherd University.

Haylee Chapman from Cabell Midland High School will be studying math at Marshall University.

Molli Taylor from East Fairmont High School will be studying special education at Fairmont State University.

Jenna Groves from Greenbrier East High School will be studying math at Concord University.

Donavin Penn from Greenbrier East High School will be studying elementary education at Marshall University.

Madison Sherman from Fisher will be studying elementary education at Shepherd University.

Abigail Lynch from Midland Trail High School will be studying elementary education at Fairmont State University.

Julia Oliverio from Morgantown High School will be studying math at West Virginia University.

Amelia Morgan from North Marion High School will be studying elementary education at Fairmont State University.

Kailyn Humphrey from Oak Hill High School will be studying elementary education at Concord University.

Sydney Davis from Parkersburg High School will be studying elementary education at West Virginia University.

Grace Martin from Petersburg High School will be studying elementary education at Shepherd University.

Audrey Mongold from Petersburg High School will be studying elementary education at West Virginia University.

Lucas Posey from Philip Barbour High School will be studying math at West Virginia University.

Miranda Gum from Pocahontas County High School will be studying elementary education at Glenville State University.

Elizabeth Handley from Point Pleasant High School will be studying elementary education at Marshall University.

Lukas Herrell from Sherman High School will be studying math at West Virginia State University.

Mary Morrison from St. Marys High School will be studying elementary education at WVU at Parkersburg.

Joshua Copley from Tug Valley High School will be studying science at Marshall University.

Carley Bryan from University High School will be studying elementary education at Fairmont State University.

Madalyn Brown from Westside High School will be studying elementary education at Concord University.

Ciera Faulstick from Wheeling Park High School will be studying elementary education at Wheeling Park High School.

Abigail Howard from Wheeling Park High School will be studying elementary education at West Virginia University.

Allison Hoffman from Winfield High School will be studying math at Marshall University.

Over the past two weekends, West Virginia was chasing down a Big 12 title. That title chase, while successful, slowed down the Mountaineers’ momentum.

Thursday’s win over Cincinnati hopes to have restored that momentum as that winning feeling returned to the West Virginia dugout.

“It felt like we had pressed, and we had pushed, and we had pressed. And there was a Big 12 regular season title on the line. And no matter what you say and how you prepare, when these kids pour this much into being great, they do feel that. And so I felt over the course of the last few weeks, maybe the guys were pressing for hits or trying to have success for the program. That’s all they want, man. These guys go to work every day to do something special for our state, community, and university,” West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins said.

WVU won their first outright Big 12 title last weekend, but this weekend, they are hoping to win their first Big 12 Tournament title. That motivation does not come from Sabins who is in his first season as head coach, but it is player driven for the Mountaineers.

“I don’t think anything I say at this point is going to change how these guys play or perform. It’s their team. It’s been their team for a long time. They’ve taken ownership of this team. Guys like these [Griffin Kirn and Kyle West], these guys will dictate how far this team goes. I’m going to try to put them in positions to be successful. That’s my job at this point. But there’s no rah, rah speeches. There’s nothing that I can say or do at this point,” Sabins said.

That feeling of accountability is something West feels. He’s in his second season as a Mountaineer, but understood what this team went through each of the last two weeks.

“I think coming the last two weeks were obviously not what we wanted. We lost two series. We had time to regroup, think about what had happened the past two weeks, reflect on it for positive. When you start looking into the negative, you get so deep down a rabbit hole, and you try and fix everything. But on the surface, we’re an elite-level baseball team. So, try and regroup, recuperate on what we do well, and take that into this weekend. And I think we showed tonight what we did all season. So I think it’s a great start, and looking forward, I think we’re in a great position,” West said.

The thing that helped West Virginia flush what happened in the regular season is the idea that once the tournament start, it’s an entirely new season.

“But I do think before we came here, we did remind the guys that there’s certainly some doubters. So we just won a Big 12 title, and we tied the most wins in program history, and there’s still a lot of doubters of what that was. And so you have a choice. You can either play with a chip on your shoulder. You can use that for fuel. Or you can ignore it. Those are the options,” Sabins said.

It seems as though West Virginia used it for fuel, as a 10-3 win over Cincinnati put the Mountaineers in the Big 12 Semifinals.

“I have my preference. [Kirn] probably has his preference. Kyle West has his preference. But everybody in that locker room knows how special this team is and what we’ve accomplished. I think the most important thing you hit on, stumbled at the end. Well, this is the beginning. And so we don’t really want to look at it like the end, because if you think it’s the end, then it’s the end. And so we talked about something new, a rebirth, getting to go start a new season basically today,” Sabins said.