Entry Deadlines for the 99th Annual State Fair of West Virginia are quickly approaching, with livestock due by midnight on July 6, 2024 and home, arts and garden by midnight July 12, 2024.

“Seeing the hard work exhibitors put into their entries and projects is always a highlight of the State Fair,” CEO Kelly Collins stated. “From the quilts, art, food, flowers, and vegetables in the West Virginia Building, to livestock exhibits in the barns, it is a tradition we hope to continue to grow for years to come.”

All entry information and registration can be found by visiting www.statefairofwv.com/competitions or by calling 304-645-1090. No late entries will be accepted.

The 10-day State Fair of West Virginia is celebrating 99 years on Aug. 8-17, 2024. The State Fair of West Virginia, with a $16.9 million economic impact on the state of West Virginia, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation committed to the traditions of agriculture, family entertainment, and education. For more information, please visit www.statefairofwv.com, or follow fair events on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Join the conversation by using #sfwv2023!

West Virginia has 21 commitments in the 2025 recruiting class so far and is currently ranked 20th nationally. WVSports.com takes a closer look at the recruiting rankings and how each recruit factors into the team total on Rivals.com.

How does Rivals.com come up with their point system for the rankings? We look at that as well as where the Mountaineers got to where they’ve already gotten.

First, let’s explain the process: Players are assigned a set number of points based on their Rivals.com Rating (RR). A 6.1-ranked prospect receives 150 points, a 6.0-ranked prospect receives 135, a 5.9 ranked prospect receives 120, a 5.8 ranked prospect receives 105 and so on down the line in increments of 15.

Players ranked in the Rivals250 receive bonus points depending on how high they are ranked. The No. 1 prospect in the country gets +100 bonus points. The No. 25 prospects gets +55 bonus points. The No. 166 prospects gets +19 bonus points and so on until you get to +3 bonus points at the end of the 250.

Those bonus points are added to the points they receive for their Rivals Rating.

It is important to note that only the top 20 ranked recruits for each school count in the team race. So, if a school has 25 commits, Rivals.com will only count the top 20 for ranking purposes.

Rivals Rating points for Top 20 rated commits + Rivals250 Bonus Points = Total Points

It is all explained in greater detail here – Rankings Formula.

West Virginia parents may face long waiting periods to get their child services for autism, or even to see a provider for an evaluation. A new support and education group at West Virginia University aims to help them in the meantime. 

The WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities is starting Mind the Gap in August. The group will be facilitated by Dr. Amy Kurowski-Burt, an occupational therapist and Heather Merritt, the center’s positive behavior support curriculum developer. 

Burt said the idea for the program came about working with families at the center, noticing that parents can wait sometimes two to three years for an autism diagnosis or to get services for autism. 

“Research tells us that early intervention is the most effective for really any pediatric diagnosis,” Kurowski-Burt said. “The sooner you get to it the better they will be long-term through teenage years and adulthood.”

The group will focus on supporting and teaching parents what they can do for their children while they’re waiting for evaluations and services like therapy or an individualized education plan for school, Kurowski-Burt said. 

“It’s not just the therapist, it’s people who are with them all the time that can make the difference,” she said. “So that’s the parents, the siblings, the grandparents, the neighbors. So what information can we give them to help their child be the best they can be.”

Merritt and Kurowski-Burt did a survey and got more than 150 responses from parents about what topics they’re interested in learning about through the group.

“Across all age groups, we found parents all want the same type of information, and need the same type of support,” Merritt said. “And so, we took that coupled with the nationwide Mind the Gap curriculum and kind of just developed the plan to support families the best that we can here.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of one in every 36 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder. The disorder is characterized by ongoing social problems including difficulty communicating with others and repetitive behaviors as well as limited interests or activities. Symptoms typically are recognized by the time the child is two. 

Due to a nationwide shortage of providers such as psychologists, psychiatrists and developmental pediatricians, parents can wait two or three years just to have their child evaluated for autism, Burt said.

Many parents are interested in learning what autism is and what it means for their child, along with how to get the child ready for school and what behaviors to expect.

“I’ve run a similar group like this in the past at a previous agency I was at, and I have found that the support alone, parent to parent or caregiver to caregiver is so valuable, because what may work at somebody’s house, somebody else might not know,” Merritt said. “And so when they share those ideas it carries on within the community, and so they can lean on each other not only for support, but also with ideas of how to help their child. 

Kurowski-Burt said she’s excited to support families who are falling into a “gap” for services and to empower people with disabilities not to wait for a provider. 

“If we give these families strategies of things that they can do in their home or community that’s going to make a difference,” she said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be someone who’s specialized – they can do stuff too. Providers also are awesome, but families don’t have to wait for someone to tell them what to do.”

Mind the Gap will meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. each first Wednesday of the month beginning in August. Participants can attend in person at the center in Morgantown or virtually. 

The support and education group is free to attend, but registration is required. To register, visit https://cedwvu.wufoo.com/forms/mind-the-gap-parent-education-and-support-group/