We Have Hope

Virginia Walden Ford is one of America’s leading advocates for parent empowerment. As a student, a mother, an advocate, and a grandmother, Virginia has spent her lifetime fighting to create new educational opportunities for children and families. Fueled by her passion for educational opportunity, Virginia Walden Ford has inspired families, filmmakers, and lawmakers to make positive educational cha...

Kathie Hess Crouse serves as a member of the House of Delegates. She is a mom of 5, past president of West Virginia Home Educators, the first female athletic commissioner for the West Virginia Athletic Commission, and she currently runs the largest Facebook group for homeschoolers called The Unsocialized Homeschoolers of West Virginia.  Kathie’s three oldest children graduated from public school....

We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Bernie Dolan, executive director of the WVSSAC. The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) is a private, voluntary, non-profit organization comprised of the principals or designees of West Virginia public and private secondary schools who have elected to delegate control, supervision, and regulations of their interscholastic, ban...

Today, on the show, we are joined by Meredith Olson from the VELA Education Fund. VELA Education Fund supports everyday entrepreneurs who are boldly reimagining education. The fund serves the largest community of out-of-system education entrepreneurs in the country. Meredith shares about how VELA was started, what they do, and the impact they are having on education. VELA is an incredible organiza...

We have some new listeners around here, so we thought now would be a good time to talk about the HOPE Scholarship! The HOPE Scholarship is an ESA (Education Savings Account) for eligible students in West Virginia. In this episode, we will talk about what the scholarship is, eligibility requirements, the application process, resources, and more.  We are passionate about this awesome program and lov...

Welcome back to the We Have Hope Podcast! Thanks for tuning in for Season TWO! We hope you had a great summer and are settling nicely into the new school year. We have a great lineup for you this season, and we’re so excited to share these interviews with you! Each year is a new opportunity for growth for you and your family. Parenting can be challenging, but your love and dedication are making a...

Welcome to our Season 1 Recap! We have had an amazing first season with some truly inspiring guests. Thank you so much to each of our guests for coming on the podcast and sharing your stories.  We’ve talked to educators, providers, an elected official, and parents on the show, and it was fascinating to hear each of their stories. You’ve brought inspiration, joy, and hope to countless others by sha...

Welcome back to We Have Hope! We have a special guest on the show with us today. Alden Kiertzner, founding principal of Pathways Early College Academy is here with us to share about their program. PECA is an online High School Academy partnered with Pathways College.  Pathways College started with a mission to bring affordable college to every student. Through the process, they saw an opportunity...

In today’s episode, we are learning more about Emmanuel Christian School in Clarksburg, West Virginia. ECS focuses on providing a classical Christian education to their students. The school is in it’s 50th year! ECS is an extension of Emmanuel Baptist Church. They are first and foremost a ministry, so they are dedicated to helping families in any way they can. ECS is also a Hope Provider! Their be...

The process of preparing, getting accepted, and choosing a college can be overwhelming for both students and parents.. but today’s guest prides herself in helping families along the way. Jamie Dickenson is a Certified Educational Planner in Charleston, West Virginia. She typically begins her work with students when they are in 8th grade.  Jamie is extremely well versed in all aspects of college pr...

In today’s episode, we are sitting down with Heidi Treu, executive director and founder of West Virginia Academy. West Virginia Academy is West Virginia’s first charter school. After moving to West Virginia, Heidi & her husband started their children in public school. One year into their public education, it was apparent to the parents that their children were not thriving in this environment....

In today’s episode, we are chatting with Ashley Vernon, Development Director at St. Mary’s Grade School & Notre Dame High School. Ashley’s goal in her role is to continuously push the schools to move forward and grow. She has two daughters of her own that attend St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s offers Christ centered education for Pre-K 3 through 6th grade, and Notre Dame offers 7th through 12th grade. ...

Today on the show, we have special guest West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore. Treasurer Moore started out as a welder maintaining mining equipment. He worked his way through college, and went on to work on Capitol Hill on the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a National Security Advisor. Eventually, he left government and worked in the private sector defense industry. After some time, Treas...

Today on We Have Hope, we are chatting with our editor and friend, Victoria Evans. Victoria lives in Salem, West Virginia with her husband Travis and their two children.  In our conversation today, Victoria shares about challenges her daughter had before, during, and after the school shutdowns, and how school choice made a way for them to find freedom, flexibility, and stability in a time when the...

Seven years ago, Kristine Ayers Cline saw a need. She was in a field in which she worked with people with disabilities and she started to notice a pattern: Many of those she worked with would come into her office asking for help to file for social security benefits. She had the ability to help them file, but she chose first to try to inspire them instead. Her belief is that ‘everyone can do someth...

Welcome back to We Have Hope! In today’s episode, we sat down with Justin Zimmerman, Head of School at Linsly in Wheeling, WV to learn more about their school.  Linsly is an independent day boarding school that offers grades five through twelve. They offer day time school as well as boarding school for the upper grades. Founded in 1814, Linsly is the longest standing boarding school west of the Al...

Welcome back to the We Have Hope Podcast! Today on the show, we are chatting with Angie Channell, founder of Mountaineer Homeschool Hub. In 2011, Angie’s son came to her and asked her to be homeschooled. He was in second grade at the time and was being bullied in school. After some research and support of friends and her husband, Angie took the leap into homeschooling her son. Their homeschooling...

Welcome back to the We Have Hope Podcast! Today, we are chatting with Rishira Dille - Program Coordinator for WVU High School ACCESS Early College Program. WVU High School ACCESS Early College Program allows 10th-12th grade students to take college courses while still attending High School. The only requirement is a 3.0 grade point average. Students can apply on the program’s website which we will...

Welcome back, friends! Today on the show, we are joined by Katie Switzer, founder of Monongalia Forest School. Katie lives in Morgantown with her husband and four kids. In the summer of 2021, she began looking for a forest school for her kids to participate in.  When she didn’t find an option that was the right fit for her family, she decided to start her own! Katie reached out to a friend who had...

Welcome back to the We Have Hope Podcast! We have an exciting guest on the show today! Monica Say from Code With Nano is here to talk to us about coding and the one on one courses she has available. According to Monica - anyone can code! How exciting would it be for your child to learn to code and be able to look at their work and say ‘I did that!’?  This is an ever growing field and a wonderful s...

Welcome back to part two of our conversation with licensed social worker, Gabi Hayes.  In today’s episode, we dig deep into ‘Trauma Informed Care’ and what it looks like. We are so excited you decided to join us today! Episode Highlights: What is Trauma Informed Care? How Do You Determine if Someone is Trauma Informed? Simple Things You Can Do at Home to Manage Your Responses to a Child’s Behavior...

Sometimes it just takes that one person stepping up to change the course of a child’s life. In today’s episode, Kim & Leah sit down with licensed social worker Gabi Hayes to discuss everything from implementing various tools & techniques to breaking unhealthy generational cycles. Children have complex emotions and they need someone who will advocate for them and step into that space with t...

Did you know that your middle schooler could potentially take college courses? We are so excited to share today’s episode with you. We had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Joni Gray, Transitions Education Specialist with Pierpont Community and Technical College to talk about some of the educational opportunities they offer.  As Transitions Education Specialist, Dr. Joni Gray is available to he...

When Ashley Matheny was growing up, she always thought she would be a Public School Teacher. She imagined herself teaching for 30 years and then retiring. While she did end up teaching public school, it didn’t go exactly as planned. She taught for several years, but around year 4, she began to feel ‘burnt out’. After a medical leave of absence, Ashley ended up resigning. During her time of healing...

Welcome back to the We Have Hope podcast!  Today, we are chatting with Helen Bradley of The IDEA Center in Wheeling, West Virginia. Since 2019, Helen has been tutoring students one on one in this after school tutoring program. The I-D-E-A in IDEA Center stands for ‘Individual Development Education Assistance’. Something that really stands out about this program is the wide age range of students th...