For Immediate Release
The National Youth Science Foundation®, Inc. and the Canaan Valley Institute have reached an agreement enabling the National Youth Science Foundation to acquire rights in the conservation and education reserve of the Canaan Valley Institute near Davis, West Virginia. Consistent with its mission to honor, sustain, and encourage youth interest and excellence in science through comprehensive informal science education programs, the National Youth Science Foundation desires to build a year-round facility on land in close proximity to the Blackwater River that will permit the Foundation to expand its motivational science education programming. Since 1963, the National Youth Science Foundation has incorporated many of the exceptional geological and living natural resources of Pocahontas, Tucker, Pendleton, Grant and Randolph Counties in its program activities, and has annually conducted the National Youth Science Camp® program at Camp Pocahontas under a lease arrangement with the Pocahontas County 4-H. While the Foundation greatly values the opportunity to conduct science education programming at this facility, it has requirements that the Pocahontas County 4-H cannot accommodate due to the many local groups that also seek to use Camp Pocahontas for their programs. A more expansive facility is necessary to house the Foundation’s future programs and educational initiatives. The cooperative relationship with the Canaan Valley Institute will enable the National Youth Science Foundation to develop a multi-season facility that will permit programming throughout the year and of a nature not possible or practical at Camp Pocahontas.
The Foundation hopes to continue conducting science education programming for West Virginia students at Camp Pocahontas in the time period during which it has traditionally utilized the Pocahontas County 4‑H camp for the National Youth Science Camp. The Foundation has already developed and commenced operating the Green Bank session of the West Virginia Governor’s School for Mathematics and Science in cooperation with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The Governor’s School is a scientific research and education program for West Virginia students during the summer between their eighth and ninth grade years. The program will be conducted for the second year this August and the Foundation values the close programmatic relationship that has developed with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory over the years. The Foundation has also previously operated the West Virginia Youth Science Camp using the highly successful model developed over decades of hosting the National Youth Science Camp and is interested in again honoring West Virginia high school students through this program.
It is the Foundation’s intention to continue its longstanding relationships with organizations and attractions located in Pocahontas, Tucker, Pendleton, Grant and Randolph Counties which have always been and hopefully always will be highlights of the National Youth Science Camp and other Foundation programs. These include the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the Greenbrier River Trail, the Cranberry Glades Botanical area, Camp Allegheny and Cass Scenic Railroad in Pocahontas County; Dolly Sods and Canaan Valley in Tucker County; Seneca Rocks, Nelson Rocks, Spruce Knob, limestone caverns and the Smoke Hole Canyon in Pendleton and Grant Counties; Gaudineer Knob and Sinks of Gandy in Randolph County; and the overarching realm of USFS Monongahela National Forest natural areas and hiking trials network.
As the nation recognizes to a greater extent than ever the importance of high quality science education programming, the Foundation hopes to attract investment resources from governmental and private foundations and organizations for construction dollars and to ensure the continuation and expansion of its acclaimed programs. This year, funding from the U.S. Department of State, facilitated in large measure by the efforts of Congressman Alan B. Mollohan and Senator Robert C. Byrd, has enabled the Foundation to attract delegates from North, Central, and South America to the second session of the Youth Science Leadership Institute. The Institute begins just prior to the conclusion of the National Youth Science Camp at Camp Pocahontas and aims to bring together high-achieving science students from around the world in a non-competitive educational environment. The Foundation recognizes the growing-interdependence of the global community and believes that programs such as the Youth Science Leadership Institute will help facilitate the cooperation, collaboration and insight necessary for the emergence of thoughtful scientific leadership in the years ahead. The Foundation expects several synergies to emerge between the National Youth Science Camp and the Youth Science Leadership Institute and has scheduled several joint events while they are all in Washington, DC. With continued support from the Department of State, the Foundation anticipates hosting the Youth Science Leadership Institute on a biannual basis.
The National Youth Science Foundation is excited about these developments and is encouraged by the new and prospective opportunities to strengthen its ability to achieve its important mission encouraging youth science education. A larger, multi-season facility functionally tailored to the programmatic elements of Foundation programs will permit the Foundation to fully implement its existing educational plans and to develop and implement additional non-traditional science education programs.