Adventure Pocahontas’ Natures Mountain Classroom wins State Competition

The Pocahontas County Schools’ Nature Mountain Classroom Program was selected as the overall West Virginia School-Business Partnership of the Year Award winner.

In our April 24^th story about the program being one of 8 regional winners of the WV Education Alliance’s Award, we explained that Nature’s Mountain Classroom had won $200.00 for being in the top 8 out of the 75 innovative school programs entered into the contest across the state

On April 24^th, Robert Crawford. The Program Director of the WV Education Alliance came to a Nature’s Mountain Classroom event at the Yew Mountain Center in Hillsboro, watched the students learn about plants and nature, and presented the regional winner award. He described how competitive and close that competition was, and said those 8 winning programs would be judged against each other, with a state winner chosen.

In a press release, dated May 15, the WV Education Alliance made the following announcement:

“Pocahontas County Schools’ partnership with Nature’s Mountain Classroom has been named West Virginia’s School-Business Partnership of the Year. The announcement was made at the 2025 WV Education Summit by the Education Alliance and Hope Gas. Pocahontas County Schools was selected as the winner out of 75 school-business partnerships in the state. The county school system will receive an award package valued at $25,000.”

“Every student in Pocahontas County is given the opportunity to explore Nature’s Mountain Classroom. From a storybook-based playground adventure for the youngest students to skiing, hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and overnight camping trips for middle school, and career exploration and leadership skill-building in high school, learning has never been more immersive!”

For those not familiar with Natures Mountain Classroom, it is a program created by Tracy Valach which fosters education and a love for the county. It operates within the Pocahontas County Schools by introducing innovative educational and recreational programs designed to intermingle physical activity, outdoor educational activities, and education. Students learn about the outdoors, about life, and even about some scientific, and mathematical principals and uses while they enjoy participating in activities such as hiking, skiing, and identifying plants in the wild which are nutritional food sources and, in some cases medicinal. The slogan of the program is “not all classrooms have 4 walls.”

Valach explained to us that in addition to direct monetary awards to the schools, some of the $25,000 prize includes money to produce an educational video describing the program, which will be shared across school systems in the state, and across the nation, which will undoubtedly lead to the creation of similar programs in other school systems. Other portions of the money will be used in a national marketing program to promote this Pocahontas County program in other schools across the nation. She said that much of the prize money will be given by the county schools to the program here. Of course, she told us, with a smile, that a small part of the cash award will be used for a celebratory party for the program in our schools.

In another local event, on Saturday, May 17^th, the Snowshoe Highlands Area Recreational Collaborative (SHARC,) and the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau hosted a grand opening of the Monday Lick Trail. It was held at Stillwell Park’s large pavilion and featured food; music by Stalnaker Hill and by the Mill Creek Croonies; displays from the National Park Service and local businesses; shuttle busses to the actual trailhead; a kids bike race; and guided trail tours. This hiking/biking trail system consists of 27 miles of trails and connects to the Allegheny Trail, and it should be a big boost towards the county’s trail systems being designated the world’s 7th International Mountain Bicycling Association 1(IMBA) Gold Ride Center. We are currently a Silver Ride Center.