Kump Education Center

06/20/2026

Happy Birthday, West Virginia from the historic home of West Virginia’s 19th governor, H.G. Kump!

06/20/2026

Kump Corner— Fox Forest Foray

Join us for a Fox Forest foray starting at 1:00 p.m. this Sunday afternoon near the WV Department of Natural Resources (DNR) boat dock landing on Scotts Ford Road. This hike was organized by the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA) as part of a “Community Trail Talks” series.

Hikers will walk through several sections of Fox Forest Wildlife Management Area on the improved trails. We will see the Tygart Valley River from the Overlook Trail and view Scott Hill homeplace from the High Overlook. Most of the land on the Overlook Trail was once owned by Cyrus H. Scott.

We will avoid the steepest parts on the eastern side of the Overlook Trail and connect with the lower part of the High K**b Trail. The elevation will increase slowly as we ascend to the High K**b near the Bat Tower used for Motus Wildlife Tracking now.

Then we will go down to the Grassy Meadows Trail where we will stop to enjoy the pond and see the holly trees planted by Dr. Don Roberts and his partners Dr. Bob Rector and Atty. Milfred Gibson. They admired the native plants of West Virginia and made a hobby of propagating American Holly and Appalachian Azaleas on this land they bought near the DNR in the 1960s.

In the 1990s the land for Fox Forest was transferred to Roberts heirs, and members of the family finally decided to collaborate with the DNR to create a Wildlife Management Area as a place for environmental education and outdoor exercise.

Planning for the larger multicounty Appalachian Forest Heritage Area started before the end of the last century, but this region did not gain a national heritage designation for about twenty years. After the pandemic, the beauty and serenity of our mountain forest region became better known. AFNHA now brings many excellent opportunities to visit these diverse woodlands.

We look forward to sharing the flora and fauna of Fox Forest with our hiking visitors in the afternoon this Sunday. The hardwood trees provide a variety of shaded areas where ferns and wildflowers grow. There are vernal pools, rocky streams, and a fishpond to enjoy on a warm Sunday. Deer roam this land where cows and pigs once grazed 80 years ago. The DNR has done wonderful work to help heal Fox Forest.

📸: Fox Forest overlook

06/18/2026

Great resource for Randolph County residents with kids 18 and younger!

06/16/2026

Kump and The GreenEggs Foundation made the news!

As schools in Randolph County and around the state face funding deficits, the GreenEggs Foundation in Elkins is helping ensure lost schools don’t turn into lost opportunities for kids to channel their passion for the arts.

06/16/2026

Excited to host The GreenEggs Foundation with their unique podcast program for young people!

06/15/2026

Today's the day!
Local elementary school students who need literacy tutoring this Summer can sign up at the Kump Education Center between 3-6pm.
Hope to see you there!

06/12/2026

Kump Corner--A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Enjoy dinner and a special performance of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” performed by the Rustic Mechanicals at Graceland Inn at Davis & Elkins College at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, June 20th.
The Rustic Mechanicals - West Virginia's Shakespeare Troupe are the only professional Shakespeare troupe in West Virginia, and they will bring their “Howl at the Moon” tour to various audiences throughout the state this summer.
Such opportunities to see high-energy performances of Shakespeare plays are both fun and educational.
As an Advanced Placement English teacher, I would look for summer theater experiences to offer my students. Many adults, who have had frustrating experiences with English literature, think Shakespeare is too stuffy and elitist, but Jason Young and his thespians do everything possible to make the great Bard of Avon available to West Virginians.
Students of English dialects, who have studied the West Virginia lexicon, may say it behooves us to learn that many Elizabethan words are still out yonder in these hills. Some linguists believe that the way we pronounce vowels may be more like what Shakespeare might have said himself. He lived before English courtiers began to say “PAATH” and “BAATH” with a more European vowel sound after the Renaissances. In other words, we Hillbillies may have a dialect that sounds more like the greatest English poet’s speech because our ancestors got out of England just in time.
As a lover of human languages and a student of American dialects, I enjoy hearing the humanity of various local speakers in this country. Dialect is a subtle social marker, but many people who do not speak standard English are much smarter than some English teachers may think.
My mother always told us that people in West Virginia spoke something like Elizabethan English, but most Shakespearean actors try to copy the Victorians. They lose the real flavor of our local heritage, and our students do not feel comfortable with Shakespeare’s language. I am glad that Jason Young and the Rustic Mechanicals are bringing the Bard’s plays back to us.
Human love is never really simple, but “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a romantic comedy imagining love’s most capricious possibilities and fantastical foolishness. Shakespeare’s
wedding celebration goes from the ridiculous to the sublime fabulous flights of vocabulary.
If your family budget cannot afford $75 for each dinner and play at Graceland in June, there are other places and later times to see “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It will play for $19.73 Thursday & Friday, July 30-31 from 7-9 p.m. at the VCT Cabaret, 305 Washington St. Clarksburg, WV. Then Sunday, August 30th 3-5 p.m. at Midtown on Main in Philippi, WV. The drive is longer, but the “Dream” may also be seen at West Edge Factory in Huntington, WV
Sunday, August 2.

Check on Facebook to see the times and place where the undaunted West Virginia thespians are putting on plays like “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Taming of the Shrew” for $10 in advance
and $15 at the door.

06/11/2026

Happy to host West Virginia Rhododendron Girls State volunteers this morning. Thankful for their service and proud of their emerging leadership.

06/05/2026

Kump Corner--Busy Summer 2026 Schedule at KEC

An early highlight for our busy summer will be the Annual Kump Center Pie Auction Saturday, June 27th. Summer Tutoring will be available between June 15 and July 15 when tutors will work with individual students to improve basic reading skills. On July 6th YMCA Day Campers will explore the Kump Wetland to learn about riparian plants and animals there. Spanish Camp will be July 20-24 (8:30 -3:30) with a Christmas-in-July theme.

The Pie Auction is a Kump Center tradition that started with our first “Fair at the Crossroads” fourteen years ago. Pie auctions were an Appalachian fundraising activity. When the highest bidder would win a pie or a picnic lunch, he could enjoy eating it with the lady who prepared it. Now, at Kump Center we have many wonderful bakers, and auction winners take their prizes home for family dinners and special events. Fair goers may also enjoy seeing the orange and yellow daylilies blooming and listening to music on the south lawn while they eat a light lunch and browse through crafters’ booths to see the art, glass, pottery, and wood products.

Summer Tutoring will be available between June 15 and July 15 when tutors will work one-to-one with students in grades 1-5 to improve basic reading skills. Our tutors do buddy reading with students and focus activities to improve phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. If your child would like to have individual summer tutoring to prepare for school before the fall term, call (304) 637-7820 for more information. The fee is $5 per hour each week.

On July 6th YMCA Day Campers will explore the Kump Wetland and learn about riparian plants and animals there. Our healthy wetland has 36 native plants that can be seen on the I-Naturalist app. Butterflies love to visit the colorful flowers, and all the riparian plants help to purify the water before it flows into the river. As we say, “the wetland is the liver for the river. “

Spanish Camp is an important opportunity for young children to expand their vocabulary and learn Latinate words in English. It is a way of helping kids learn vocabulary they do not see on screens. Also, if they learn a foreign language early, they will be more likely to sound like native speakers as adults. Spanish Camp will be July 20-24 (8:30 -3:30) with tuition at $300 and scholarship help is available. See www.kumpeducationcenter.org . for more information.

We hope to see you often this summer.