On Friday May 16th, 2008 Mission WV hosted a 10 year Anniversary Celebration in honor of its founder, Governor Cecil H. Underwood. In addition, the Hovah H. Underwood Memorial Award, created in 2005 to honor the former First Lady of West Virginia, was presented to Dr. Ruthellen Phillips of Morgantown WV.
This Memorial Award honors an individual or group that exemplifies the dedication and spirit Hovah held towards children, youth, and families in West Virginia. Dr. Phillips’ outstanding record of accomplishments, personal contributions, and significant impact on West Virginia’s children and families make her an excellent recipient of the Hovah H. Underwood Memorial Award.
Dr. Phillips is prolific in writing successful grant applications that mobilize resources and people to solve the most persistent and perplexing societal issues. Equally impressive is her commitment to tackle controversial issues that place youth at risk. Early in her career with Extension, in response to the growing problem of teen pregnancy, Dr. Phillips created an in-home curriculum and video series for parents and pre-teens entitled Let’s Talk Sense about Sex. She developed and delivered training workshops for Students Against Drunk Drivers, 4-H, and other youth groups on adolescent drinking and driving; led the development of a smokeless tobacco education curriculum targeting youth; and developed a pilot after-school program for children living in urban housing communities. In each of these endeavors, Dr. Phillips formed collaborations with individuals, institutions and organizations throughout the state.
The project for which Dr. Phillips is best known is Energy Express, a statewide six-week summer reading and nutrition program to improve the school success of children living in low-income and rural West Virginia communities. The need is great in West Virginia—over 22 percent of West Virginia’s children live below the poverty. During the summer, these children face a grim reality of little food and little academic stimulation. As a result, they fall behind academically. Successive summers of limited learning opportunities may cause children to fall below grade level by the end of elementary school—putting them further and further behind more privileged peers.
Each summer more than 500 college student AmeriCorps members, serving as mentors to small groups of school-age children, immerse the 3,000 children in “print-rich, art-rich” environments. Using a place-based curriculum, the program highlights the strengths of each child and the child’s family, friends, home and community. Dr. Phillips is filled with passion when she talks to the mentors about the importance of making each child feel valued and important. She emphasizes that making the connection with each child is critical. She constantly reminds members to consider the challenges many low-income parents and families face.
Building on the success of Energy Express, Dr. Phillips has initiated two additional literacy programs which have been implemented in numerous low-income communities across the state including: Family Storyteller a family literacy program for preschool parents and their children, and Reading Partners a program that teaches readers how to do one-on-one reading with children.
Humble about her individual contributions, Dr. Phillips quickly credits state and local partners, her staff and other stakeholders for making programs so successful. Her passion, enthusiasm and charisma bubble from her and inspire those around her. She makes others feel empowered to make a difference, resulting in the belief that anything is possible for the well-being of children and that no efforts will be in vain.