Rhododendron Girls State
American Legion Auxiliary Unit #60 announces the 68th Rhododendron Girls State session citizens.
Mary-Margaret Chaffee, a junior at Berkeley Springs High School. She has maintained honor roll status for the past three years, and is president of her junior class and was class treasurer both sophomore and freshmen years. She is a student trainer for the BSHS football team. During the summer, she volunteers with Energy Express and job shadows with Dr. Andrew Berens. She plans to attend WVU and major in medicine. She is the daughter of Edward and Karen Chaffee.
Korinne M. Cowles, a 17 year old BSHS junior, maintains a 4.0 GPA. She currently serves in the Student Council and is the Junior Class vice-president. She is active in her church and church youth group as well as Mighty Iroquois 4-H Club. For nearly a decade she has been a dance student and plans to pursuit a career in dance. She is the daughter and Daryl and Nikki Cowles.
Chelsea Hessler is a junior at BSHS and has a 4.14 GPA. She is president of the Berkeley Springs Chapter of FFA and served as vice-president and treasurer. She is also active in the Mighty Iroquois 4-H Club. She is co-captain of the BSHS Cross Country Team, and is also on the basketball and softball teams. She is the program director of the Miss Morgan County Scholarship Program. She has been active in the Pre-Teen West Virginia and National Programs. While at RGS she earned the Samsung Scholarship, the first receipient from Berkeley Springs. She is the daughter of Craig and Pam Hessler.
Emily Yarrington is a junior at BSHS. She runs on the Track and Field team. She volunteers at the local Boys and Girls Club in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. She gained first place in the Economics category in the State Social Studies Fair. She is currently studying Norwegian, Swendish, German and Spanish and hopes to study Politics and Linguistics at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She is the daughter of Maureen and Robert Yarringon.
Rhododendron Girls State was started in 1941 under the sponsorship and direction of the American Legion Auxiliary Department of West Virginia.
Boys State has been started two years earlier by the American Legion.
The first Girls State program started in Illnois and Post 60 Auxiliary was one of the pioneers in a citizenship training program for girls. This year the program was June 13-18 at Wheeling Jesuit University. Also attending the week long program, as a staff senior councilor, was Debbie Fox, Girls State Chairman for Unit #60.
