Read the entire web site so that you know what to expect if you are selected to attend GSMS.
Talk with your counselor to see when your application should be completed and submitted
Have someone help you type the application
Ask two teachers for a recommendation. At least one of them should be a science or math teacher. Give the teachers two weeks to write the recommendation.
Think about your answers before completing the application.
Eighth-grade students should mark a zero (0) beside a session they will not be able to attend.
Submit your application to your counselor before the deadline.
School-Level Responsibilities:
Because they are dealing with middle-school students, counselors may have to take an active part in encouraging qualifying students to apply for GSMS.
Counselors or others designated by the principal should notify students who meet the qualifications and go over the information on the web site.
One effective way would be to meet with the potential candidates in the computer lab and navigate the web site with the entire group. At that time, the students could also download the application.
Post information about the web site in all 7th and 8th grade science and math classrooms
Arrange to have someone type applications for students who cannot type their own
Send information about GSMS home in the school newsletter
Set a date that applications are to be turned in by the students and inform students of the date.
Each school shall convene a selection committee that consists of the counselor, a science teacher, a math teacher and, when possible a teacher of gifted students. Using the School Recommendation Form, the school selection committee shall send in rank order the names and applications of no more than ten students to the county superintendent’s office. Private schools and home-schoolers should contact the county superintendent's office to see when applications must be submitted.
County-Level Responsibilities:
The superintendent shall select a county coordinator (it may be the same as for GHA) and e-mail that person’s name and e-mail address to skeffer@wvosea.org. The superintendent shall also notify the county coordinator and direct him or her to this web site.
The county coordinator shall immediately call the private schools in the county, directing them to rte web site.
The superintendent or his designee shall convene a selection committee that includes a science or math teacher from each county middle school or junior high, a teacher of gifted students, and a counselor.
The committee chair shall set a date that applications are due in the central office inform all middle and junior high schools, including private schools, of that date.
The Selection Committee shall submit the names of up to twelve students to the statewide pool for GSMS. Please note that you are NOT to separate the list into grades. The students' names are to be submitted in prioritized order, regardless of grade placement.
Each county is guaranteed that at least one qualifying student will be selected to attend a Governor's School, but the decision regarding placement will be made by the state selection committee. Counties with 800 or more students in grade 7and 8 grade combined may submit up to six more names. Please attempt to recruit and send both males and females who are truly interested in attending.
Some eighth grade students will be eligible for only one of the GSMS sessions due to scheduling conflicts. Others will not be eligible for the WVU session if they attended after their seventh-grade year.
The names and applications, accompanied by the Superintendent’s Selection Form, must be postmarked by April 10, 2008, and mailed to