CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Lask week, the Kanawha County Commission approved a $100,000 funding request from the Clay Center in Charleston, which will go towards its cultural and learning events.

For these events, students come to the Clay Center in the morning and experience hours’ worth of hands-on learning. Part of the day includes a science workshop, where students either do experiments with windmills or motors using electric circuits. In addition, the Clay Center gives the students multiple shows at its planetarium, and also gives an exploration hour.

Lance Wheeler

Commissioner Lance Wheeler says he’s all in on these field trips continuing for young students.

“From what you described and what the agenda looks like, it’s scientific, it’s fun, and it’s promoting STEM,” Wheeler said.

While the Clay Center has a yearly operating budget of $6.5 million, it doesn’t see much funding from the government. The Clay Center gets $100,000 per year from the commission but sees no funding from the City of Charleston and no funding from Kanawha County Schools — though KCS does provide buses for said events.

According to Al Najjar, the president and CEO of the Clay Center, nearly 40% of the center’s funding comes from ticket sales, while around 35% comes from fundraising. Najjar also says that an endowment typically pays the difference.

With the additional $100,000 contribution from the commission, all students coming to the Clay Center for the cultural and learning events will no longer have to pay a $12 fee.

Wheeler says the $12 may not seem like a lot, but he knows the contribution will make a difference.

“We have a diverse demographic of students and families in Kanawha County where $12 for an event like this could be enough to say no,” Wheeler said. “That’s unfortunate, but this is something that every kid has the opportunity no matter what their household situation looks like with their finances.”

Najjar agrees that many families in the county wouldn’t have been able to send their children to the events without some help.

“You can’t believe the number of comments we get from teachers or principals and from kids that say, ‘I’ve never been here,’ or ‘I would’ve never been able to bring my kids here if it wasn’t for the school board and for the Clay Center to put this whole thing together.’ What they don’t know, and I keep telling them, is that it’s really the Kanawha County Commission,” Najjar said.

Natalie Tennant

According to Najjar, the Clay Center sees around 20,000 students per year, 10,000 of those within Kanawha County, and 10,000 from other areas.

Commissioner Natalie Tennant says that the reach of the Clay Center and this program is impactful.

“You take that education out to other counties, and I know that’s not our responsibility, but it helps to strengthen the Clay Center, which then helps to get out and strengthen children who don’t get an opportunity to see this,” Tennant said.