Three Brooke Middle School Students Among Golden Horseshoe Winners

Jacob High, Calliegh Morton and Brittnee Stevens, eighth graders at Brooke Middle School, will be among 226 eighth graders from across West Virginia and recognized by the West Virginia Department of Education as Knights of the Golden Horseshoe.
Ceremonies are planned for Tuesday, June 13, in Charleston.
The state department will host three separate ceremonies for the recognitions.
The winners from Brooke County will be honored in the third ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Also included will be students from Barbour, Berkeley, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Jefferson, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Taylor and Tucker counties as well as the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
This year marks the 307th anniversary of the Golden Horseshoe legacy, and it remains the longest-running program of its kind in the country with the annual state recognitions dating back to 1931.
The program’s legacy dates back to 1716 when Alexander Spotswood governor of the Virginia colony, organized and recognized a delegation of men who explored the land west of the Allegheny Mountains (most of which is now West Virginia).
He presented each of them a small golden horseshoe to commemorate their bravery for crossing the mountain.
Eighth grade students who excel on a test of their knowledge of West Virginia history are selected for the award.