Justice, Pack visit Southside K-8 for financial literacy program launch

Jim Justice and Treasurer Larry Pack brought the state’s “Get A Life” financial-literacy game to Southside K-8 School in War, putting a spotlight on whether McDowell County’s first community school is delivering more than a one-day program. At the center of the visit was a simple question with high stakes for one of the county’s most isolated communities: is Southside K-8 becoming the kind of place where students can actually get resources, support and opportunity close to home?

Southside K-8 has completed its transition to a community school under an Innovation Zone Grant from the West Virginia Department of Education. Reconnecting McDowell says the school now has a full-time site facilitator who helps coordinate partner efforts through a school steering committee, and the building is meant to serve as a community hub that can host wraparound services such as a clinic or a career center. Earlier community events also used the refurbished gym, which was opened to students, families and neighbors as part of the school’s broader role in the community.

The financial literacy lesson fit that mission. The Treasurer’s Office has used “Get A Life” for years to teach middle school students how quickly a paycheck can disappear once they start paying for housing, transportation, insurance and other necessities. The game forces students to make tradeoffs and then deal with unexpected expenses, a lesson that hits especially hard in a county where many families already live with tight budgets and limited access to nearby services.

The office said the program reached 10,691 middle school students in 90 schools during fiscal year 2018. It has also been used in McDowell County before: the program’s first phase included McDowell as one of three pilot counties, along with Berkeley and Wyoming.

Southside K-8 has become a key site for that broader effort. McDowell County has long been the focus of Reconnecting McDowell, an initiative aimed at improving education and community outcomes in one of West Virginia’s poorest counties. The county was also among the original pilot counties for Communities In Schools West Virginia, which first took root in 2018 and later expanded to all 55 counties in 2024.

For Justice and Pack, the visit offered a visible launch. For Southside K-8, the real measure will come after the cameras leave: whether the community school model keeps bringing in services, staffing and practical help that families can count on in War.