By Steve Keenan, The Fayette Tribune
OAK HILL, W.Va. — Kiera Heavener desires to tour the world.
In recent days, she’s taken her initial steps during a junket in her home state of West Virginia.
Heavener, of Circleville, is a rising junior at Pendleton County High School. She was one of the participants in the first-ever Governor’s School for Tourism, a 10-day summer academy for students interested in learning more about West Virginia’s growing tourism industry. The academy kicked off last week at Independence Hall in Wheeling, and it made stops in the New River Gorge region on Tuesday, June 25 and Wednesday, June 26.
The rising sophomore and junior high school students were slated to tour nearly 1,000 miles of West Virginia, learning about tourism and hospitality through hands-on experiences, according to a West Virginia Department of Tourism press release.
Hosted by West Virginia University and supported by the West Virginia Department of Education’s Division of Instruction and Career Engagement, the Governor’s School for Tourism is providing students the opportunity to experience their home state. Students visited many of the state’s travel regions and met with industry professionals who offered a glimpse into careers in outdoor recreation, arts and culture, hospitality and lodging and culinary arts, according to the release.