Kathy Blue, first grade teacher at T.A. Lowery Elementary School, was selected to serve as vice president of the West Virginia Reading Association (WVRA), at their 60th Conference, hosted at The Greenbrier Conference Center, White Sulphur Springs.

Blue is the third state president to serve the statewide association from Jefferson County. Kathy has served as president of Jefferson County Reading Council and currently serves as district director for the Eastern Panhandle. Blue has collaborated with Shepherd University to organize Literacy Conferences and is currently planning the third annual Literacy Conference scheduled at Shepherd University, April 9.

Jefferson County has produced instrumental leaders for WVRA. Arreta Jaranko, a Shennandoah Junction resident, was the organizer and first president of the organization. In 1968, as a professor at WVU, she helped organize the West Virginia State Reading Council, one of the first affiliates of the International Reading Association. Also serving from Jefferson County was President Jean Workman, Sherpherdstown, who served as the 33rd president. Blue will serve as the 50th president of the Association. The WVRA is currently recognized as the largest curriculum organization in West Virginia.