Current Mining up close and Personal!

Before I begin to reflect I want to urge EVERYONE (pro as well as against coal) to visit an active coal mine and prep plant and educate yourself of all aspects. Ask questions and view what truly is going on. Please do not get your opinion from a billboard, commercial or bumper sticker. I believe that once this is done, it's hard to be one extreme or the other. Today I stand on neutral ground having a better understanding of the processes involved, the opportunity it provides, the dangers that are bi products and the misconceptions that arise when coal mining is the topic of debate. My point is educate yourself, nothing bad can come from asking questions and if you have people that we encountered today, they will be more than willing and hospitable to this in helping get the word out about coal.

After visiting the mining site of Arch Coal- Coal Mac and the Prep Plant today I would hands down tag my car with a FRIENDS OF ARCH COAL sticker. I have a lot of extremist friends and family for both sides and I think this sticker would coax them into asking me why. This is the mentality I have now... and the mentality I want to take into my classroom. It's the ramped up, energetic "Come on, ask me" mentality. I want to be able to educate about this topic... and not just my students. I want to be able to explain as Bekka put it today, " It's like coal is meant to be mined" but truth is it will be mined, our culture is based on it. Our lifestyles will always have lights on, so we will just need to except that there will be coal mining. How we handle the coal in all aspects should be the concern. The next step is to realize media likes drama and in order to find the true story I now know first hand one must go beyond the first level to see what is really going on. Arch Coal is such an impressive company. The processing plant was so impressive it was actually sort of intimidating. I can't wait to explain the jobs involved with this process to the kids in my class. The reclaimation success involved with today's tours were to be applauded. Shopping centers, schools, airports, ranches, cattle farms, housing developments and reconstructed graze lands are some of the amazing potentials out of this business. If we sit back after the coal is gone and expect a wonderful world then yes there will be reasons to complain. But look back into the history of coal, though the ways of mining the coal has changed one thing that is evident is you cannot just sit around and be successful you must change with the industry. The historic towns we visited once had that realization and then walked away from a grand idea. Lets be educators and advocates of coal to show we are no longer just walking away and leaving something sort of a mars like land mass or deserted town. We have been given the opportunity to imagineer our way into the future. Coal is the first step our students are the next.... give them the knowledge let them give you the ideas.


WOW... that was quite a soap box.
My apologies.

To conclude for today as i reflect on the dinner we just had, I want to again thank everyone involved in this trip. I'm am honored to be a part of this county and excited about my future here

Welcome to your office coal miner!

Bringing you Today's lesson from Ms. Bray- Pictured below in the one room school house from the coal camp in WV.

A day in the life of a coal miner is how we started our day. At the Beckley exhibition coal mines we experienced the lifestyle by touring the buildings of old coal camps. The size difference between the superintendents house and the coal miners was drastic

Reminded me of my dorm room in college!

. They lived a decent life for that time period but what shocked me was seeing a sample of a miners pay stub. They made about $ 75 for two weeks (Ive attached a picture below) but after the deductions to live in the coal mine they brought home less than $2. So though it appears they had decent housing and conditions, they only made enough to survive. They ended up paying the coal company just as much as they were worth and this was not voluntary.

At the end of all the deductions they would bring home $1.68

We also were taken underground to see some of the equipment from anywhere from 1906-1960s.I have been on this tour before but I really enjoyed seeing how impressed people were... and not to mention MARVIN was fantastic. I can't help but think how going underground is like going to a foreign country. We aren't familiar with the language, the conditions the jobs, or the safety involved. I also am really impressed with what they've done with this park. I only hope more can be done with the portion of future or current coal!

Getting ready to go undergroud!

They next stop made me think more about Marvin. Well.... people who would have mined along with Marvin... The high wall miner was so impressive. It does the same work a whole crew does with only four people, not to mention the safety issues it eliminates, the reduction of environmental concerns, and the profit it brings into West Virginia. As we climbed the machine, this is when I thought about Marvin and his co-workers, can you imagine walking them up to the operators room saying, "Welcome to your office, coal miner!" As my grandmother would say, "They would roll over in their graves if they knew mine came out of the mountain without going underground." I'm so glad we have seen everything from how it started, the effects, the pros, cons, and future.

We all wore these awesome hard hats to go see the GIANT high wall miners

We stopped at the Courthouse where Sid Hatfield was murdered.

Love the panoramic Option!

Then we trucked it through southern WV. Seeing where Sid Hatfield was killed and walking the streets of Matewan to see how this conflict played out was very cool. I'm the kinesthetic learner that needs just that to truly understand and visualize the story. Dr. Little's interest in the massacre was inspiring. I loved how he and the museum workers interacted. I think instead of having kids just come down for the museum they need roles and to actually stand literally in each spot of those involved, including the random passengers. Then have the student act it out how they think it might have went down, and try different theories. I think they would really start to break it down CSI style. VERY INSPIRING METHOD TO A HISTORIC EVENT!!!

Matwan- Historic View

Same Street- Where we stood as Dr. Little Explained the big event.

Impressive... I've used this word a lot today.

 Good night my fellow teachers!

Home sweet Home

With high hopes and a full night's sleep we started our day traveling to Joe Knob in Anjean WV.  This is where I will remind everyone that I am from this area and have lived most of my life..but shockingly I have never before seen this place. Due to rain I did not take any pictures but I will explain how it looked by describing how I felt. I was truely shocked. Not in a biased, anti coal way. It was more of a 'hit with reality' way. It was unreal to see a true, current coal mining operation. I felt that I was touring the remnants of a war zone. I have so much respect for a person to call that a full days work. As a benefit of the rain we saw first hand how and what the factors were that cause worry for the department of environmental protection. More than just the coal operation we saw the reclaimation efforts that were man made. Sure there is no biodiversity but in truth I feel that from the bottom of the mountain to Joe Knob the effort at this point is better than nothing. Nature will heal itself with time. Perhaps completely leaving the land as in Thomas it would have ended up more bio-diverse. Here however we have non native or invasive plants  in attempt to reconstruct the natural layout of the land. Basically it is now a barren land that provided our state with revenue but the question is what now? Im interested to follow the possibilties of this land and the success. Dr. Little explained some efforts that give me hope that all is not lost in the name of coal especially if there are percautionary efforts and people maintain this clean water act.
I think this week I will refect more about joe knob because it has me thinking.

Later we went into my "stomping" ground as we drove to Nuttallburg WV. I will admit upfront I am completely biased about this area. I feel it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I've driven into Nuttalburg many times and viewed the abandoned and broken foundations. We tested the water from a mountain stream and I sure would swim there!   The pH was nearly perfect and the overall quality was 72.2 which was in the description of a good stream. It was debated that the water is still at risk due to the conductivity levels but i feel it is also due to the rain from the day.

Though today had many bumps from the agenda, I feel it was a true success. From the eyes of a teacher I feel this area would be a shocker or the wow factor for our Cabell Co kids. However I have decided today that our kids absolutely need to see this area. Eyes need opened and ideas need to flow and I feel seeing a little of the mountain state would help them feel like the mountaineer they truly are.

Modeling the remnants of the town!

Again check out those boots!

Van 2

Sure I'd swim in that!!!

I started off the day with my "kids" from Cabell County in mind... "How can I make this material relevant?" or more... "Why should they care and how can I be the one to translate this experience into something that clicks."

Today's events made me take the roll of  the student as we tested water quality of two different locations, as we listened to Dr. Little and Steve explain some local history and area biodiversity and of course as I sat in a van along a VERY winding WV road. As that student I must say I am slowly piecing together an AHA moment for myself and frankly it was not at all what I thought I would take away from today.

I thought prior to this I was going to have the opportunity to teach my students about WV COAL and our history as a state using this experience as a resource while teaching about the science behind coal as an energy source. OF course I thought this (this was the surface value of the trip)...this is what I learned in 8th grade and this is exactly what I thought our students didn't understand which again is why I assumed we were on this trip.

Read on about today's events and then I will clarify WHY  I do not think this anymore and perhaps how I'm seeing my role to help make this click in our students futures and education!

We started off today at a Coal Spoil in  the abandoned Davis mining and timber fields. This is where we began our water samples for the day. The land there was beautiful, lush and in no way what I pictured an abandoned mine site to look like. Steve pointed out raindeer moss, blueberries and other plants that have grown without any human involvement. This impressive biodiversity was caused  as Dr. Little put it by bird poop.

After we got our testing material ready we were sent off in different testing directions. My group was given Yellow Creek. Our trail to the creek was an easy walk.     The stream was small but what stood out to all of us was how clear the water was.  Josh made the comment that this is the type of stream he would have taken a drink from. My thoughts were..."Sure I'd swim in that!" Knowing the location and actual reputation of YELLOW creek we were eager to test. (Thank goodness I brought my water boots!)

Check out those boots!

Our group worked really great together! We all had a role and began testing our different components. We tested two locations to find an average reading of our stream. The factors in our Water Quality profile were the temperature of the stream, the pH, the turbidity, the dissolved oxygen percentage, and the conductivity of any metals in the water. Shannon and Bekka to the rescue we calculated up our overall Water Quality to be around 63 which falls into the Medium or Average Water quality!

 This stream can vary with season but had a pH reading of 4.4!!!!!! It looks so clear yet cannot sustain life. So no thank you I will pass on that glass of water!

I will say it was reassuring though to find that there are a lot of natural healing processes going on around this site. We learned that the acidity here was not caused by pyrite but still at one time the levels were a major issue.

AHA moment part 1- The important men from Davis, Elkins and Thomas were some smart, successful businessman, who came into this area with an agenda and helped give our state a rich culture, a beautiful history, and a economic boom for their time.



Impressive I thought... but look whats left....So the question is, What now?



Onto LUNCH at Blackwater falls... Thank you Karen and Annette for another flawless meal!
And thank you Pat for teaching me how to take panoramic pictures!

Panoramic with the Tab!!

After lunch we drove along the old railroad bed from Davis into the location where the towns of Coketon and Douglas once thrived. This is the area where the coal was put into these beehive ovens (below) and shipped out on the railways for the steel companies in the north.

We actually stepped inside of here!

Swimming hole # 2
- Blackwater river.....
You can call it orange creek I'd understand.
AND NO I WOULD NOT SWIM IN THAT.

The water here was unreal!! The rocks were BRIGHT ORANGE and the murky color of the water reminded me of chalk. This time as we test water, I didn't WADE RIGHT IN as before... but I still was eager to get a reading to compare.  At this point I felt like our group were pros with our testings.
This area had a pH of 3.8!!!!!!!!!!!  the overall Quality we found was a 57.9 which is the lower end of a medium or average water sample.
The last thing on my mind was taking a swim in this water. I've never seen anything like this and I can't help but wonder if WV knows the true cause of this.

The green algae doesn't grow through photosynthesis but instead chemo-synthesis.

This shows the railroad remnants on the bank along with the MURKY water! This is where the limestone is dumped into the stream to treat the high level pH.

So here we have another site in WV that again supports and shows evdience to the historic reality of Coal in WV. This both impressive and humbling to know what thought and work went into this area as well as unsettling to know how quick we became a huge booming part of the world economy and how quickly is also disappeared. And this is what is left.... SO the question again (aha moment part 2) came to mind.. NOW WHAT?




As today ends I'm starting to feel inspired. As a teacher of the 21st century learner in today's classroom it's not ONLY or even mainly about focusing on the historic culture, economy and science of WV Coal... For me It's more about grabbing their attention with this sort of realistic evidence, helping them develop a strong respect and appreciation to the events that created this rich historic background and then... looking to them with their ideas, their education, and their skills and to say this is what is left... NOW WHAT?

So next thought for my day is,  how can I challenge my kids to explore this part of WV, to see what our history was and has left us, and to begin inspire them to turn it into that booming economy or cultural gem that it once was?

Our Journey Begins

As our journey begins to learn more about West Virginia Coal and its environmental, economic, and cultural impacts on my home state, I cant help but think and be slightly ashamed that I've lived here my entire life and have yet to experience or understand the depth of this topic.
A Recap of Day 1-

FIRST as we traveled up the interstate, I cant explain how cool it was to see my first wind turbine( and yes I am a science teacher). The wind farm we stopped at in Parsons WV was described in my van as peaceful. That's exactly how I feel. To know that energy is being created without destroying the environment in any way makes me so happy.

NEXT  we drove into Thomas WV. On the surface you see a deserted historic town. However as we got out to stretch and take a closer look, Dr. Little explained the rich history that coal and the railroad provided this town. He said the railroad "wrote the story on Coal".  One thing I'm curious about is how he describes the differences in northern coal companies and southern coal  and how the lifestyles and quality of life differed. I can't understand why men who eventually became our senators didn't have more impact on the southern coal communities. What I've read thus far is about  old coal town involved the battles and the rough conditions I am now thinking that perhaps this was not the case in every mine town. I do so hope this is true.

I am so proud to be from West Virginia and the beauty I have seen today is only day one. I"m excited for this week both for a learning experience as well as a collaboration between all of the wonderful people I've met in this class.

P.S. We are staying at Cannan Valley Resort and as we walked to our rooms, I got an up close and personal TOUCH of a deer!

Main Street In Thomas

They were actually very quite.

My roommate for the night!.

Test app

Today we are testing browsers.

Coal Camp Assignment

I grew up in Fayette County WV. I am very familiar with coal mining locations, and culture, but not because it had a direct effect on my family. There are a few men in my family that have worked in the mines, and my uncle is now a mine inspector but I never truly experienced the lifetyle first hand. Taking this class has inspired me to understand my local heritage historically, culturally, and scientifically!

For the Coal Camp Assignment I chose Sewell , WV.  I grew up only 10 miles from the actual mine town so I have a personal motivation to my research.

Sewell WV

Location- Sewell WV is in Fayette County located in the bottom of the New River Gorge. It is considered part of the New River Coal Field The access road to this deserted historic location is from the Danese (my hometown) entrance to Babcock State Park. The road is only accessible by hikers and bikers now and the town has been abandoned since 1973.

 

Major Employer -In 1874 the mines and coke ovens at Sewell were built  by the Longdale Coal Company (Originally an Iron Company from VA) The Sewell mining community was the first in the gorge to experiment in the burning of coke. Eventually, 196 beehive coke ovens were constructed there.  I also found the name of a company called Babcock Coal & Coke Co.which was used as the company name in the 1930s. I could not find an exact day of operation sales to this new company.

Population - The population of Sewell in 1920 according the the W.Va. Geological Survey (1919) was 525. 

The coke ovens burned until 1956 and were the last to shut down in southern WV. During it's operation it was said to be the largest coke company in the New River Gorge! 

I found this site with pictures of the remnants of the coal camp and coke ovens and plan to hike there next time I go home!

http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/river/sewell/sewell.htm

Other Websites used:

http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/river/newriver.htm
http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/index.html
http://www.wvexp.com/index.php/Sewell,_West_Virginia