Thank you and best wishes to Beth Thompson as she leaves First2!

Beth Thompson, who has served for the past year as First2 Grant Manager & Geoscience Program Assistant at Fairmont State University, has accepted a new position as a Community Partnerships Coordinator with the WV Community Development Hub. Her last day in her current role with First2 is Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Beth has been an invaluable addition to the network, bringing to her work in First2 her lived experiences at Fairmont State as a first gen STEM alum, initiator of the support math program, director of the Tutoring and Testing Center, and parent of several Fairmont State graduates. She has helped to guide the network’s evolution, especially in Improvement Science work, in a deepened understanding of the role of math support and the importance of workforce connections, in the continued development of the WV STEM Hub and in the transition to institutional teams. She also provided countless spreadsheets of data from Qualtrics for diverse purposes, processed innumerable contracts, invoices and travel settlements for network members, and helped plan and run our conferences and workshops for the past year. At Fairmont, she was a central member of the institutional team and a valued support for students. Beth said, “I hope to be able to take much that I have learned in my time here and share it with others throughout the state.” We hope to keep her involved with First2 through the Industry Advisory Board and possibly other connections. We wish her all the best and know that WV will be better for her service in her new role.