CHARLES TOWN – Thanks to a few firefighters and a ladder truck, Alice Koski continued a special Christmas memorial to her longtime friend who passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Koski’s yearly Christmas-season remembrance involves placing a silver star atop a blue spruce planted in her Charles Town front yard. The tree is dedicated to Dave Yoder, a late horse trainer at the Charles Town racetrack. Yoder gave the evergreen as a gift to Koski and her husband, Jim, over two decades ago. Barely two feet tall at first, the tree now stands in the realm of 40 feet tall. But for Koski, the tree’s sparkling lights are a special reminder of love and friendship this holiday season. “There’s something that warms your heart about that tree at Christmas time,” she said. When Yoder was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, Koski remembers receiving one of his first phone calls as he was reeling from the heartbreaking news. After Yoder passed away 24 years ago at the age of 45, Koski had a plaque placed under the spruce’s boughs that reads “Dave Yoder Christmas Tree.” Koski decorated the tree for Christmas herself for the first few years afterward, with lights and always a star on top. Over time the tree became too large for her to reach the top branch. After three years went by, she was determined the tree wouldn’t go without a star this Christmas. So Koski reached out to Citizens Fire Company in Charles Town for help. Perhaps they had a way to reach the tree’s top? And they did, she recalled. “They were so gracious, I couldn’t believe it,” she said of their fire company’s offer to bring out a ladder truck to place the star. Two weeks ago, Citizens safety officer Ed Hannon gathered a group of volunteer firefighters and drove them out to Koski’s home to place the star. “We try to help the citizens out in whatever way we can, going beyond just responding when we have an emergency,” Hannon explained. Calling the favor a “win-win,” Hannon said the decorating offered an opportunity to provide extra equipment training to young firefighters. After all, working the ladder on the ladder truck takes some practice, and that happened to be just what Koski needed. Having the star on top of the tree again for Dave Yoder means a lot to her, Koski said. That firefighters made her holiday tradition possible again makes this Christmas even more memorable, she added. “The tree meant so much to us because he was a friend, and it was Christmastime,” she said.

SHEPHERDSTOWN – Four years ago, 36-year-old Andrea Mitchell decided to go back to school and fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. While she always wanted to teach, she met her now husband in high school, and her life changed direction as she focused on being a wife and mother to four children. However, she never lost her dream of teaching and stayed actively involved in her children’s school, volunteering and helping out frequently. When her youngest child was in third grade, Mitchell saw that many of her teachers were retiring. She said she realized that if she had gone to school and gotten her degree earlier in life, she could have been that teacher taking their place. “I want to be in that classroom,” she said. “I want to be with those kids, and I can’t because I don’t have my degree.” And so, encouraged by her children’s teachers and other school faculty, she began her journey to fulfill her dream. Starting at Blue Ridge Technical College and transferring later to Shepherd University, Mitchell is now on track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in education in next spring. However, just because she has taken on the role of student does not mean that she has given up the role of wife and mother. In a single week, Mitchell manages three classes at Shepherd University while co-teaching a class at a local Berkeley County school four days a week. She says that remembering her “why” is what keeps her going even through all the work and on the hard days. “I want to be that teacher or that person in a child’s life that they can come to, that they can feel safe, they can feel cared about, and that can help them grow,” she said. Mitchell knows that children have lots of moving pieces in their lives and deal with a lot of change. She says she understands that teachers have the opportunity to be a person that remains in their life and that they can count on no matter what. “I am that one constant in that person’s life, in that child’s life, and I need to show up for them.” A Shepherdstown-area resident, Mitchell has four children in the Jefferson County school system and has been so inspired by what their teachers have done to help them and encourage them that she hopes to work with those same teachers and faculty after graduation. “I want to be with them and I want to do the same for the community that they have done for my children and continue to do for my children,” she said. Mitchell says she understands better now more than ever that what a teacher does is so much more than simply handing children questions to answer. “It’s more than just standing up there and delivering curriculum,” she said. “It isn’t always just about the curriculum, it’s about the kids.”

Liberty University debuted their newest and most unconventional form of ministry this fall with the launch of their new club sport shooting teams. Executive Director and head coach, Dave Hartman, says the facility will allow him to take students to heights they might not have otherwise attained. Hartman says this will give many students a platform to talk about Jesus. “One of the things that is different about this gun range than any other gun range probably in the world, is Liberty is differe

LU Praise, Liberty’s gospel concert choir, returned Nov. 27 from a trip to perform in front of the Chinese government in the 2017 Hainan Choir Festival on Hainan Island in China. While the trip lasted only 13 days, it provided opportunities for the choir to perform at a state church, an underground church, two universities and before 60 of the nation’s communist leaders. The group consisted of 30 students, the dean of the School of Music Dr. Vernon Whaley and his wife, and provost and chief aca

The Student Health Center and Wellness Initiatives hosted Liberty University’s fifth annual Health Expo, Tuesday Sept. 26 on the academic lawn. The event was coordinated and organized by the Executive Director of the Student Health Center and Wellness Initiatives Keith Anderson and Assistant Director Bethany Williams. Williams explained that the purpose of the Expo was to help students learn about the wellness options provided to them on and around Liberty’s campus. A total of 34 vendors atten