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Wayne County Energy Express

About Us

Energy Express is a free award-winning, six-week, summer reading and nutrition program for children in first through sixth grades living in West Virginia’s rural and low-income communities. This program aims to prevent the “summer slide,” in which children regress in their reading skills because they aren’t learning during the summer.

During Energy Express, children statewide increase or maintain their reading levels through creative, colorful and captivating uses of books, art, drama and vocabulary. Volunteers, mentors and staff create a print-rich environment where students have access to books and printed materials, opportunities to read and write, and the chance to explore the meaning of text through engaging activities. Daily read-alouds and take-home books are a staple at Energy Express. This unique approach makes reading interesting and fun for students, motivating them to continue learning.

Our program also provides children with two nutritious meals each day during the program, helping to ensure our youths are fed each day even after the school year comes to an end. 

Energy Express will run from  June 16 to July 25, 2025.

If you’re a parent looking to register your child for Energy Express, contact your local WVU Extension office. Energy Express is offered in various counties at select locations.

Child Enrollment Application

Connect with Us

Follow the Energy Express social media pages to stay up to date on all the information and news about Energy Express in your community and around the state! 

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Apply Online to Participate

2023 Energy Express Program

Dates: June 21 - July 28, Monday through Friday
Times: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Wayne County hosted the following sites:

  • Buffalo Elementary
  • Crum PreK-8
  • Fort Gay PreK-8

We are seeking to hire Mentors and Community Coordinators. Apply online. For more information, please contact our office at 304-272-6839.

Wayne County Energy Express News

Donate Found Items to Energy Express

Below is a complete list of found items Energy Express welcomes each summer.

  • Buttons and beads – jewelry making for costumes, collage, sculpture, puppets
  • Clothesline and clothespins – to create display/drying area
  • Containers (cardboard containers, plastic cottage cheese or yogurt containers, margarine bins) – for all kinds of storage, drums, musical rattles
  • Cotton balls – used to blend chalk drawings, collage
  • Cupcake paper liners
  • Empty cereal, cracker, shoe boxes – book covers
  • End rolls of newsprint (from newspaper offices) –murals, writing big stories
  • Feathers – used to paint, collage, sculpture
  • Flour – papier-macha
  • Foam egg cartons – for paint containers/palette
  • Foam meat trays (disinfect with water and bleach!) – palettes for painting
  • Large appliance boxes – private reading spots, buildings, cars, castles
  • Magazines with lots of pictures – collage, illustrations—appropriate titles
  • Newspapers – preparing spaces for making art, stuffing paper bag sculpture
  •  Packing material (foam peanuts or shredded paper) – collage, sculpture
  • Paper bags (all sizes) for masks, personal storage, sculpture
  • Paper plates
  • Paper towel or toilet paper tubes for sculpture, cardboard box construction
  • Plastic buckets with lids – for storing items
  • Plastic grocery bags
  • Plastic rings from soft drink packs – bubble making, collage
  • Sand – sand painting, casting plaster of Paris
  • Shower curtains or old sheets – drop cloths
  • Shredded paper (used for stuffing)
  • Socks and pantyhose – puppets
  • String, thread, yarn, spools – mobiles, collage, spools for puppets or sculpture
  • Textured fabrics and other materials (wool, leather, silk, netting, flannel, plastic, bark, velvet, sandpaper, screening) – collage, costume making, puppets
  • Used file folders – bookmaking, portfolios
  • Wallpaper sample books – for decorating book covers, collage
  • Wood scraps
  • Wrapping paper, freezer paper, or butcher paper drawing, painting, collage

2021 Energy Express Impact in Wayne County

During the summer of 2021, children participated in the program from Buffalo Elementary, C-K Elementary, Crum PRK8, and Fort Gay PRK8. They joined other children from across the state in increasing their reading scores and receiving two nutritious meals each day this summer thanks to the Energy Express AmeriCorps program.

In total, 80 communities successfully implemented the Energy Express Program in 2021 with the following results:

  • More than 3,000 children participated at 80 community sites across the state. 
  • Children increased in word identification, reading comprehension, reading fluency and in broad reading, with an average age equivalent gain of 1.9 months.
  • Children’s personal libraries expanded by approximately 20,000 take home books.
  • Over 100,000 nutritious meals were served to participating children. 
  • Partnerships with parents and numerous local, state and private agencies and programs were developed.
  • Nearly 500 AmeriCorps members engaged in service across the state. As the result of their experiences, the majority of AmeriCorps members increased the belief that they could make a difference in the lives of children.

To learn more about Energy Express in Wayne County, please call the Extension Office at 304-272-6839.