Law Day 2024

On Wednesday, May 1st, the Justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia hosted students from across the State for an awards ceremony for the West Virginia State Bar’s Law Day Contest, which is offered as an opportunity for West Virginia students to learn more about the system of law and justice in the United States.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded Law Day in 1958 to celebrate the role of law in America. Law Day events are held on or near May 1. This year’s Law Day theme was “Voices of Democracy.” The theme is set annually by the American Bar Association.

The program opened with remarks from State Bar President Shannon Smith, and a history of the Law Day program was presented by Circuit Judge Bridget Cohee of the Twenty-Third
Judicial Circuit (Berkely, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties). Justice Beth Walker presented the elementary student awards, Justice Haley Bunn presented the middle school awards, and Justice John Hutchison presented the high school awards. Justice Bill Wooten announced the overall winner, Preston County homeschool student Natalie Bolyard, who then performed her original song entitled “Let Not Your Voice be Silenced.” The performance followed a brief lesson about the architecture and history of the Supreme Court Courtroom presented by Chief Justice Tim Armstead. The Justices then welcomed questions from those in attendance about the judicial system. Following the event, the students, their teachers, and their parents were invited to attend a reception in honor of the winners.

The West Virginia contest, which began in 2021, is a project of the West Virginia State Bar Women in the Profession Committee. That Committee is led by attorneys Jami Cooper and Jennifer Mason. Instrumental to the success of the program are its Education Subcommittee 2 chairs, Circuit Judge Bridget Cohee, and attorney Liz Stryker. The contest had students from grades K-12 submit posters, essays, songs, poetry, and digital art, that provided information pertinent to the “Voices of Democracy Theme,” allowing the students to put what they learned about the theme into a creative outlet. Submissions were from Morgantown, Clarksburg, Buckhannon, Newburg, Martinsburg, and Webster Springs. Prize packages for the contest Prize packages and certificates were donated by the Harrison County Bar Association, the Eastern Panhandle Bar Association, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, and Cooper Law Offices, PLLC.

The winners for Law Day 2024 are:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Digital Art
1st Aaliyah Hamrick – Webster Springs Elem
2nd Dakoda Carpenter – Webster Springs Elem
3rd Madyson Carpenter – Webster Springs Elem

Poster
1st Lakota Claypool – Webster Springs Elem

Essay
1st Chelsea Bolyard – Homeschool

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Digital Art
1st Addison Young – Suncrest Middle School
2nd Lila Weglinski – Mountaineer Middle School
3rd Haadi Movassaghi and Gavin Yoder – Suncrest Middle School

Poster
1st Josephine Herring – Mountaineer Middle School
2nd Lela Riffle – Mountaineer Middle School
3rd (Tie ) Harleigh Haddix – Mountaineer Middle School
Rhea Harlan – Mountaineer Middle School

Essay
1st Nate Ely– South Middle School
2nd Pratyush Bhardwaj – Suncrest Middle School
3rd Coralee Mealey – Buckhannon Upshur Middle

Poem
1st Khloe Smith– South Middle
2nd Gabriella Weese – Buckhannon Upshur Middle
3rd Anthony Kennedy – Mountaineer Middle School
Song
1st Claire Small & Kaitlin Davis – Buckhannon Upshur Middle
2nd Sasha Rounds & Victoria Pei – Mountaineer Middle School
3rd Benjamen Honaker, Ezra Rae, Bryce Reppert – Mountaineer Middle School