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Morgantown celebrates Citizens Academy participants and proclaims Community Learning and Leadership Week
Summary
Council presented certificates and a proclamation recognizing the Citizen Academy class, listing program completion rates and encouraging continued civic engagement.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The City of Morgantown on June 17 recognized the latest class of its Citizens Academy, proclaimed a Community Learning and Leadership Week and presented certificates to participants who completed a nine-week program introducing residents to city operations.
The Citizens Academy class reported that 22 slots were offered and 21 participants accepted, for a 95.2% completion rate; the group recorded an 88.9% participant attendance rate across 9 weeks. Participants said they met with 17 internal divisions, six community partners and four city councilors during the course.
Why it matters: The academy is a civic-education effort intended to increase transparency and public engagement by giving residents direct exposure to how the city operates and where decisions are made. City staff and participants said many graduates plan to stay involved through volunteering, serving on boards or attending council meetings.
During the meeting several participants described what they learned, including how city departments coordinate work, the scale and pace of grant writing (the class cited an 80% success rate for the city's grant writer), emergency services’ response times, public-works tasks and operations at the airport and parks. City leaders read a proclamation: "Whereas, an informed and engaged community is vital to the health of a thriving city government... Now, therefore, I, Joseph Abugano, mayor of the City of Morgantown, do hereby proclaim the week of June 2025 as Community Learning and Leadership Week."
Shannon Davis, the city's marketing coordinator and program lead, and other staff helped organize the sessions. Participants said they will maintain a Citizens Academy Facebook group and pursue civic engagement such as attending public meetings, volunteering for city events and joining boards.
Ending: Councilors and staff congratulated the graduates and encouraged continued engagement; the council presented certificates and posed for photos at the end of the ceremony.
