As part of a partnership with Morgan State University’s Institute for Social Justice, students in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media have spent the semester working on stories about first time candidates, first time voters and first time political activists in the state ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Below are the images of the West Virginians students interviewed for that project and featured in stories about the longterm impact of the West Virginia teachers’ strike could have on election outcomes, the women who are running for Congress in the state that are defying traditional political norms for female candidates, and explored how high school seniors feel about gun control after a year of high profile school shootings.

— 100 Days in Appalachia

The Faces of West Virginia’s 2018 Midterms