Tobacco Trust Fund awards grant to VGCC

/by

The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has awarded a $25,000 grant to Vance-Granville Community College to support students in a pair of training programs.

The grant, for a project entitled “Cultivating and Growing Agricultural Communities,” will help cover the cost of tuition and other fees for eligible students in the “NC REAL Agricultural Entrepreneurship” and “Heavy Equipment Operator” courses offered by VGCC. Grant funding will also support instructional staff, marketing and supplies related to the programs.

VGCC has offered the Agricultural Entrepreneurship program at various locations, most recently at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market and the Granville County Expo & Convention Center. Heavy Equipment Operator training is held at VGCC’s Warren County Campus.

While this is the first grant of its kind awarded to VGCC, the college has previously received grants from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission as part of “Project Skill-UP.” As in those previous grants, the commission’s goal is to help individuals and communities adversely affected by the decline of tobacco-related employment in the region.

“We appreciate that the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission chose to support our agricultural efforts to help adults in our service area to gain new skills and in some cases, to start new careers or businesses,” said Kyle Burwell, VGCC’s coordinator of Human Resources Development.

The seven-week NC REAL Agricultural Entrepreneurship course is designed specifically to help local farmers and budding entrepreneurs succeed in developing profitable, environmentally-sound small farms or agricultural businesses.

One of VGCC’s newest programs, Heavy Equipment Operator training takes approximately 13 weeks to complete. During the course, students gain a general understanding of the requirements necessary to operate equipment such as a motor grader, a four-wheel drive loader and backhoe, which are used both in construction and in agriculture.

Students receiving grant funding must meet certain eligibility requirements and must be residents of Vance, Granville, Franklin or Warren counties. Each student can receive up to $250.

For more information on receiving assistance and the opportunities available at VGCC, contact Kyle Burwell at hrd-wk@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3276.

For more information on the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, visit www.tobaccotrustfund.org.

Vance County Food Giveaway

/by

NC Cooperative Extension Centers across the state are participating in a food drive, that will benefit their own communities, and is in conjunction with the 125th Anniversary of NC Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) and 30th Annual NC Small Farms Week celebration sponsored by NC A&T which pays tribute to the state’s small scale growers. NC Small farms will be celebrated March 20-26 with the kick off scheduled March 21, 2016 in Vance County, home of the 2015 Small Farmers of the year, Louis and Magnolia Williams.

Community agencies and the faith-based community have joined forces to participate in the University’s 125th Anniversary and NC Small Farms Week service project that is being led by Lonnette Marsh, Interim Regional Program Coordinator with the Cooperative Extension Program at NC A&T.

Locally the NC Central/Eastern Food Bank will be distributing bags of food to community members who are in need of food on Thursday, March 10, 2016 at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market. The distribution will begin at 10am with student volunteers from Southern Vance High School’s BETA club assisting with the worthy cause. Citizens will receive disbursements using a drive through method, as bags will be bought to individual cars when citizens arrive at the site.

This project is being sponsored locally by St. James Missionary Baptist Church, Vance County Department of Social Services, Vance County Cooperative Extension Center, and the Vance County USDA Farm Service Agency and Rural Development.

Canned foods have also been collected in honor of 125th Anniversary and NC Small Farms Week of NC A&T at the Vance County Cooperative Extension Center, Vance County Department of Social Services, Vance County Government Building, Henderson Vance Parks and Recreation, Bearpond Fire Department, YMCA, Vance County USDA Farm Service Agency and Rural Development, and Southern Vance High School. Foods collected will be donated to the food pantry at Shiloh Baptist Church.

–North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commitment themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.

(This information was submitted to WIZS News in the form of a press release from Ann S. Burrows, Administrative Assistant, North Carolina Cooperative Extension–Vance County Center, 305 Young Street, Henderson, NC  27536, Phone: (252) 438-8188  Fax: (252) 492-3830, Email: ann_burrows@ncsu.edu)

Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland 03/07/16

/by

Town Talk 03/07/16

/by

Vance County School Show 03/07/16

/by

News 03/07/16

/by

VGCC to offer Biotech Workshop to high school students

/by

Vance-Granville Community College has scheduled its fourth annual Biotech Workshop for local high school students, as one of a series of VGCC Arts & Sciences camps and workshops being held this year.

All tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders who have taken or are currently taking biology and chemistry are invited to attend the workshop, which is set to take place over the course of two Saturdays: April 2 and April 9, each day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students must attend on both days.

Sessions will be taught by VGCC faculty in the state-of-the-art biotech lab in Building 8 on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. “This workshop will give students a great opportunity to build their résumés and gain hands-on experience in a real laboratory with advanced equipment,” said VGCC Bioprocess Technology program head Dr. Tara Hamilton, who will oversee the workshop. “You can develop lab skills here that you can use in college and in various STEM careers, whether it’s in scientific research, high-tech manufacturing or medicine.”

Students will be introduced to Biotechnology, which is broadly described as using living organisms to develop and manufacture products for human use. This can range from making yogurt and cheese to producing human proteins in bacteria. This workshop will focus on the manipulation and use of various cellular molecules and the techniques commonly employed in a biotechnology laboratory.  Participants will separate proteins and DNA on gels, learn how to culture bacteria for use in obtaining a useful product, and become accustomed to utilizing common laboratory equipment.

The cost to attend the workshop is $50, which includes lunch each day.

This opportunity is one of a number of initiatives by the VGCC Arts & Sciences division to reach out into the community with unique learning activities. The annual VGCC Science Camp for rising sixth, seventh and eighth graders and the Teenworks Drama Camp, which targets rising eighth graders through high school seniors, will both be held this summer.

Registration for the Biotech workshop can be completed online at www.vgcc.edu/camps. For more information, contact Dr. Hamilton at (252) 738-3285 or hamiltont@vgcc.edu.

Town Talk 03/04/16

/by

News 03/04/16

/by

Local Eagle Scout Earns All 141 Merit Badges

/by

Local Eagle Scout Brandon Scott Lawrence is just the fourth person in North Carolina to ever accomplish the impressive task of earning all 141 Boy Scouts of America merit badges.

BSA Troop 605 will present Lawrence with his last merit badge, # 141, at Court of Honor, taking place at the First Presbyterian Church, 122 Young St. Henderson, NC on Monday, March 7, 2016 at 7:00 P.M.

It will be a historic event. Earning all 141 badges has only been achieved by 283 other individuals in the last 100 years. On average about 18 scouts per year achieve this distinction.  Lawrence will receive four historical badges and one retired badge.

e

He earned his Eagle rank at the early age of 14 on September 19, 2013. He is now 16 and is very excited about accomplishing his latest goal.

Lawrence said, “Scouting has been a huge part of my life. I’ve learned things and done things that I’ve never thought were possible, from flying airplanes to scuba diving in a rock quarry. I have learned many different skills and things that I will never forget. I have made many friends and met many interesting people throughout my 10 years of scouting.”

He said, “I would tell younger scouts, or anyone with a goal, never stop trying.  There is always a way because nothing is impossible.”

Brandon’s father is Scott Lawrence, who has been a scout leader for nine years. Scott Lawrence said, “I feel like a peacock strutting around! (Brandon) came to me one day after school at the age of six and said he wanted to go to a cub scout recruitment at Aycock School, which is where he went to school. We went, and here it is ten years later, and he has enjoyed it so much. I have too because it became a family affair. We are best friends!”

Brandon’s start was as simple as receiving a flyer to go to a Cub Scout interest meeting.  He said, “I just wanted to go.” All the things scouts do gave him an urge to try it. “I have always loved trying new things and meeting new people ever since I was six,” Brandon said.

rScott Lawrence said, “Our troop has had the privilege of having 27 young men earn the rank of Eagle Scout in the past ten years. Forty percent of all boys who joined our troop have gone the distance. Brandon has really set his sites on the future. He is so active in church, school, sports, clubs, and volunteering in general. Brandon has the drive and ability to do what ever he sets his mind too.”

Brandon said he has always loved taking things to their fullest.  “When I was in Cub Scouts, I heard about the Arrow of Light, the highest achievement for Cub Scouts, and decided that was my goal. When I crossed into Boy Scouts, I heard of the Eagle Scout rank, the highest rank in Boy Scouts, and decided that was my new goal. After I got my Eagle, I tried to think of a new goal, and I found one in getting all the merit badges. I had 62 at the time, so that’s what I set my sights on. Two years later, I finished all 141 merit badges,” Brandon said.

Reference information provided by: https://www.meritbadgeknot.com/index.htm

(Editor’s Note – The majority of the beginning of this story was written and supplied to WIZS News in the form of a press release. The release was written by Don Wells, Assistant Scout Master to BSA Troop 605.  The majority of the concluding paragraphs were written by Brandon Lawrence and Scott Lawrence and supplied in writing.  This is important not only so each receives proper credit for his writing but also to point out that they have each had the opportunity to express themselves in their own words.  Taking the time and effort to do so and to do so extremely well, as they have done, is exactly what you would expect from an Eagle Scout and from scout leaders.  And may we at WIZS please express what a joy it is to publish and broadcast great news.)