Help Seniors Get Hired!

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Are you age 55 or older or, know someone who is? Are you unemployed and looking for a job? Are you interested in paid on-the-job community service training!

NC NCBA-SCSEP supports over 300 part-time positions in 18 counties by providing hands-on workplace settings for seniors to develop new skills and talents and support community service activities. Participants enhance or refresh work experience through exposure to various jobs. Must meet income guidelines, able to work 20 hours per week, participate in assisted job search, earn minimum wage stipend.

Call Beryle Lewis
919693 2686
blewis@myncba.com

News 09/27/17

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Maria Parham Health $5 Masquerade Sale

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Volunteer Services of Maria Parham Health will be hosting a $5 Masquerade Sale this week in the John T. Church classroom.  The event takes place Wednesday, Sept. 27 (7am-4pm) and Thursday Sept. 28 (7am-2pm).

Lisa Radford is the volunteer coordinator at Maria Parham Health, and in an email to WIZS News she said, “Volunteer services sponsors approximately 10 sales per year, for fun, for the public. They vary from Tupperware, books, peanuts etc. Proceeds go back into patient care in various ways.”

This week’s items include: jewelry, scarves, hats and much more! As Radford said it, “Come experience the frenzy.”

(Maria Parham Health is a paying advertising client of WIZS Radio and WIZS.com.  This information is presented in the public interest to support the institution, its patients and volunteer services at the hospital.)

VGCC hosts Basic Skills Open House on Main Campus

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— courtesy VGCC

Vance-Granville Community College will hold an Open House for its Adult Basic Skills department on Tuesday, October 3, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and later from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., in room 7212 of Building 7 on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County.

“We invite all who did not finish high school to come see and hear how our Adult Basic Skills Department can either help adults gain enough credits to earn a high school diploma or gain enough knowledge to earn a High School Equivalency diploma, which is more commonly known as a GED,” said Greg Nash, who chairs the Adult Basic Skills department at VGCC. “Additionally, we invite all whose native language differs from English to come see and hear how our Adult Basic Skills Department can help adults improve their abilities to speak and read English.”

Adult Basic Skills/Literacy Education programs at VGCC help adults improve their reading, writing and math skills and complete their high school education. Classes are available at all four VGCC campuses and at various community locations. VGCC now offers Adult High School and high school equivalency test preparation online, as well. Either way, instruction is offered free of charge.

Another VGCC program is “Basic Skills Plus,” which allows students seeking a high school diploma or equivalent to co-enroll at the same time in occupational training and employability skills within identified career pathways.

Once students complete either the Adult High School or high school equivalency program, they receive a certificate worth free tuition and fees for one semester of courses in curriculum programs at VGCC, absorbing costs not covered by federal financial aid.

For more information, contact Adult Basic Skills Department Chair Greg Nash at (252) 738-3305.

–VGCC–

Virtual Reality Mobile Lab

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— courtesy Vance County Schools

zSpace, Inc. sponsored a visit by its Virtual Reality Classroom to the campus of Southern Vance High School on September 21, with the lab available for viewing by local students and educators throughout the school system.

Students and educators had an opportunity to go inside the traveling classroom, contained in a large, mobile trailer, and view 3D hands-on demonstrations to enhance classroom instruction in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM).

Clarke student using the 3D software for dissections

There were approximately 12 computer monitors available for students and educators to view 3D images ranging from various kinds of animals, to mountain landscapes, to parts of the human body. Once at the computer screens, viewers wore 3D glasses and used a special stylus to manipulate the 3D images. They could actually dissect the images electronically using the stylus to see the various layers of the image. The process seemed especially fun for students in dissecting animal images and seeing their various body parts and layers.

The zSpace Virtual Reality Classroom came to Vance County at no cost to the school district. The classroom is designed to provide K-12 school districts with a firsthand demonstration of the zSpace technology available to enhance classroom instruction in the core subject areas. With schools now engaging in new phases of innovation and transformation with the creation of STEAM focused programs, zSpace is striving to provide them with the latest virtually reality based learning experiences. With the help of zSpace representatives, the 3D technology is showing how the computer software and devices can be incoporated into lesson plans and curriculum.

STEM students using the 3D software for dissections

Students visiting the mobile STEAM lab were from Clarke Elementary School, the STEM Early High School and Southern Vance High School. They went into the lab in small groups of about 20 students over a four-hour period. After listening to a short presentation by a zSpace coach on how to use the 3D technology, the students were able to experience the hands-on demonstration at the individual computer terminals. Each student group had about 20 minutes to visit the mobile lab.

Each demonstration for the student groups featured standards based activities, lesson plans and video tutorials aligned with Common Core and state standards.

School administrators and several teachers from all Vance County Schools were able to visit the mobile lab and see the demonstrations.

Group of students listening to a zSpace representative explain how to use the software

Home and Garden Show 09/26/17

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News 09/26/17

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News 09/25/17

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VGCC Faculty and Staff members of the Year

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— courtesy VGCC

VGCC honors Faculty and Staff Members of the Year with Glen Raven Awards

Vance-Granville Community College President Dr. Stelfanie Williams recently presented the college’s annual awards to a pair of outstanding VGCC employees. Science Department Chair/instructor Steve McGrady of Durham was chosen as the Faculty Member of the Year for 2017-18, while Kelly W. Glover of Oxford, the publications specialist in the VGCC Print Shop, was named Staff Member of the Year.

The honors are two of VGCC’s three Glen Raven Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Awards. Glen Raven, Inc., the manufacturer with a site in Norlina, is a longtime VGCC supporter and partner. In addition to sponsoring the annual stipends to recognize excellence among VGCC instructors and staff members, Glen Raven has endowed several scholarships for students.

McGrady and Glover are now eligible to be considered for the N.C. Community College System’s statewide R.J. Reynolds Excellence in Teaching and BB&T Staff Person of the Year awards, respectively.

“Steve and Kelly consistently demonstrate excellence as they provide education and support services to students, their colleagues and the community,” President Williams said. “In their unique ways, they provide leadership for Vance-Granville with their expertise, positivity and dedication to our mission.”

VGCC’s 2017-18 award winners are, from left, Faculty Member of the Year Steve McGrady and Staff Member of the Year Kelly Glover. (VGCC photo)

Steve McGrady

Steve McGrady has been a full-time VGCC instructor since 1990 and leader of the Science department since 1992. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree, and of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his master’s degree in biology. McGrady teaches courses in biology, chemistry and geology. Prior to joining the faculty at VGCC, he taught at Richmond Community College in Hamlet, N.C.

McGrady was the recipient of the VGCC President’s Leadership Award in 2006 after helping to lead a “Global Studies” initiative that took a group of faculty and students on an educational trip to Costa Rica. McGrady and now-retired instructor Button Brady coordinated the VGCC Science Camp for middle school students from its inception in 2011, and he has overseen the camp on his own for the last two summers. He served as co-chair of the VGCC Endowment Fund Faculty & Staff Drive from 2010 through 2012 and is a graduate of the VGCC Leadership Institute of 2005-06. McGrady has been involved in the college’s Male Mentoring program as a mentor and has served as chair of the college’s Academic Affairs Committee.

Kelly Glover

Kelly Glover has served since 2004 as VGCC’s publications specialist, a position in which she plans, designs and produces various printed materials for the college, from posters advertising classes to diplomas and certificates for students. Glover joined the college after working for The Daily Dispatch in Henderson for seven years, first as a reporter and later as community news editor. She is also a graduate of the college. After completing her Associate in Arts degree at VGCC in 1997, Glover continued her education at Meredith College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English. She is also a graduate of both “Leadership Vance,” a program of the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce, and “Leadership Granville,” a program of the Granville County Chamber of Commerce. At VGCC, Glover has served as chair of the Special Events Committee for three years and has volunteered with numerous projects including the college’s participation in the annual UNC-TV fundraiser. She also served on an ad-hoc enrollment task force this year that succeeded in enrolling and serving a number of students.

Glover has the unique distinction of being the daughter of another VGCC award winner, 1990 Faculty Member of the Year James Wheeler, who is now retired.

–VGCC–

Franklin County Sheriff

Homicide in Youngsville (9-23-17)

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— Press Release Franklin County Sheriff’s Office

On Saturday, September 23, 2017 at approximately 10:52pm, deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to 26 Amandas Way, Youngsville in regards to a shooting. Upon the deputies arrival they observed an individual identified as Devin Christofer Bilodeau (DOB 04-18-96) suffering from a fatal gunshot wound.

Detectives with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and agents from the State Bureau of Investigation are actively investigating this incident and no arrests have been made at this time.

If anyone should have any additional information pertaining to this investigation, please call Detective Garrett at 919-340-4311 or the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at 919-496-2186.