VGCC honor society students collect supplies, books for local kids

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— courtesy VGCC

(VGCC Photo)

The Vance-Granville Community College Alpha Sigma Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society recently conducted a service project by collecting school supplies and books for children in grades K-12 who are affected by domestic violence. Children in such situations may be forced to relocate suddenly, leaving their school supplies at their former homes and putting them at an educational disadvantage. Donation boxes were placed at all four VGCC campuses. The donations were delivered to Infinite Possibilities, Inc., a domestic violence organization that serves Vance and Warren counties. Pictured above with some of the collected items are, from left, chapter advisor and VGCC English instructor Maureen Walters, chapter Vice President of Leadership Pamela Campbell of Littleton, advisor and art instructor Isaac Talley and chapter President Brenda Ellis of Durham. For more information on Phi Theta Kappa, contact Maureen Walters at 252-738-3406 or waltersm@vgcc.edu.

–VGCC–

News 12/22/17

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H-V Chamber Logo

Leadership Vance 2018

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— courtesy Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce | John Barnes, President ~ 252-438-8414 ~ info@hendersonvance.org ~ Facebook

Applications are available for the upcoming 2018 Leadership Vance Program! Interested professionals who live or work in Vance County are invited to apply. The program will be limited to a maximum of 25 participants who will be selected to represent all backgrounds, occupations and geographic areas of Vance County. The Leadership Vance program is designed to create a group of informed and dedicated leaders who will contribute to the community after graduation. The program informs, challenges and educates the participants on the opportunities and needs of the community and will strengthen their leadership skills while learning about the social, economic, and political dynamics that shape the community. The intensive training and exposure to all aspects of the community will provide participants with the historical background and the skills necessary for volunteer civic and community positions. It will also benefit participants in their business and career goals.

Brochures for the upcoming year will be available in early January with the first session to be held in February. The 10-session program will conclude in June and the cost for participating is $325 for Chamber members and $400 for non-Chamber members. Included in the price are all expenses, meals and materials. Participants are exposed to various aspects of Henderson and Vance County, specifically in regard to city and county government, health and community resources, economic development, agriculture and natural resources, history and media, and criminal justice and law. All potential participants should submit a completed application to the Chamber office no later than Wednesday, January 17, 2018. Notifications will be made by Wednesday, January 31, 2018. For more information, contact Director of Administration
and Events, Melanie Mann at the Chamber at 438-8414 or info@hendersonvance.org.

Oxendine, Gooche Will Lead Board; Meeting Schedule Set For 2018

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— courtesy Vance County Schools

Darlynn Oxendine was elected by the board to serve as its new chairperson for 2018. Dorothy Gooche was elected to serve as the board’s vice chairperson. The board also approved its meeting schedule for the new year. The board will meet each month on the second Monday of the month, with the exception of November. The meeting for that month will be held on Monday, November 5, due to the Veteran’s Day holiday scheduled for the following Monday.

News 12/21/17

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Public Health Serving You 12/20/17

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VGCC graduates 11 cadets in school’s 105th BLET Class

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— courtesy VGCC

Eleven cadets graduated on Dec. 12, 2017, from the Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) program at Vance-Granville Community College, in a ceremony held in the Civic Center on Main Campus. After passing the state certification exam, all are authorized to work in any law enforcement agency in North Carolina.

Graduates of VGCC’s 105th BLET class included Christian Sean Bulloss, Robert Joseph Hannon and Brandon Tyler Lomena, all of Butner Public Safety; Tyrell Jamal Perry of the Granville County Sheriff’s Office; Bradley James DeLello of the Greenville Police Department; Matthew Austin Davis and Christian Jurelle Teasley Hill Purnell, both of the Henderson Police Department; Brandon Michael Vajanyi of the Louisburg Police Department; Kyle Samuel Whitson of the N.C. Division of Parks & Recreation; and John Blackwell Hardy III and Logan Thomas Hite, both of the Oxford Police Department.

The ceremony began with a presentation of colors by students from the ROTC program at Northern Vance High School, and the singing of the national anthem by NVHS student Jadyn Jones.

In front, from left, VGCC Basic Law Enforcement Training Class 105 graduates Christian Jurelle Teasley Hill Purnell, Logan Thomas Hite, Christian Sean Bulloss, Brandon Tyler Lomena and Robert Joseph Hannon; and in back, from left, graduates Brandon James DeLello, Matthew Austin Davis, Brandon Michael Vajanyi, Kyle Samuel Whitson, Tyrell Jamal Perry, John Blackwell Hardy III and VGCC law enforcement training coordinator Andrea Hyson. (VGCC Photo)

In welcoming remarks, Dr. Levy Brown, VGCC’s interim vice president of academic affairs, applauded the graduates and thanked their families for being their “support systems” during the 16-week program. Brown expressed his appreciation to all the faculty and staff who had instructed Class 105.

Speaking as leader of the class, Cadet Tyrell Perry added his thanks to the instructors. He presented a plaque on behalf of the cadets to Sgt. Richard Creech of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, honoring him as an “outstanding instructor.”

Graduates selected Lt. Gregory Earp of the Clayton Police Department, one of their instructors, to serve as their featured speaker. Perry said that the cadets had appreciated and benefitted from Earp’s “witty humor and years of experience.” He has been teaching part-time for VGCC since 2005.

Earp cautioned graduates that a law enforcement career takes an emotional toll. “During the journey you are about to embark upon, you will bear witness to some of the ugliness that this world has to offer. It will leave you with scar tissue,” Earp said. Nevertheless, he told the new officers that they would also have a wide variety of career opportunities open to them. “The great thing about this profession is that you can find your passion within this job and make it your own,” he said.

Andrea Hyson, the training program coordinator, presented awards to several students. Perry received a special Leadership Award. Davis won the “Top Gun” Award for having the highest accuracy score in firearms qualification. Whitson earned the Physical Fitness Award for scoring highest in the various fitness tests the cadets undergo during physical training. Bulloss took home the Academic Achievement Award for having the top grade average in the written tests each cadet must pass.

For more information on the BLET program, contact Hyson at hysona@vgcc.edu.

–VGCC–

(VGCC in an advertising client of WIZS.)

News 12/20/17

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Northern Vance High School Principal Presents Restart School Plans

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At the December 11, 2017 meeting of the Vance County Board of Education, the board gave its approval for Northern Vance High School to move forward in completing plans to apply as a restart school with the state.

You can read the full board briefs for the meeting online by clicking here or by navigating to it through the Vance County Schools webpage by clicking here.

In an email to WIZS News, Vance County Schools Public Information Officer Terri Hedrick responded to a series of questions, and she wrote, “NVHS would still be a high school for grades 9-12. There are no changes planned for SVHS at this time. All of the restart plans currently under development at NVHS, must be approved by our Board of Education before being submitted in a restart school application to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. There are similar plans underway at Eaton-Johnson Middle School, but they haven’t been presented to our board yet. The EJMS plan probably will be shared with board members in January.”

Hedrick also broadcasts a weekly Vance County Schools Update on WIZS 1450 AM, live streamed at wizs.com, throughout the school year at 4:30 p.m. on Mondays.  You can hear her full update from Monday, Dec 18, 2017 by clicking here.  The update about Northern Vance begins at the 10-minute mark.

The following comes straight from the December 11th Board Briefs online:

The board’s action came after a presentation by Northern Vance by Principal Andrew Markoch who provided details about the school’s restart plans. Markoch said the plans include establishing a ninth-grade academy for all freshmen, an arts academy, a career innovations academy and a digital technologies academy. He noted that all incoming freshmen will leave the ninth-grade academy at the end of their first year and go into at least one of the additional academies. It is possible that a student will be part of more than one academy based on their course selections. Within the academies, students will still have a choice of academic, honors or advanced placement courses. Markoch stressed a focus of the restart plans is to provide students with more choices and more of a voice in their educational opportunities. Another key will be increased flexibility in the school day scheduling and to have the school’s calendar align more closely to the calendar at Vance-Granville Community College, similar to the calendar now followed by the Vance County Early College High School. He added that the ninth-grade academy will provide students and their parents with more guidance and information as they start high school and should assist students in being more successful academically. “We want to provide our students with future proof programming to help them be successful beyond high school,” Markoch said. The restart school plans outlined by Markoch were developed with input from a team of staff members at Northern Vance, as well as parents and students.

VGCC to offer Food Truck Entrepreneurship on Main Campus with new instructor

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— courtesy VGCC

Vance-Granville Community College will soon offer its Mobile Food Truck Entrepreneurship Workshop Series at the college’s Main Campus in Vance County for the first time. Previously, the course was offered on the Franklin County and Warren County campuses.

A partnership of VGCC’s Small Business Center and Personal Enrichment department, the program will be held in Building 7 on Main Campus on four Monday evenings, Feb. 5 through Feb. 26, 2018.

Serving as instructor for the first time will be Ray Chow, founder of Hibachi Xpress and Catering by Ray. Chow has worked in restaurants since he was seven years old. A graduate of N.C. State University, he started Hibachi Xpress restaurant in Cary, and expanded to three locations, as well as managing some of his family’s other restaurants in the Raleigh and Wilmington areas.

In 2011, Chow expanded his restaurant/catering business with the addition of a food truck to participate in different festivals and large gatherings. Over the years, the popularity of food trucks has continued to grow, and in 2014, Hibachi Xpress shifted focus towards catering and the food truck business, moving away from the brick and mortar stores. Chow is also a co-founder of “foosye,” a startup tech company building innovative technology applications tailored to the food truck industry.

The first class in the series, “The Art of the Food Truck,” will be held on Feb. 5 from 6-9 p.m. This workshop serves as an introduction to the program and covers the fundamentals of owning and operating a mobile food unit.

“Preparing for Success: Concept and Design” will follow on Feb. 12 from 6-8 p.m. The design of the food unit as well as budgeting and costs are covered in this session.

“Administrative Necessities” is scheduled for Feb. 19 from 6-8 p.m. Participants will learn about federal, state and local regulations, zoning, licenses and permits they will need.

“Marketing for Success” will conclude the series on Feb. 26 from 6-8 p.m. This session will include a panel discussion with several food truck owners, focusing in part on how they promote their food trucks through social media and other forms of advertising.

The cost of the program is $60 for the first class. The other three sessions are offered free of charge.

Participants in the program will also be required to sign up as clients of the VGCC Small Business Center, which is free of charge, and to complete the ServSafe food safety certification course. A separate fee of $74, plus materials, is charged for ServSafe.

The deadline to register is January 29, 2018. For more information and to register, contact VGCC Small Business Center director Tanya Weary at (252) 738-3240 or smallbusiness@vgcc.edu or Gail Clark at (252) 738-3385 or ped@vgcc.edu.

–VGCC–

(VGCC is an advertising client of WIZS.)