VGCC to offer Biotech Workshop to high school students
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.
Local Eagle Scout Earns All 141 Merit Badges
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.
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.
Scott 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.)
Winter Weather Possible Along Virginia Border
UPDATED…Wintry Weather possible near the Virginia border tonight…
- Rain will mix with, or briefly change to snow and sleet, when precipitation rates are heaviest tonight, mainly between 10pm and 4am. This may result in a very light accumulation of snow and sleet on grassy and elevated surfaces across the northern NC Piedmont, mainly from Roxboro to Henderson to Warrenton.
- Temperatures initially around 40 degrees when the precipitation begins to reach the ground this evening will fall to between 32 and 35 degrees overnight, coldest (at freezing) when precipitation rates are highest.
- A Winter Weather Advisory is not anticipated at this time due to limited accumulations. However, a heavier band of snow could produce up to one inch of snow.
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Information provided by Brian Short, Director of Emergency Operations for Henderson and Vance County, indicates the possibility of winter weather tonight for portions of our area.
The National Weather Service briefing from 7:00 A.M. Thursday, which is linked above, says:
“Rain will mix with, or briefly change to snow and sleet, when precipitation rates are heaviest tonight. This may result in a light accumulation of snow and sleet across the northern NC Piedmont, from the Triad to Roxboro to Henderson to Warrenton to Roanoke Rapids. Higher amounts are expected from the NC Mountains to Central VA.”
The briefing continues, “Temperatures initially around 40 degrees when the precipitation begins to reach the ground this evening will fall to between 32 and 35 degrees overnight, coldest (at freezing) when precipitation rates are highest. A Winter Weather Advisory may be issued for the far northern NC Piedmont later today.”