$400K from Golden Leaf Foundation to VCS for Technology

/by

— Vance County Schools press release

Mark Sorrells, senior vice president of the Golden Leaf Foundation, presented Darlynn Oxendine, chairwoman of the Vance County Board of Education, and Superintendent Anthony Jackson with a check for $400,000 in grant allocations to fund technological innovations for students at the board’s meeting on April 16.

Jordan McMillen, county manager for Vance County, also participated in the presentation.

The grant funding from the foundation will be used to equip zSpace laboratories in our middle and high schools for the 2018-2019 school year.

The zSpace STEM Learning Initiative represents a new direction for instructional delivery and academic outcomes for the students in Vance County. This initiative will systematically and intentionally embed the technical and essential skills into our instructional programs to ensure student readiness for the local, regional and global workforce.

This funding will support the establishment of 24-30 digital student-learning stations in the middle school and high school, as well as 12-15 digital stations at the STEM Early High School.

Mark Sorrells, senior vice president of the Golden Leaf Foundation, far left, presents a large replica of the $400,000 grant check for Vance County Schools for technological innovations to, from left, Superintendent Anthony Jackson, Board of Education Chairperson Darlynn Oxendine and Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen.

Teachers will be trained on specific skills to utilize virtual reality technology in the delivery of their individual content areas. Wikis, blogs and an e-lesson repository will be constructed to allow teachers to share and collaborate as they train and implement new strategies. Business and industry partners will engage with our Career and Technical Education program teachers to develop a functional profile of the worker needed to support their industry. These skills and attributes will be embedded in the core competencies and outcomes of each learning module. Students will have direct interaction with virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) software to enhance their level of knowledge, understanding and application of science, career and technology course work.

“This partnership with Golden Leaf represents a game-changing opportunity for our schools, our students and most of all our community,” said Superintendent Anthony Jackson. “Implementation of the zSpace technology, along with the high quality professional development and support from our partners at the Friday Institute, will ensure our students are both future ready and workforce prepared. Once this project is fully implemented, Vance County will have the largest and most robust deployment of this cutting-edge technology in the state and potentially the country. We are indeed fortunate. I would like to thank the Golden Leaf Foundation, the Board of Education and especially our County Administrator and Board of County Commissioners for their support of this initiative.”

“Using artificial intelligence and virtual reality is a major part of the world of work today,” said Dr. Cindy Bennett, assistant superintendent for Student Support Services and Strategic Planning. “Students in Vance County Schools deserve the opportunity to experience firsthand the world today and the possibilities of tomorrow.”

Special Date Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration

/by

— Vance County Schools press release

Special Date Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration

Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration for 2018-2019 is continuing! Our elementary schools have special registration events planned April 16-19. The events are from 1 to 6 p.m. at each of the schools.

The schedule for the school events includes:

Aycock Elementary – Thursday, April 19
Carver Elementary – Thursday, April 19
Clarke Elementary – Thursday, April 19
Dabney Elementary – Wednesday, April 18
E.M. Rollins Elementary – Tuesday, April 17
E.O. Young, Jr. Elementary – Tuesday, April 17
L.B. Yancey Elementary – Tuesday, April 17
New Hope Elementary – Tuesday, April 17
Pinkston Street Elementary – Monday, April 16
Zeb Vance Elementary – Thursday, April 19

Parents registering their children should bring a document with proof of the child’s age (birth certificate, medical record), their immunization record, Social Security card, proof of residence and proof of income. Pre-kindergarten children must be four years old on or before August 31, 2018, and kindergarten children must be five years old on or before August 31, 2018.

Vance County Schools Updates

/by

Terri Hedrick, public information officer for Vance County Schools was recently on air to provide updates on the school system and to discuss upcoming events. These include:

End of the 2017-18 School Year:

The last day of the 2017-2018 school year for all traditional schools will be Friday, June 8, 2018. The Early College High School located on Vance-Granville Community College’s Main Campus will end on Thursday, May 24, 2018. E.M. Rollins Elementary School, Vance County’s only year-round school, will finish on Friday, June 22, 2018.

United Way of Vance County Yard Sale:

The United Way of Vance County, a big supporter of Vance County Schools, will have a yard sale in the parking lot of their new office location at 715 S. Garnett St on Saturday, April 14, 2018, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. The new office is located near the post office in downtown Henderson.

Money raised at the yard sale will support efforts to raise funds for needy families in Vance and Warren counties.

Items for sale include adult’s clothing/shoes, children’s clothing/shoes, children’s toys, office and home furniture, office and school supplies, filing cabinets, storage cabinets and much more.

The United Way will be collecting donated items for the yard sale. Board of Directors members will be at the new United Way Office on S. Garnett St on Friday, April 13, 2018, from 5 p.m. and after to collect donated items.

Vance County Board of Education’s April 2018 Meeting:

The Vance County Board of Education will hold their next monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 16, 2018, in the Board Room of the Administrative Services Center at 1724 Graham Avenue in Henderson.

Dr. Anthony Jackson, superintendent for Vance County Schools, is expected to make recommendations to the Board regarding the recently approved school consolidation plan.

At their March meeting, the Board voted to approve the plan to consolidate the County’s two traditional middle schools and two traditional high schools. As of the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, Eaton-Johnson Middle School and Henderson Middle School will be located in the current Northern Vance High School building. Also happening in August 2018, Northern Vance High School and Southern Vance High School will be located in the current Southern Vance High School building.

This will leave the current Eaton-Johnson Middle School and Henderson Middle School buildings vacant.

The STEM students currently located at Southern Vance High School will remain at that location. This will raise the number of students housed in the Southern Vance building from the current estimate of 900 students to approximately 1,600 students.

Both the consolidated high school and middle school will have a new name, new mascot and new school colors. Students, parents and faculty members will have an input on these decisions, with the Board of Education having the final vote.

Logistics including class changes, cafeteria schedules, traffic patterns, school start and dismissal procedures, the moving of equipment and the protection of previous school archives will all need to be discussed and arranged before the new school year begins.

 

 

 

Home and Garden Show 04/10/18

/by

Vance County Schools 04/09/18

/by

VGCC chapter of Phi Theta Kappa honor society receives awards

/by

— courtesy VGCC

VGCC Phi Theta Kappa chapter President Brenda Ellis of Durham (left) accepts an award for service on behalf of the chapter from Seth June, the outgoing Carolinas Region vice-president for South Carolina, during the convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The Vance-Granville Community College Alpha Sigma Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society recently brought home several awards from a regional gathering.

Attending the Phi Theta Kappa Carolinas Regional Convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C., March 9-11, were VGCC chapter President Brenda Ellis of Durham, chapter Vice President of Leadership Pamela Campbell of Littleton and chapter advisor Maureen Walters, who teaches English at the college. The Carolinas Region includes 84 Phi Theta Kappa chapters at two-year colleges in North Carolina and South Carolina. Students and advisors at the convention enjoyed a variety of educational seminars, guest speakers, social activities, elections of regional officers and award presentations.

Tiffiny Wolf (left), outgoing secretary for the Carolinas Region of Phi Theta Kappa, presents an award recognizing VGCC’s chapter with “three stars” to chapter Vice President Pamela Campbell of Littleton, during the convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

VGCC received three awards of excellence. The chapter was presented with the Carolinas Region service project award for outstanding participation in a “Carolinas Read to Succeed” project, which in VGCC’s case was an effort to collect school supplies and books for children in grades K-12 who are affected by domestic violence.

VGCC was further recognized as a “three-star” level chapter for its community service, the involvement of its members and its efforts at leadership development. Alpha Sigma Chi was one of only two three-star chapters recognized this year in the Carolinas.

Finally, chapter advisor Maureen Walters received the “Horizon Award” for her work in developing the chapter and demonstrating dedication to the mission of Phi Theta Kappa. “Not only did we have a great time at the convention, but we also put VGCC on the map for Phi Theta Kappa,” Walters said, regarding the three honors.

VGCC Phi Theta Kappa chapter advisor Maureen Walters (left) accepts the “Horizon Award” from Ricky Swing, outgoing president for the Carolinas Region, during the convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society for students of two-year colleges. VGCC students honored with induction into PTK must have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5 in associate degree curriculum programs and have completed at least 12 credit hours toward their degrees. Since VGCC’s chapter of PTK was chartered in 1991, more than 1,900 students have joined. For more information, contact Maureen Walters at 252-738-3406 or waltersm@vgcc.edu.

–VGCC–

VGCC Hosting CCP Information Sessions for High School Students and Parents

/by

— courtesy VGCC

VGCC Hosting CCP Information Sessions for High School Students and Parents

Vance-Granville Community College has scheduled a series of sessions offering information for high school students and their parents on the “Career & College Promise” (CCP) program. CCP allows eligible students to earn college credits towards a college degree, diploma or certificate while still in high school, without having to pay college tuition.

Attendees will learn about the requirements of the program and the steps to apply for admission in CCP. This information will help students prepare to enroll and register for classes in the upcoming Summer Term and Fall Semester at Vance-Granville.

These information sessions will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. on these dates: Tuesday, April 10, at the Main Campus near Henderson (Building 8, Conference Room); Thursday, April 12, at South Campus between Butner and Creedmoor (Room G1131); Tuesday, April 17 at Warren County Campus in Warrenton (Building 4, Room W4103); and Thursday, April 19, at Franklin Campus, just outside Louisburg (Multipurpose Room, F4101).

VGCC’s Career & College Promise pathways lead to students acquiring entry-level job skills and/or credits that transfer to four-year universities. Students who select the College Transfer (CT) option will take general education courses that transfer seamlessly to any of the 16 public universities in the University of North Carolina system or participating private colleges or universities. VGCC currently offers two CT Pathways with a prescribed set of courses: the Associate in Arts and the Associate in Science.

VGCC’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) Pathways allow students to potentially earn certificates in more than 20 areas, including: Administrative Assistant, Heating & Air, Bioprocess, Business Management, Carpentry, Cosmetology, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Early Childhood, Electronics Engineering, Information Technology, Medical Office Administration, Paralegal, Robotics, and Simulation & Game Development; and diplomas in Carpentry, Electrical Systems, Information Technology, Paralegal and Welding.

Students and parents from anywhere in the four-county service area are invited to attend the Career & College Promise meeting of their choice and are not limited to attending the campus in their county.

For more information, contact Reba Bullock at (252) 738-3525 or bullockr@vgcc.edu. The CCP contacts for each county are:

· Vance County: Evangeline Mitchell, mitchell@vgcc.edu or 252-738-3289;

· Granville: Reba Bullock, bullockr@vgcc.edu or 252-738-3525;

· Franklin: Evelyn Hall, halle@vgcc.edu or 252-738-3611; and

· Warren: Faye Goode, goodef@vgcc.edu or 252-738-3594.

More information on the CCP program, including a Pathway Guide, is available at www.vgcc.edu/HighSchoolStudents/index.

– VGCC –

Vance County Middle and High School Consolidation Update 3-28-18

/by

By: Kelly Bondurant, Freelance Writer/Editor for Hire

The Vance County Board of Education’s recent approval of the school system’s proposed consolidation plan will result in the combining of Eaton-Johnson and Henderson middle schools and Northern Vance and Southern Vance high schools for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year.

The consolidated middle schools will be housed in the current Northern Vance High School building, while the consolidated high schools will be housed in the current Southern Vance High School facility.

In the planning stages of the consolidation proposal, school system administrators initially discussed a completion date of 2018-2019 for the middle school consolidation, with the high school consolidation to follow in 2019-2020.

According to Terri Hedrick, public information officer for Vance County Schools, feedback from the public at the multiple community meetings held over the last three months indicated the majority of participants favored consolidating the schools all at once and as soon as possible.

When the consolidated schools open their doors this August for the new school year, the middle school is expected to have approximately 840 students, while the high school’s population will be close to 1,350.

As for the names of the consolidated schools, Hedrick says the school system will seek student and community input. “With extensive input from students, parents and school staff members, consideration to the names, mascots and school colors of the new middle school and the new high school will be decided over the coming weeks,” said Hedrick. “We especially will seek the opinions of the current middle and high school students.”

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) has recently ruled that the consolidated high school will remain in the Northern Carolina 1A/2A Conference and compete at the 2A level for the 2018-2019 school year. The school will be considered for placement in a conference of the classification in which its enrollment applies for the 2019-2020 school year and beyond at the NCHSAA Board of Directors meeting in December. The most likely scenario for the 2019-2020 school year will see the new consolidated high school competing at the 3A level as a member of the Big East 3A.

Future use of the vacated middle school buildings will be discussed by Vance County Board of Education members, with information provided by school system administrative officials. According to Hedrick, by state law, the board of education must first decide if it has any use for the buildings. If the board decides it does not have a use for the property, then the buildings will be offered to Vance County officials. If Vance County officials have no use for the buildings, they will revert back to the board of education, which can then make the decision to sell the property.

One area that is expected to remain fairly unchanged after the consolidation is school bus transportation. “The bus routes should have minimal changes. We anticipate keeping the same number of buses. Our buses already cover each half of the county for the middle and high schools [students share buses]. This isn’t likely to change,” Hedrick said.

The school system also anticipates that very few currently occupied jobs will be eliminated due to the consolidations. “As we reported in our public meetings about the consolidation proposal, we expect that no more than 20 jobs will be eliminated,” said Hedrick. “Many of these are already vacant positions, especially for teaching positions. We have staff turnover each school year and we expect that again this year.”

Dr. Anthony Jackson, superintendent of Vance County Schools, will provide a detailed consolidation implementation plan to the board at its April meeting. The consolidation planning process is being led by Dr. Jackson and senior staff administrators for the school system. Current principals and other administrators of the affected middle and high schools are also directly involved in the planning process.

The next Vance County Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, April 16, 2018, at 7 p.m. in the Board Room of the Administrative Services Center at 1724 Graham Avenue in Henderson.

Home and Garden Show 03/27/18

/by

VGCC to hold event aimed at homeschoolers

/by

— courtesy VGCC

VGCC to hold event aimed at homeschoolers

Vance-Granville Community College, in partnership with The College at Southeastern, will soon hold an information session specifically designed for high school-aged homeschoolers and homeschooling parents. The event, called “Generation Connect,” is scheduled for Tuesday, April 3, 2018, from 1-3:30 p.m., in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County.

Attendees will learn about the educational opportunities available at both institutions, and the unique partnership that VGCC and The College at Southeastern have recently formed. The colleges will be helping students (at any age) who want to enroll at both institutions at the same time, in order to maximize their career options.

Vance-Granville offers more than 40 degree, diploma, and certificate programs to prepare students for further education or to enter a career directly after graduation. Students will find opportunities through programs in business, computer science, construction, education, engineering, health sciences, human services, industrial technologies, law and public safety, public services and transportation technologies. The college operates four campuses, one each in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties, while also providing unique online opportunities, with six degrees available totally online.

The College at Southeastern began in 1994 as an undergraduate school of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, located in Wake Forest. The Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees at Southeastern consist of a core curriculum which includes vital training in biblical studies, Christian worldview, world history, theology and English. In addition to their selected Bachelor of Arts major, all students complete a minor in Christian studies with the option of adding a second minor in their area of interest. For students on a Bachelor of Science track, all students have the option of transferring in credits from an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree, dual-enrolling in a vocational program at another institution like VGCC, or completing the business minor.

For more information and to RSVP for the information session, contact VGCC TechHire Project Manager Ken Wilson at wilsonk@vgcc.edu or 252-738-3259.

–VGCC–

(This is not a paid advertisement)