From Terri Hedrick
Public Information Officer
All after school activities for Vance County Schools, including the evening classes at AdVance Academy, have been cancelled for today.
— courtesy VGCC
As the cold winter weather brings to mind the original use for quilts, Vance-Granville Community College’s long-running Quilting program resumes in January, with three 14-week class schedules.
Peggy Stocks of Manson teaches the classes that will meet on Wednesday mornings from 9 a.m. until noon, starting Jan. 10, and on Thursday evenings from 6-9 p.m., starting Jan. 11.
Velvet Boyd of Warrenton, a former student of Stocks, teaches the class that will meet on Wednesday evenings from 6-9 p.m., starting Jan. 24. All the classes are held in Building 5 on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County.
Students come to VGCC from near and far because a Quilting class, particularly one that lasts as long as 14 weeks, can be difficult to find. At a cost of $100, which comes out to less than $2.50 per hour of instruction, the class is also quite affordable.
Stocks has been teaching the art of Quilting for VGCC’s Continuing Education division since 1995. She has been a quilter since 1980. She credits the VGCC Quilting program’s longevity to the fact that many people come back again and again to take the class and continue learning, but adds that beginners are always welcome. “The students who are new get help and inspiration from those who have done it for a long while,” Stocks said. “I just love doing it. I’ve learned from many other people, and I use my experience to teach others. There’s a lot to learn. It’s not as simple as you might think.”
A student works on a quilt in a VGCC classroom.
VGCC Personal Enrichment Coordinator Gail Clark noted that Quilting students benefit from talented instructors. “Peggy focuses on hand-quilting, and many students are able to complete their quilt in a single semester, following her hands-on, personalized instruction,” Clark said. “Peggy’s students also get together to create and donate quilts. Some of her students have entered quilting contests and received ribbons and awards.” Both Boyd’s and Stocks’s quilts have represented VGCC in state community college system art exhibitions, as well. Boyd has been quilting for 20 years and went from taking VGCC Quilting classes to teaching them in the early 2000s. Her students work on a combination of hand quilting and machine stitching.
Stocks said the appeal of a quilting class goes beyond learning skills. “It’s all about taking some time out of your busy schedule to enjoy fellowship with the other students, to be creative and to do something worthwhile – something that doesn’t involve an electronic screen!” she said.
Clark said that men and women of all ages find the classes to be fun, thanks largely to their patient, helpful teachers.
Registration can be completed online at www.vgcc.edu/schedules/personal-enrichment or at any VGCC campus. For more information, contact Gail Clark at (252) 738-3385 or ped@vgcc.edu. VGCC will be closed from Dec. 21, 2017, through Jan. 2, 2018.
–VGCC–
(VGCC is an advertising client of WIZS.)
— courtesy VGCC
Vance-Granville Community College will offer a pair of continuing education courses that provide job training related to the cosmetology industry, starting in January. Both the Natural Hair Care and Manicure/Nail Technician courses are scheduled for Monday-Thursday evenings from 5:30-9:30 p.m., Jan. 8 through June 5, both in Building 3 on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County.
In Natural Hair Care, students will learn about the general sciences and practices specific to infection control, bacteriology, client consultation, twisting the hair, wrapping, blow drying and thermal ironing, extending, locking, business management, and professional ethics in the workplace.
The Manicure/Nail Technician course covers techniques of nail technology, hand and arm, massage, and recognition of nail diseases and disorders. Topics include OSHA/safety, sanitation, bacteriology, product knowledge, salesmanship, manicures, artificial applications, pedicures, massage, and other related topics. Upon completion, students should be able to safely and competently perform nail care, including manicures, pedicures, massage, decorating, and artificial applications in a salon setting and even the best massage bangkok salons.
Students who successfully pass each course will be eligible to take the respective state licensure exam for Natural Hair Care or Manicurist.
The cost of each course is $201.25, plus the cost of the textbook and other applicable fees.
Registration can be completed online at www.vgcc.edu/schedules/occupational-extension-schedule or at any VGCC campus.
For more information, contact Director of Occupational Extension Kyle Burwell at 252-738-3300 or oex@vgcc.edu. VGCC will be closed from Dec. 21, 2017, through Jan. 2, 2018.
–VGCC–
(VGCC is an advertising client of WIZS.)
— 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.
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.
— 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.)
— courtesy Vance County Schools
The custodial teams at L.B. Yancey Elementary School and Henderson Middle School have received awards for having the highest ratings for elementary and middle/high, respectively, in the most recent Vance County Schools inspections. Members of the teams from the schools who were present for recognition at the December 11, Vance County Board of Education meeting are shown in the accompanying photo. They include, from left, Mark Ellis Sr. and Principal Carnetta Thomas, both of L.B. Yancey Elementary School; and Ronnie Watkins, Larry Alston, Peggy Thomas, Susan Baker and Principal John Hargrove, all of Henderson Middle School. (VCS Photo)
