Warren County High Class of ’97 20th Reunion Dedicated to GiveBackPacks

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by Craig Hahn, Executive Director of The Chamber of Commerce of Warren County

Help the WCHS Class of ’97 Celebrate Their 20th Reunion Donations to GiveBackPacks

You never know where you’re going to uncover another treasure or worthy cause here in Warren County…and Saturday gave me the opportunity to uncover a great project. I met Rachel Perkinson Dickens, a graduate of the WCHS Class of 1997. To help celebrate their 20th Reunion this year, instead of planning a trip somewhere, they decided to give to their home County with GiveBackPacks. Here are the pertinent details…

Did YOU know?

North Carolina has one of the highest hunger rates in America. More than 1 in 4 children in North Carolina struggle with hunger. Hungry children have trouble concentrating, get sick more often, and are less likely to perform well on athletic fields and in classrooms.

How CAN you help?

Join the Warren County High School Class of 1997 to reach our goal of packing 200 GiveBackPacks. Each GiveBackPack provides easy-open, ready-to-eat food and school supplies. The packs will be distributed through the elementary schools to Warren County children in need.

What DO you do?

● Follow the instructions provided to make a GiveBackPack

● Donate school supplies or food items and bring them to designated drop-off locations.

● Make a monetary donation and let us put together a GiveBackPack for you. You can sponsor one pack for $35.

● Ask your business, church, or community organization to get involved.

How to Make a GiveBackPack:

Start with a backpack & add some of these:

● Glue Sticks

● Crayola markers

● Crayons

● #2 pencils

● Wide-ruled notebook paper

● Spiral bound notebook

● Erasers

And fill it up with these:

● Soup

● Dried fruit

● Peanut butter

● Whole grain cereal/granola bars

● Canned tuna, chicken, or beans

● Mac & cheese, rice, whole grain pasta

● Fruit cups in light syrup or applesauce cups

● 100% fruit juice boxes or shelf-stable box milk

● Spaghetti & Meatballs, Ravioli, Beefaroni, Lasagna

Bring it Here:

BB&T, Warrenton

Demond Andrews Barbershop

4 Girls and A Comb Salon

Tarheel Tire

Whistle Stop Cafe

or participating area churches *Collecting filled packs and donations through August 14, 2017

VGCC students inducted into honor society

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Vance-Granville Community College recognized 75 students who were inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for students of two-year colleges, on April 18 in the Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus. VGCC students honored with induction into Phi Theta Kappa 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.

As advisors for VGCC’s PTK chapter, instructors Olu Ariyo, Isaac Talley and Maureen Walters conducted the ceremony. Walters, the head advisor, told the new inductees and their families and friends in attendance that since VGCC’s chapter of PTK, “Alpha Sigma Chi,” was chartered in 1991, more than 1,900 students have been selected for induction. She said that while scholarship is the first aim of PTK, the society also encourages fellowship, leadership development and service to others, and she noted that the letters Phi Theta Kappa stand for the Greek words for “Wisdom,” “Aspiration” and “Purity.”

Serving as guest speaker for the ceremony was Danny Wright of Henderson, a retired Vance County commissioner and the current chair of the VGCC Board of Trustees. “On behalf of the trustees, we salute you for your accomplishments and achievements,” Wright said. “The most important element of a democratic society is the education of its citizens. The greatest anti-poverty program this country has ever administered is a good education. The foundation for any nation to become a peaceful, ordered society is the education of its people. Each of you has demonstrated how much you value and how much you believe in education, so you are well on your way.” Education, he noted, does not, in and of itself, make students better people. “Life is a constant exercise in self-improvement,” Wright said, and the most important thing in life is the cultivation of relationships. “Technical competency alone is not enough to achieve career success,” he added, but rather, students must develop their interpersonal skills as well.

This year’s inductees into the Alpha Sigma Chi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa are:

From Franklin County

Rebekah Glasheen, Christopher Plumley, Charles Sawyer and Mya Wilson, all of Franklinton;

Madison Waddle of Kittrell;

Loganne Driver, Michael Gokee, Katelyn Jensen, Mark Meinhart, Katlyn Riley and Charmaine Sutton, all of Louisburg;

Hope Crute, Skylar Davenport, Jordan Dowdy, Lindsay Henry and Sydney Venezia, all of Youngsville.

 

From Granville County

 

Jordan  Ligon and Katie Weary, both of Bullock;

Debra Duncan of Butner;

Caitlyn Good, Carlos Matinote, June Matinote, Sara Reid, Martin Spencer and Hunter Thompson, all of Creedmoor;

Cedric Rodebaugh of Franklinton;

Cecilia   Barrenechea, Nicole Bowman, April Brogden, Larecia Bullock, Kristel Dehart, Timothy Farley, Keodric Grant, Aaron McNeill, Sharon Ray, Francis Scotland, Sydney Towers, Alana Towles, Johnathan Williamson and Ymani Yancey, all of Oxford;

Alex Jackson of Stem;

Kellyann Cook of Stovall.

 

From Vance County

 

Lauren  Beauchamp, Angela Burrell, Anthony Henderson, Victoria Inscoe, Jacquella Jones, Lindsey Perry, Katelynn Ray, Janet Rodriguez-Morales, Fatima Saleh, Melissa Simmons, April Thompson,

Bailee Tippett, Makala West and Shanetta Wright, all of Henderson;

Beverly Ellis, Renee Jackson, Leslie Leake and Allison Long, all of Kittrell.

 

From Warren County

 

Shima’a Hauter of Norlina;

Ellen Denning, Nubia Lockett, Amanda Miller, Raina Mills, Rowan Morris, Daniel O’Malley, Hannah Ortiz and Joshua Taylor, all of Warrenton.

 

From Wake County

David Jeanblanc and Charles Keith, both of Raleigh;

Kathryn Catlett of Zebulon.

From other counties

Joshua Jacobs of Durham;

Brian Stevenson of Gastonia;

Brianna Lynch of Hollister.

Boys & Girls Clubs Name Club Members of the Month

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Meet Chris Blue 


Chris is the North Central North Carolina Region’s Youth of the Year for 2016 and 2017!
Chris grew up in Henderson and became a member of the Vance County Unit at a young age and is getting ready to graduate from high school and heading off to college. He will leave high school with two Associate degrees as well as his diploma. Currently he’s mulling offers between Fayetteville State University, UNC Greensboro, and UNC Charlotte. We are so proud of Chris and the amazing young man he has become.

Meet Nyree


Nyree is 8 years old and has been a member of the Franklin County Boys & Girls Club for one year. She is a 3rd grader and enjoys drawing and building with Legos. Nyree’s favorite subject in school is math and her favorite book is Geronimo Stilton. Nyree’s favorite video game is Super Mario Bros. and her favorite game to play at The Boys & Girls Club is dodgeball. Her favorite thing about the Boys & Girls Club is the awesome people and the awesome staff. She hopes to grow up and work as a staff at the club one day!

Meet Terrance


Terrance  is a club member at the Mariam Boyd Extension of the Warren Unit! He is an exceptional young man, always willing to help other club members and staff.  Very respectful and a model club member! He was chosen to be featured by club staff as member of the month! Terrance is a great joy to be around and admired by his peers.

Meet Lucas


Lucas is the member of the month at the Halifax Unit! Lucas is a first grader and the oldest of three boys. His favorite color is blue and favorite subject at school is math. Lucas loves karate and computer games, but his favorite thing to do is spend time with his family. When asked what is his favorite food, he said “anything my momma is making.” Lucas is the son of Clarissa and Christopher. You can see why Lucas is our member of the month!

Meet Landon


Landon is the Granville County Boys & Girls Club member of the month! He has been a member since August 2016 & has loved every second! He is in 3rd grade & very active in the club. His favorite activity at the club is Triple Play Dodgeball. He also enjoys hanging out with his buddies and eating snack. We are proud of Landon for representing us this month. He was chosen because he is often seen around the club completing random acts of kindness. He is always helping others & showing good character!

VGCC, Warren Library partner for discussion of Tennessee Williams & “The Glass Menagerie”

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Vance-Granville Community College is partnering with the Warren County Memorial Library to present a program on playwright Tennessee Williams and his classic drama, “The Glass Menagerie,” which the college is preparing to stage as a dinner theater event.

The educational program is scheduled for Monday, April 17, from 10:30 a.m. until noon at the library on South Front Street in Warrenton. The event is free and open to the public. Betsy Henderson, VGCC’s Department Chair/Instructor of Humanities and Fine Arts, will make a presentation and lead a discussion on Williams (1911–1983) and the play, including its poetic elements, in celebration of April as National Poetry Month.

Henderson will also talk about VGCC’s upcoming production of “The Glass Menagerie,” which she is directing. The college’s fifth annual Dinner Theater is scheduled for the evenings of Thursday, April 27, and Friday, April 28, in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County.

First staged in 1944, “The Glass Menagerie” is based in part on Tennessee Williams’s own memories of his family. In 1945, the play premiered on Broadway, won the prestigious New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for the best American play of the year, and launched Williams to fame.

Henderson has an MFA in Acting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi. She was VGCC’s 2005 Instructor of the Year. As an actress, Henderson has worked professionally with Raleigh Ensemble Players (REP), Deep Dish Theatre Company, Burning Coal Theatre Company, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Theatre of the American South, Hot Summer Nights @ the Kennedy, Temple Theatre, and Justice Theatre Project. Henderson has toured nationally with productions of “Miracle Worker,” portraying Annie Sullivan, and “Diary of Anne Frank,” portraying Mrs. Frank. Her performance in REP’s “Distracted” in 2011 was recognized by the Independent Weekly as one of the Best Lead Performances of the year. Henderson has served on local theatre boards of directors, and as a faculty member for Cary’s Applause Youth Theatre. She is currently vice-chair of the board of directors of Granville Little Theatre, as well as the chair of the GLT education committee. She has also been the Creative Director for the Broadway and Beyond/TeenWorks summer camps for 10 years.

For more information, contact Betsy Henderson at hendersonb@vgcc.edu or David Spence at davidspence@warrencountync.gov.

–VGCC–

Computer-aided drafting course offered at VGCC

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Vance-Granville Community College has scheduled a “CAD with Solid Edge” course, to be held Monday through Thursday, April 3 through May 25, on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. Students will choose to take the course on one of two different schedules: 9 a.m. until noon, or 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Solid Edge is a Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) software program, produced by Siemens, which is used in a variety of industries, including advanced manufacturing.

This course introduces students to the three-dimensional solid modeling and design software. Topics include design sketching, basic three-dimensional design considerations and techniques, model creation, model editing, model rendering, analysis of solid models and creation of multi-view drawings. Upon completion, students should be able to use design techniques to sketch, model, edit, and render 3D models and generate multi-view 2D drawings. Students will learn how to create and print 2D drawings from 3D solid models and send solid models to a 3D printer.

The instructor for the course is Peter M. Robinson.

Students may become certified through Siemens upon passing the credentialing exam.

The cost of this course is $187 plus the cost of textbooks and the exam.

Registration can be completed online at www.vgcc.edu/oex or in person at any VGCC campus. The deadline to register is March 28. For more information, contact VGCC at oex@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3324.

–VGCC–

Couldn’t get enough of the 3rd President? VGCC to welcome back “Thomas Jefferson”

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A series of lectures at Vance-Granville Community College by Bill Barker, in character as President Thomas Jefferson, were so popular in 2016 that the college’s Endowment Fund is bringing him back to the community.

Barker will speak as Jefferson on the “Freedom for Religion” in the VGCC Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County on Monday, March 20, at 11 a.m.

Then, he will present “Mr. Jefferson on Food and Wine” at the same location on Monday, March 27, at 11 a.m. The VGCC Culinary Arts department will provide refreshments for the occasion.

Both of the talks are different from the well-received presentations that he made at VGCC in 2016, which touched on science, the Constitution and slavery.

This year’s hour-long presentations, which include time for questions from the audience, are free and open to the public.

Barker has portrayed Thomas Jefferson in a variety of venues since his first appearance at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1984. He has received critical acclaim as the resident “Mr. Jefferson” at Colonial Williamsburg, Va., since 1993.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, his interest in Thomas Jefferson reaches back to his youth. He enjoys researching the American world Jefferson knew with an interest in the role this Founding Father played and continues to play in our American identity. Barker has a local connection, as his father was an Oxford native and he has many relatives in Granville County.

Barker received a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in history, from Villanova University. Attracted to the stage at an early age, he became a professional actor, director and producer. He was cast as Jefferson in the musical, 1776. Barker is the same height, weight and general appearance as Mr. Jefferson. When Barker spoke at VGCC in 2016, David Wyche, the college’s English department chair, remarked, “Short of time travel, this is as close as we can come to meeting the man himself.”

He has performed as Jefferson at the White House, the Palace of Versailles and throughout the United States, Great Britain, France and even on the Las Vegas Strip. He appeared as the Founding Father in programs that aired on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, The History Channel, and C-SPAN.

For more information on the Thomas Jefferson programs, call VGCC Endowment Director Eddie Ferguson at (252) 738-3264.

–VGCC–

New members join VGCC endowment board

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The Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund Board of Directors recently welcomed four new members. They include Tanya Evans of Timberlake, Ronnie Goswick of Franklinton, Katharine Macon Horner of Durham and Marshall Tanner of Oxford.

“We are delighted to welcome these leaders to our Endowment board, and we appreciate their commitment to supporting our students and our mission,” said Dr. Stelfanie Williams, president of VGCC.

The board of directors oversees the Endowment Fund Corporation, a nonprofit organization established in 1976 to seek and receive scholarship funds and other contributions for the college.

Evans is a district manager in Duke Energy’s government and community relations department. She is responsible for external relations, issue management, community involvement and corporate contributions for the company’s northeast region, which covers Caswell, Person, Granville, Vance, Warren, Franklin, Edgecombe, Nash, Wilson and Halifax counties. Duke Energy has established numerous scholarships for VGCC students and awarded several grants to the college over the years. Evans has a degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Goswick is the director of business and economic development at Carolina Sunrock, based in Raleigh. The company is a longtime supporter of the college and has endowed a VGCC scholarship in its name. Goswick served for 25 years in local government with Franklin County and the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments as an economic development director. He is also a former Franklin County commissioner and member of the Town of Franklinton Board of Commissioners. Goswick is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in business.

Horner is a Henderson native who graduated from Atlantic Christian College (today known as Barton College) with a degree in health and physical education and from Wilson County Technical Institute (today known as Wilson Community College) with an associate degree in nursing. She retired after a lengthy, varied career in health care, having spent many years working as a nurse at Duke Medical Center. Horner has endowed two scholarships at VGCC in memory of her parents and grandparents.

Tanner spent his career in the manufacturing sector, retiring in 2010 as a vice president of Bridgestone Bandag, another company that has supported the VGCC Endowment Fund for many years and endowed a scholarship in its name. He managed plants for that company in Iowa and Georgia before finally moving to its Oxford location. Tanner earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial management at Georgia Tech. Active in his community, he received the John Penn Citizen of the Year Award in 2003 from the Granville County Chamber of Commerce.

The four new additions join current Endowment Fund board members Robert L. Hubbard (the vice-chair), Julius Banzet III, Sarah Baskerville, Rep. James W. Crawford, Jr., Dr. Ben F. Currin, Clay Frazier, L. Opie Frazier, Jr., Rev. Dr. Richard M. Henderson, Darryl Moss, T.S. Royster, Jr., Donald C. Seifert, Sr., Josh Towne and Todd Wemyss. As president of VGCC, Dr. Stelfanie Williams chairs the board.

Through the Endowment Fund, VGCC has awarded more than 8,800 scholarships to students since 1982. Scholarships have been endowed by numerous individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education. For more information about the Endowment Fund, call (252) 738-3409.

–VGCC–

VGCC announces Small Business Summit; fitness entrepreneur to keynote

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The Vance-Granville Community College Small Business Center has scheduled its fifth Small Business Summit for Thursday, April 6, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., at the Warren County Armory Civic Center in Warrenton.

The event, presented by CenturyLink, is free of charge. Local partners helping to organize the summit are the Chamber of Commerce of Warren County, the Warren County Economic Development Commission and the Lake Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center.

Business representatives and interested members of the community are invited to attend. Registration is now open at tinyurl.com/warrenton-summit.

With the theme “Driving Your Business: Staying Ahead of the Curves,” the event will include interactive sessions on innovative marketing practices for small businesses, using Google, mobile apps and Facebook.

Tammy Crowley-Deloatch, a nationally certified personal trainer and president of New Day Fitness in Roanoke Rapids, will be the keynote speaker. She has been an award-winning entrepreneur for 30 years, building her business from a 1,200-square-foot facility to an 18,000-square-foot facility over the last 10 years and opening a second business, New Day Health and Wellness Studio. Crowley-Deloatch is a graduate of East Carolina University with a passion for both fitness and leadership. Her inspiring lunchtime presentation will be entitled “Put Your Dreams to the Test.”

Lunch will be provided free of charge to the first 100 registered participants by CenturyLink. For more information, contact VGCC Small Business Center Director Tanya Weary at (252) 738-3240 or smallbusiness@vgcc.edu.

–VGCC–

VGCC information session to spotlight health programs

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Vance-Granville Community College will hold a Health Care Programs Information Session on Wednesday, March 15, at noon, in Room G1131 on the college’s South Campus, located between Creedmoor and Butner.

Information will be available about curriculum programs in Radiography, Histotechnology, Pharmacy Technology, Medical Assisting, Human Services Technology, Medical Office Administration and Medical Office Administration – Coding Specialist, along with Continuing Education programs such as Health Unit Coordinator and Nurse Aide.

The session is open to anyone interested in exploring opportunities in such programs, including current VGCC students and high school students considering college options.

After receiving information about VGCC, attendees will tour the curriculum programs that are based at South Campus: Human Services Technology, which trains students for entry-level jobs in the helping professions and includes special degree tracks in Gerontology and in Substance Abuse; and Radiography, the degree program that prepares graduates to skilled health care professionals who use radiation to produce images of the human body.

Histotechnology, VGCC’s newest curriculum program, provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare tissue specimens for microscopic examination using various stains and dyes to identify tissue and cell structures. The program is based at VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County.

Pharmacy Technology, also based at Main Campus, trains pharmacy technicians for positions in hospitals, nursing homes, private and chain drug stores, research laboratories, wholesale drug companies and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. The program offers both a diploma and an associate degree option.

Medical Assisting, based at the college’s Franklin County Campus, prepares multi-skilled health care professionals qualified to perform administrative, clinical and laboratory procedures. That program also offers both a diploma and a two-year degree.

Medical Office Administration prepares individuals for employment in medical and other health-care-related offices. Both a general and a Coding Specialist degree track are offered, along with Medical Coding Specialist and Medical Transcription Specialist certificates.

Continuing education programs like Nurse Aide, Medication Aide, Phlebotomy, Medical Office Assistant and Health Unit Coordinator offer short-term training and are offered at various locations throughout the year.

For more information, contact Dean of Health Sciences Angela Thomas at (252) 738-3397 or thomasa@vgcc.edu.

–VGCC–

VGCC awards top academic honor to Ivy League-bound student

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Vance-Granville Community College has named student Paul Caroline of Louisburg as its recipient of the North Carolina Community College System’s Academic Excellence Award for 2017. One student from each of the 58 colleges in the state system is honored with the award each year.

Caroline will be officially recognized at Commencement in May, when he is scheduled to graduate from the college with both an Associate in Arts degree and an Associate in Science degree. That same month, Caroline will graduate from Franklin County Early College High School. This is the second year in a row that the VGCC Academic Excellence Award has gone to a student at FCECHS.

The college partners with four Early College high school programs, one in each county of the VGCC service area. As Caroline has done, students typically finish the program in five years, simultaneously earning high school diplomas and college degrees, or up to two years of college-transferable credits.

In an essay that he wrote for the award nomination, Caroline put his academic experience into its historical context. “For my family, education has always been a privilege,” he wrote. “In the early twentieth century, laws prohibited my great-grandmother and many other African American students from advancing to the twelfth grade and earning a high school diploma. Since then, each new generation has attested to a strong commitment to the pursuit of educational opportunity.”

Caroline added that “education opens doors to a better life, and one of the greatest thresholds I have crossed on my journey thus far is the iconic archway of Vance-Granville Community College.”

He described the support he has received from faculty members at both the high school and the college as “transformative.” Caroline said that he found that learning “not only yields the power to better oneself, but the world as a whole.” He took the “Vanguard spirit” and VGCC’s commitment to students to heart, he said, by helping others as a Peer Tutor through the college’s Academic Skills Center, starting at the age of 17.

After he graduates, Caroline is set to study Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, the prestigious Ivy League institution, with a full QuestBridge scholarship, which he described as “a first” for his community. “In my personal journey, Vance-Granville Community College has been a stepping-stone to making an Ivy League education possible,” Caroline said.

His twin brother, Peter, is also a Franklin County Early College High School student. Peter is likewise set to graduate with both an Associate in Arts degree and an Associate in Science degree from VGCC and will continue his education at Stanford University with a full QuestBridge scholarship.

“Paul’s hard work and dedication to excellence have earned him a place among the top community college students in North Carolina,” said Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of VGCC. “He is an outstanding representative of both Vance-Granville and Franklin County Early College High School, and we know he will continue to make us proud as a student at one of our country’s elite institutions of higher learning.”

–VGCC–