Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews
Vance Co. Commissioner Brummitt Says Fire Plan to Create, Not Cut, Paid Positions
Vance County Commissioner Dan Brummitt, a 12-year representative of District 4, was on Tuesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss plans to improve response time to fires and emergencies in the county.
Working with a fire plan crafted by the Vance County Board of Commissioners approximately seven years ago, Brummitt said several “tweaks” have been made over the years to better serve residents.
“We’ve put paid firefighters in during the day in Bearpond, Hicksboro and Townsville [fire departments] and are looking at putting paid staff in all of the volunteer fire departments on a part-time basis,” said Brummitt.
According to Brummitt, the County’s new CAD software will allow for faster and more accurate tracking of calls and response time. “With the new system, we can identify specifically what kind of calls we receive and where they are occurring so we can more accurately predict behaviors and put people in the right place to ensure quicker response times.”
The Board’s Public Safety Committee hopes to have an approved proposal to take before the full Vance County Board of Commissioners this fall. “We hope to have more accurate numbers after three months or so of data collection with the CAD system before we present the plan.”
While Brummitt was thankful to the various fire departments and the Volunteer Association for their feedback and support of the plan to monitor calls and redistribute firefighters where needed, he admitted unemployment rumors have created concern. “There has been apprehension that people were going to lose their jobs. We’ve been very deliberate from the beginning of the process to ensure that no person is going to lose their job.”
“You may not wake up in the same fire department that you’re in now, but your job is not going away,” said Brummitt. On the contrary, Brummitt said payroll could increase if current unpaid volunteer work becomes paid part-time employment.
Brummitt reiterated that nothing is set in stone and that commissioners are still developing the plan and receiving input from the community. He also stated that any previous plans presented or reported are simply concept plans and not a final, approved version.
“We are still developing the plan, still receiving input from professionals, volunteers and the community; all input will go into developing the plan. It is a totally open process.”
Brummitt believes all of the input and restructuring of the current fire plan will pay off if citizens in Vance County are better protected in emergency situations. “The end-all is that we want to get quicker with response time to people out in the county and we’re working on that now.”
Rebuilding Hope, Inc. Giving Away 4,000 Pencils
-Information courtesy the Rebuilding Hope, Inc. August 2018 newsletter
Rebuilding Hope, Inc. (RHI) has 4,000 pencils to give away. If you need pencils for your classes or projects, please call (252) 438-5132.
The pencils, which are not sharpened, were donated to RHI. Printed on them are the names of various businesses and organizations that ordered too many.
Perry Memorial Library Announces Fall Schedule for Youth Programs
-Information courtesy the Perry Memorial Library website
Perry Memorial Library, 205 Breckenridge St., Henderson, announces their fall lineup of youth programs. Fall programs run September 17 – November 29, 2018, and include:
Totally Tweens – Ages 8 – 12, Mondays @ 5 p.m.
Story Explorers – Ages 5 – 11. Tuesdays @ 5 p.m.
Books & Babies – Ages Birth – 2, Thursdays @ 10:45 a.m.
Mother Goose Storytime – Ages 2 – 5, Thursdays @ 11 a.m.
LEGO Fun Club – Ages 5 – 13, Thursdays @ 4 p.m.
August is program planning month for the library; youth programs resume Monday, September 17.
West End Community Watch to Hear from Maria Parham, Tues., Aug. 21
Information courtesy Claire Catherwood, West End Community Watch
The West End Community Watch will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 21, 2018. This group always meets in the Fellowship Hall of the West End Baptist Church, 619 Dabney Dr., Henderson. All are invited, regardless of where they live.
The speaker for the evening will be a representative of the management of Maria Parham Health. As usual, police will be present to give recent police activity reports and hear concerns from those present.
Please write it on your calendar and plan to attend. All are welcome.
Joy In The Lord Baptist to Hold Gospel Singing, Sat., Aug. 18
-Information courtesy Rev. L.T. Harris, Joy In The Lord Baptist Church
Joy In The Lord Baptist Church will hold a gospel singing featuring “The Oak Grove Boys & Stephanie” from Elm City, NC.
on Saturday, August 18, 2018, at 6 p.m.
The church is located at 1238 Debnam Ave., Henderson, NC.
Everyone is welcome.
VGCC Joins Achieving the Dream to Improve Student Success
-Press Release, ATD Network and Vance-Granville Community College
Vance-Granville Community College today announced it has joined Achieving the Dream (ATD), a network of more than 220 colleges in 41 states dedicated to improving student success.
As an ATD Network institution, VGCC will innovate to implement, align, and scale cutting-edge reforms, work with ATD coaches to build institutional capacity and connect with peers to foster learning and share information, according to college and ATD officials.
“We are already making a difference in the lives of students,” said Dr. Levy Brown, Vance-Granville’s vice president of academic affairs. “Now as a college, it is time to take the next step in our work to improve student learning and success.” Dr. Brown is the leader of the college’s ATD Core Team.
Dr. Joanne Bashford, left, and Dr. Linda Hagedorn of Achieving the Dream make a presentation to Vance-Granville Community College’s administration, faculty and staff at the college’s fall convocation in the Civic Center on Main Campus. VGCC today announced it has joined the network of more than 220 colleges in 41 states dedicated to improving student success. (VGCC Photo)
“The strength of local and regional economies, our ability to rebuild the middle class, and the possibility that a new generation will achieve their goals depends on community colleges,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream. “Colleges that join the ATD Network show an exceptional commitment to becoming the kind of institution that will lead the nation into the future.”
“Achieving the Dream will serve to accelerate and advance Vance-Granville’s ongoing efforts to assist students in achieving their goals,” said Dr. Gordon Burns, VGCC’s interim president. “Participating in Achieving the Dream with its holistic approach to student success will result in Vance-Granville identifying college strengths, prioritizing areas needing improvement and systematically determining and implementing actions that will lead to greater numbers of students and graduates achieving their personal and career goals.”
ATD offers a capacity-building framework and companion self-assessment that allow colleges to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement across seven institutional capacities in areas such as leadership and vision, teaching and learning, and data and technology.
With the capacity framework as a guide, ATD’s approach integrates and aligns existing college success efforts and offers valuable support in preparing for accreditation, fostering conversation about goals, and making bold, holistic institution-wide changes because initiatives that don’t reach most of a college’s student body have not shown strong results.
A team from Vance-Granville and teams from the other colleges joining ATD this year met in June to plan for the launch of their ATD work, which will initially focus on student learning and success.
Dr. Joanne Bashford and Dr. Linda Hagedorn were on VGCC’s Main Campus on Thursday and Friday to meet with the Core Team, administration, staff and faculty for Vance-Granville’s launch of the initiative. Dr. Bashford serves as a Higher Education Services Consultant and Leadership Coach for ATD. Her career in community colleges spans 25 years and includes serving as the President of Miami Dade College’s InterAmerican Campus, a diverse campus of 19,000 students located in historic Little Havana, until retiring in 2017. Dr. Hagedorn is Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, International Programs, Student Services, Diversity and Equity, and Community Program at Iowa State University and a data coach for ATD. As an Achieving the Dream Data Coach, Dr. Hagedorn has been consulting with community colleges since the initiative’s inception and is currently working with six community colleges.
ATD Network colleges report data using metrics that answer critical questions about who attends college, who succeeds in and after college and how college is financed. To advance goals of social mobility and equity, the metrics provide information on how low-income and other underserved students fare. These metrics are categorized into performance metrics, efficiency metrics and equity metrics at points during the student experience from access through post-college outcomes.
As colleges in the new cohort progress, they may apply to participate in initiatives supported by philanthropic funding and managed by ATD. These initiatives help incubate new ideas that help colleges refine practices based on evidence of what works and allow ATD to disseminate knowledge to the broader network and the field. New initiatives address the challenge of engaging adjunct faculty more deeply as key members of colleges’ workforces and implementing degree programs using only open educational resources (OER).
Achieving the Dream, along with more than 100 experienced coaches and advisors, works closely with ATD Network colleges to reach more than 4 million community college students.