Tag Archive for: #vancecharterschool

SportsTalk: Downey Prepares Vance Charter For Basketball Season

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High school basketball season may not get underway until November, but you can be sure that many of our local players are on the court during the summer prepping for the upcoming season.  Vance Charter Men’s Basketball Coach Taron Downey certainly has his team in the gym now preparing for November. Downey, who was a guest on SportsTalk Thursday, describes the team’s workouts as good. With five or six seniors returning, Downey hopes to advance into the state playoffs this season. Vance Charter finished 15-11 last year, good enough to earn the team its first appearance in the playoffs, but with such a senior laden team, he expects they will go much deeper in the playoffs this season.

Downey, who played his high school ball at J.F. Webb before moving on to Wake Forest and some pro ball says it’s different than when he played. “Social media is the big difference,” Downey said Thursday. Players use social media to promote themselves and highlight what they can do on a basketball court, but Downey adds that nothing beats seeing a player in person. “Social media can just be a highlight reel,” Downey stated. Still, Downey contends its an excellent recruiting tool that was not available to him during his time at J.F. Webb.

Downey feels the area produces some very good basketball players that can go on to college and have successful careers, but being in a rural area can mean that some deserving players go overlooked and once again social media can help with that.  Downey thinks that he has a couple of players who would make good candidates to move up to the next level.

Right now, Downey has Vance Charter moving full speed ahead and praises his players for having great focus this summer. “They have bought into it,” he says of his players, and he says it is not easy to get players to do that. He says he hopes to “win’em all,” this season. He adds that may not be a realistic view, but he adds that there is nothing in the rule book that says you can’t do just that.

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SportsTalk: Vance Charter Cheerleaders Heading to Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

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From a sealed envelope after a recent cheerleading practice, the 21 girls who make up the Vance Charter Cheerleading team discovered that they had been selected to participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City. Stacey Long, the girls’ coach, said there was excitement followed by disbelief. “Is this really happening,” Long quoted the girls as asking on Thursday’s edition of SportsTalk.

No cheerleading team from the area has ever been selected to participate in the parade. Vance Charter will be the first. The hard work and practice has paid off. The team practices a couple of times a week and it was only last school year that Vance Charter participated in its first competition. In February, they went to their second competition and took first place resulting in an invitation to submit a video, FAQ sheet, GPA’s and titles to the parade organization. Two days after submission came the reply that Vance Charter’s Cheerleading squad would be included in this year’s parade.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Long said of the invitation. Long also said that it will be expensive, around $3,000 per girl, to make the trip to the Big Apple for the parade. To that end, fundraising efforts have begun with a goal of $70,000 for the trip which will last for six nights and include various sightseeing opportunities in addition to the participation in the parade. To help with fundraising efforts, the team is going to businesses seeking sponsorships and will have a calendar fundraiser along with conducting a cheerleader camp. The cheerleader camp will cost participants $150 per person with all of the money from the camp and other fund raising projects going to send the Vance Charter Cheerleaders to New York City.

Bronze level sponsorships are $500, Silver is $1,000, Gold $1,500 and Platinum level is $2,500. All donations of any monetary value are welcomed. For more information on how to donate see their Facebook page at facebook.com/Vance-Charter-High-School-Cheerleading-105276945550598 or call Stacey Long at 919-691-3279.

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The Local Skinny! The Doctor Is In! Free Medical Event This Weekend

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The Vance Charter School parking lot transforms into a large waiting room this weekend as a pop-up medical clinic comes to town.

All services are free of charge, and organizers say the only thing folks need to bring may be an umbrella, as rain is forecast for the weekend. The parking lot will open at midnight tomorrow (Friday, May 13) and the clinic will begin at 6 a.m.

Rishabh Jain said the Remote Area Medical clinic will provide medical, dental and vision care for anyone who comes out – no ID is required and no proof of insurance is needed. The school is located at 2090 Ross Mill Rd.

“It’s general health and wellness that we’re trying to promote,” Rishi Dasgupta said. There will be additional resources on site – including boxes of fresh produce – for participants if they’d like them. The idea is to look at health holistically, he said.

In addition to general checkups, there will be women’s health specialists present; dental services include cleanings, fillings, extractions and X-rays and vision patients can expect to get eyeglasses after about an hour, Jain said.

Both Jain and  and Dasgupta graduated from Duke University last weekend and have helped organize the RAM clinic. Both men will be at the two-day clinic this weekend, along with more than 30 other Duke undergrads who have helped plan the event.

“These clinics promote health and wellness in the community,” Dasgupta said “Anyone is welcome at a RAM clinic.”

A patient who needs dental and vision care may need to come both days, because Jain said medical services can be paired with dental or vision services, but not both in one day.

For patients who may need follow-up care, there will be a list of resources available. “We don’t want to identify a problem and send someone home with no next steps,” Jain said.

Visit www.ramusa.org to learn more.

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SportsTalk: Vance Charter Lacrosse Prepares For State Playoffs

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Three years ago there was no varsity lacrosse team at Vance Charter. Their first season consisted of only four games and their second season was only eight games, but this year the Knights won the conference championship. It’s also been a bit of a family affair for the school. The lacrosse team is coached by Dennis Sandlin, his son, Dan Sandlin, is an assistant coach, and sophomore Gavyn Sandlin is one of the team’s leaders. “It’s nice to have it all in the family,” Dan Sandlin said on Thursday’s SportsTalk on WIZS at 12:30 p.m.

Team leaders Gavyn Sandlin and Ryan Parker have both scored over 100 points this season with Sandlin being number one in the entire state and Parker tied for second. “They wouldn’t be where they are if it weren’t for the rest of the team,” Dan Sandlin said. He credits much of the Knights’ success to players committing to off season leagues during the summer and winter months. The commitment has paid off this season and Dan Sandlin thinks the team in now peaking at the right time as they start the state playoffs on Tuesday.

Wednesday night the Knights finished off the regular season with non-conference opponent Seaforth High School, and the Knights won 16-11 and finished the regular season with a 13-6 record. According to Dan Sandlin, the victory was the team’s most complete game.

One of the keys to why the Knights have been so successful is the mindset the team has. “We are all in all the time,” Dan Sandlin says and that has caught on with the rest of the team. “I couldn’t be happier with where we are,” Sandlin added.

While things are moving in the right direction for the Knights, Sandlin would love to see growth for lacrosse in the area. It’s an expensive sport and coaches are hard to find but he still would like to see the growth come to more rural areas.

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Knights Lacrosse Win in Overtime One Day; Become Conference Champions the Next

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— article submitted by Vance Charter School

The Vance Charter Knights Varsity Men’s Lacrosse team had another strong showing with 2 more wins added to their record. On April 21, the Knights traveled to Cary Christian, which proved to be exciting from beginning to end. Cary Christian took an early lead, but the Knights quickly made a comeback by half-time. The game was tied 8-8 at the end of the third quarter and went into overtime when it was 11-11 at the end of 4th quarter.

The defense held strong throughout the night, with Junior Lucas Satterwhite tallying 19 saves. Daniel Mangum, Ayden Callahan, Johnny Kilian and Davis Suther all provided strong support for their goalie on the defensive end. Jacob Seaman won 19 face-offs on the nights, though the one going into overtime would prove to be the most critical, getting the ball into the hands of the offense. The game-winning goal was scored by Gavyn Sandlin during over-time, with the Knights winning 12-11.

This game, though non-conference, will go down in history for Vance Charter, as two of the Vance Charter Knights scored their 100th point on the season. Ryan Parker and Gavyn Sandlin, both reached the 100th point in a single season milestone during this game.

Gavyn Sandlin and Ryan Parker, both scoring 100 points this season during the April 21st game against Cary Christian.

Scoring for the night was Sophomore Gavyn Sandlin (5G, 1A), Senior Ryan Parker (2G, 3A), Junior Christian Bean (2G), Senior Wyatt Yount (1G, 1A), Junior Jahlaine Scottland (1G) and Junior Sam Frazier (1G). The team had much to celebrate as they prepared for the final conference game on April 22 against Voyager.

The Knights hosted their final conference game of the season on April 22 at home. The Knights kicked off the evening honoring their seven seniors: Wyatt Yount, Davis Suther, Nathan Care, Jacob Seaman, Ryan Parker, Ayden Callahan and Hyson Ferguson.

The Knights controlled the game from the opening whistle, outscoring their opponents 16-1. Jacob Seaman dominated the face-offs, winning 15 of the 18. This put the offense in control of the game for much of the evening. Scoring for the night was Sophomore Gavyn Sandlin (4G, 6A), Senior Ryan Parker (6G, 2A), Senior Wyatt Yount (3G), Junior Sam Frazier (1G, 3A), Senior Davis Suther (1G), Senior Ayden Callahan (1G) and Junior Christian Bean (1A).

This victory kept the Knights undefeated in conference play, crowing them the Northern Lakes Conference Champions for the first time in the history of the program. The conference is made up of Voyager Academy, JF Webb High School, Roxboro Community and Vance Charter.

The Knights will look to keep their winning streak alive with their final regular season game on Wednesday, April 28 against Seaforth High School.

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SportsTalk: Lance Stallings And Vance Charter Prepare For Busy Spring

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Between National Letter of Intent signings, basketball playoffs and preparing for spring sports Lance Stallings, Athletic Director at Vance Charter, is a busy man.  Stallings says that in the last week both Logan Privett and Charlie Cooper, two stars of Vance Charter’s softball team, have had letter of intent signings and once the dust settles, about half a dozen softball players will have signed their letters of intent.

Stallings is excited that those young women will be continuing on to play college level softball but he is also excited about the school’s basketball program.  Both men’s and women’s teams are in the state playoffs.  The men’s team has never been in the state playoffs before but after a third place conference finish they qualified. “I could not be more excited,” Stallings said of Vance Charter’s mens team. They will have to take on crosstown conference rival Henderson Collegiate tonight in the first round. The women’s team will take on Eno River. Even the middle school teams are playing for conference championships

While basketball is certainly foremost on Stallings’ mind at the moment, there is more happening at the school. Baseball gets underway on Monday with Ty Breedlove in his first year as head coach. Softball and Lacrosse will get underway later next week not to mention that the golf and tennis teams will be starting their seasons very soon.

Stallings is happy but doesn’t take all the credit. “It’s a family atmosphere. Everybody pitches in and is willing to help,” he says.

 

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SportsTalk: Coach’s Corner: WIZS Players Of The Week – Championship Recap

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Conference championships are hard to come by but Thursday night Vance County had two schools do just that.  Vance Charter’s women’s team took the Triangle North Athletic Conference Tournament Championship with a 58-47 win over Oxford Prep and Henderson Collegiate took the men’s championship with a 59-46 victory over Durham’s Voyager Academy.  Vance Charter relied on Allie Bliss’ 15 points to propel the team to victory and Henderson Collegiate’s T.J. Ragland scored 2o points in their win.  Their performances earned them WIZS Player of the Week honors.

Ragland topped his tournament average of 18 points per game in Henderson Collegiate’s win. He did have help however as Markel Lloyd contributed 18 points and Ellis Williams poured in another 8 points including two back-to-back three pointers at the beginning of the second half.  (Listen to the Audio Recap Below.) Henderson Collegiate now waits until Saturday to find out just where they will be seeded and who they will play as they pursue another state championship.

Vance Charter’s Bliss didn’t begin her basketball career as a starter but she worked hard to move up from a reserve spot and as a senior is one of the team’s leaders. She averaged 17 points per game in the conference tournament. With their conference championship win they also wait until Saturday to find out where their seeding is and who the next opponent will be as the state playoffs begin.

Congratulations to Henderson Collegiate’s T. J. Ragland and Vance Charter’s Allie Bliss. WIZS Players of the Week.  The Players of the Week can be heard every Friday at 1pm on the Coach’s Corner segment of SportsTalk on WIZS 1450am, 100.1fm and online at wizs.com.

Vance Charter School Education Lottery Applications

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WIZS has been asked to announce:

John Sossamon, member of the board of directors of Vance Charter School says, “Vance Charter School Education Lottery applications will be accepted 1/24/2022 – 2/28/2022. Applications can be accessed at www.vancecharter.org. The lottery will be held on 3/5/2022. Parent information sessions will be held on 1/25/2022 and 2/17/2022 at 6:00 p.m. at Vance Charter School.”

Vance Charter Prepares for OSHA Vaccine Requirement Deadline

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Businesses and employers of 100 or more people face a quickly approaching vaccine deadline.

The federal mandate which was on, then off, then back on again starts to take effect in a week.

The Vance Charter School board of directors met last Wednesday night in a special meeting. Board Chair Johnny Yount wrote in correspondence with WIZS News, “The Board addressed compliance with the OSHA Vaccination and Testing ETS (Emergency Temporary Standard). Given the recent rapid rise in Covid-19 cases, the Board also voted to re-impose an indoor face covering requirement for students, staff, and visitors.”

Yount said Vance Charter’s plan was to plan ahead, “to be prepared/proactive for whatever comes regarding the OSHA ETS outcome as it relates to employers with over 100 full time/part time employees,” he wrote.

As to the masks, he wrote, “The mask policy itself is voted upon each month and will be discussed and voted upon again at our January 10th meeting as required.”

If not vaccinated, an employee must be tested at least weekly.  Citations for vaccinations are not expected until at least January 10 with testing violation citations not expected for another month on February 9.

Vance Charter School Knights Cheerleaders Fish Fry Fundraiser Feb 22 at 220

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Cheerleaders are known for the support they give their sports teams, whether at the high school, college or professional level. The community has a chance to return the favor by supporting a local cheerleader squad at a fundraiser next week.

The Vance Charter School Varsity Cheerleaders will have a trout dinner fundraiser on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 at 220 Seafood Restaurant, according to the group’s advisor, Kim Hedgepeth.

The fundraiser runs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 a plate, which includes trout, fries, slaw and hush puppies. This is a take-out only event.

Tickets are available from any cheerleader or at the restaurant on the day of the event.

Come out and support the Vance Charter School Knights cheerleaders!