Tag Archive for: #vancecountynews

VGCC dedicates new building on Main Campus

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Vance-Granville Community College officially dedicated “Building 10” at a ceremony on Aug. 3, expanding the college’s Main Campus in Vance County to the west side of Poplar Creek Road while providing new space to train public safety professionals and other students.

The building will provide a new home for VGCC’s Emergency Medical Services, Fire/Rescue and Law Enforcement Training programs. Among the guests attending the dedication were county commissioners from Vance and Granville counties, who provided some of the funding for the renovation project, as well as public safety officials from all four counties served by VGCC.

Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of VGCC, described the building as a renovated space that has been “significantly transformed from its original commercial state to be able to serve as a location for teaching and learning.” She said that the process was “a metaphor for what education does – it transforms lives. ‘Renovation’ is literally making something ‘new.’ We know that education and training – learning new skills – can renew lives, help us to see things in new ways, and breathe new energy into a community.”

Williams also expressed her appreciation to the local law enforcement, fire and emergency services agencies who partner with the college. “We are proud to work with and train all the professionals who save lives every day, often at great risk to themselves,” the president said.

In welcoming remarks at the ceremony, Deborah Brown, the outgoing chair of the VGCC Board of Trustees, said that “this dedication represents not only an extension of our Main Campus, but even more importantly, an extension of new opportunities for education and training for our community.”

Abdul Sm Rasheed, a member of the VGCC Board of Trustees and chair of the board’s Building Committee, formally presented the building to the college. “Building 10 is the first new building to be added to our Main Campus since 2003, and is being dedicated almost exactly 40 years since Main Campus first opened, in the summer of 1976,” Rasheed said. “The facility we dedicate today is a 16,000-square-foot building, of which 12,800 square feet have been renovated at this time, with the remainder to be adapted for use in the future.”

Rasheed explained that the building, and the land on which it sits, were purchased by the Board of Trustees in 2010. Renovation work on the building began in January 2016 and was completed in July. The Baxter Armistead Architecture firm of Wake Forest designed the renovated facility, while the general contractor was Riggs-Harrod Building of Durham.

Dr. Angela Ballentine, VGCC’s vice president of academic and student affairs, described the facility. She said Building 10 will include classrooms and labs dedicated to the three public safety fields, plus faculty offices, a computer lab, and a general classroom that may be used for a variety of purposes, including continuing education for local businesses and industries.

“The students who learn and train in Building 10 will be men and women of diverse ages and backgrounds,” Ballentine said. “They will be firefighters, Emergency Medical Technicians, law enforcement, corrections and detention officers, of all levels of experience. They will be our friends and neighbors who turn to Vance-Granville for new opportunities and for professional development throughout their careers.”

VGCC Dean of Continuing Education Dale Fey, whose division provides EMS, Fire/Rescue and in-service law enforcement training, and Dean of Business & Applied Technologies Angela Gardner-Ragland, who oversees the Basic Law Enforcement Training program, unveiled a dedication plaque that will be installed in the building in the future. The plaque lists VGCC officials, members of the Vance and Granville County boards of commissioners and members of the North Carolina General Assembly who represent the two counties. State funds paid for the bulk of the renovation project.

The invocation for the ceremony was provided by Board of Trustees member Danny Wright, who will soon succeed Brown as chair. Herb Gregory, the board’s vice chair, offered the benediction.

H/V Chamber Hosts Ribbon Cutting for Maria Parham’s New Wound Center

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The Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce celebrated the opening of The Advanced Wound Center’s new location with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, July 14 at 4:30pm at their Ruin Creek Road location.  “This is only one of more ribbon cuttings to come,” said Brian Sinotte, CEO, Maria Parham Medical Center.

Dr. Joseph Franklin, Medical Director, made remarks about the new advanced technology of the center and that his overall goal is to bring care to those that can’t go to larger healthcare facilities.  Remarks were also made by other representatives from the hospital, city, county and state officials about The Advanced Wound Center and how MPMC continues to grow and serve the needs of the community and surrounding areas.

At MPMC Advanced Wound Center, their team of providers help individuals struggling with wounds get on the fast track to recovery by managing their persistent wounds and ulcers with the latest technology and treatments.  In just the last five years, The Advanced Wound Center has had over 20,000 visits.

The new center offers two chambers for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), an advanced therapy for patients who suffer from chronic wounds that are not responding to traditional therapies. Patients are placed in a pressurized chamber where they breathe 100 percent oxygen. The treatment delivers more oxygen to the body’s tissues, helping to heal wounds, save limbs and repair extensive tissue or bone damage.

It is a pain free approach to treating more than a dozen medical conditions and is approved by Medicare to treat patients with a  variety of medical conditions.

For more information, please contact them at 252-436-1700

High School students explore health and science at two VGCC campuses

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High school students from across the region recently attended “Mini-Medical School” camps organized by the Wake Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in partnership with Vance-Granville Community College. The camp was held first in June at VGCC’s South Campus, located between Butner and Creedmoor, and in July at the college’s Franklin County Campus, just outside Louisburg. Between the two locations, 44 students completed the program.

This was the college’s third summer partnering with Wake AHEC on the Mini-Medical School, which is an intensive, week-long day camp that uses computational science (computer simulation) and hands-on activities to study key aspects of medicine.

Students learned about topics that included anatomy and physiology, bioprocessing, biochemistry, pharmacology, cardiology, epidemiology, medical genetics and genomics. The course was taught primarily by Becky Brady, a registered nurse and chemical engineer. VGCC Bioprocess Technology program head/instructor Dr. Tara Hamilton also taught a session at each camp.

Faculty members from VGCC programs that prepare students for health-related careers — including Nursing, Medical Assisting, Radiography, Pharmacy Technology, Human Services Technology, and the college’s newest program, Histotechnology — gave students information about academic pathways and employment prospects and conducted hands-on activities on the last day of the camp.

Students not only had a chance to learn about careers and hone their science skills, but they also became certified in CPR and Youth Mental Health First Aid during the course of the program.

The students who completed the school at South Campus included Naim Bell and Sai Dasari, both of Apex Friendship High School; Koen Winemiller and Kiran Winemiller, both of Cary Academy; Gracie Athus of Cary Christian School; Sarah Flexman of Cary High School; Britney Dyck, a home-schooled student from Cary; Leah Paul, a recent graduate of Crossroads Christian School in Henderson; Saarika Virkar of Enloe High School in Raleigh; Sarah Doherty and Ellie Smith, both of Holly Springs High School; Tanay Singhal of the N.C. School of Science and Math; Jordan Bell of North Raleigh Christian Academy; Sri Rayarao of Panther Creek High School in Cary; LeAnn Black and  Hannah Bonini, both of South Granville High School; Riley Valencia of Southern Wake Academy in Holly Springs; Aryan Jain of Wake Early College of Health & Sciences; Samaria Lynch and Javia Wilson, both of Warren County High School; Mariam Assaedi of J.F. Webb School of Health & Life Sciences in Oxford; and Rose Vaughan of Woods Charter School in Chapel Hill.

Those who completed the program at Franklin Campus included Edin Medrano and Iris Medrano, both home-schooled students from Creedmoor; Karson Turner of Enloe High School in Raleigh; Rachel Hortman, a recent graduate of Fuquay-Varina High School; Yvon’ne Lyle of Garner High School; Saikiran Devanga Chinta of Green Hope High School in Cary; Jacob Harris of Henderson Collegiate School; Sascha Anderson of Vernon Malone College and Career Academy; Autumn Boone of Middle Creek High School in Apex; Lizzie Leegins and Jillian Radford, both of North Johnston High School; Caroline Pruitt of Sanderson High School in Raleigh; Sabrina Bedard, Nadia Hodges and Amanda McPhatter, both home-schooled students from Wake Forest; Sarah Bryant, Victoria Michel and Malik Pettis, all of Wake Forest High School; Kendall Smith and Brandon Yarborough, both of Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy; Parker Stantz of Wakefield High School; and Bryson Vick of Warren County High School.

Wake AHEC serves nine counties in central North Carolina from its office in Raleigh: Durham, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Lee, Person, Vance, Wake, and Warren counties. AHECs are located throughout North Carolina and are affiliated with the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Program at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill School of Medicine. The mission of the statewide AHEC Program is to meet the state’s health and health workforce needs. NC AHEC provides educational programs and services that bridge academic institutions and communities to improve the health of the people of North Carolina with a focus on underserved populations.

Vance County Schools to host Bus Driver Training

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Vance County Schools will host school bus driver training sessions Monday August 8  – Wednesday August 10, at L.B. Yancey Elementary School.

Interested persons must attend the training on all three days to receive certification. We will only be training individuals to drive school buses.

The training sessions will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 3 p.m. each day.

Those interested in participating in the training sessions must register five days prior to the sessions with the school system’s Transportation Department, located at 226 Welcome Avenue off Raleigh Road south of Henderson. For additional information, call the Transportation Department at 252-438-5012.

STEM now accepting applications

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Vance County Schools is now accepting applications for STEM Early High School for grades 7 and 8 for the 2016-2017 school year.

STEM is an innovative early high school that focuses on science, mathematics, engineering and technology. All students are provided with a laptop computer and work collaboratively in an environment that encourages high levels of problem solving through the use of engineering principles and creativity.

Limited space is available for students.

Applications will be accepted through July 27 at the school on the campus of Northern Vance High School or at the Vance County Schools Administrative Services Center at 1724 Graham Avenue in Henderson.

Applications are available on line at www.vcs.k12.nc.us.

Decisions regarding acceptance will be made prior to August 5, 2016.

Fourteen graduate from EMT-Paramedic training at VGCC

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Vance-Granville Community College honored 11 men and three women who completed the college’s year-long Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic program on July 13.

The graduates included Michael Hunter Robbins of Bunn; Catherine Garner of Creedmoor; Fuller Caton, Herbert Hill Davis, James Hughes, Cassidy Ivey, William Jenkins, Tyler McDaniel and Courtney Moss, all of Henderson; David Drumheller of Mebane; Jonathan Kraemer of Raleigh; Harvey Grim of Roxboro; Joseph Farlow of Timberlake; and C.J. Phillips of Youngsville.

Vivian Loyd, a Registered Nurse and Paramedic Level II instructor, was the instructor for the class.

EMT-Paramedic instruction includes 596 hours of didactic (classroom) training and 500 hours of clinical education, or field internship. To be eligible to take the EMT-P course, students had to have already completed a 203-hour EMT-Basic course and passed a state exam.

An EMT-Paramedic has enhanced skills beyond the EMT-Basic level, including being able to administer additional interventions and medications. The EMT-P delivers the highest level of pre-hospital medical care in North Carolina.

In order to successfully complete the EMT-P course, students had to pass several different exams, including a “scope of practice” exam. This scenario-based evaluation tested the hands-on and critical thinking skills of students, as they delivered the appropriate treatment to multiple trauma patients and dealt with pediatric, environmental, and mental-illness situations. Each student also had to complete an 80-hour Anatomy and Physiology course.

Now that students have completed the EMT-P course, they must take the 100-question North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services credentialing exam to become state-certified.

VGCC offers Emergency Medical Services training from the basic to the Paramedic level, in addition to continuing education. For more information on enrolling in these courses, call Stephen Barney at (252) 738-3273.

New Principal Named at Northern Vance High School

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Andrew Markoch has been named as the new principal at Northern Vance High School.

The Vance County Board of Education officially appointed Markoch to his new position during a special meeting Wednesday night.

Markoch will join Vance County Schools after serving as an assistant principal at Wake Forest High School in Wake Forest and the principal of the school’s Ninth Grade Center. He has been an administrator at the school since July of 2003.

Markoch, who lives in Rolesville, is a graduate of the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. He received a bachelor’s degree in music education from the university in 1988. He also earned a master of arts degree in educational administration from Akron in 2001. In May of 2003, Markoch completed course work for principal licensure, with a focus on curriculum, at the University of Akron.

During his time with the Wake County Public School System in Wake Forest, Markoch has had extensive experience in management and school leadership. He facilitated the academic growth of a comprehensive high school in Wake Forest focusing on the instructional and social development of students as they adjust from middle school to high school. From 2007 to 2011, he worked with educators in the Ninth Grade Center as its on-site principal and was responsible for implementing the vision and operation of the center from its origins as an academy to a full-fledged school operating as part of a comprehensive high school. He then worked with faculty leaders to plan and facilitate the center’s move from an off-site location to become an on-site program serving ninth graders at the high school. The Ninth Grade Center continues today as an on-site facility.

In his capacity as principal of the Ninth Grade Center, Markoch notes that he has encouraged a school culture that is achievement based, student centered and data driven, while welcoming parents and stakeholders as an integral part of the school environment.

(From Vance County Schools Social Media)

Henderson-Vance Night Out Against Crime

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In cooperation with the National Night Out Against Crime the Henderson/Vance Night Out Against Crime Committee and the Henderson Police Department will be hosting the Henderson/Vance Night Out Against Crime on Breckenridge Street in downtown Henderson on August 2, 2016. The event is scheduled from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM with set-up beginning at 3:00 PM.

The introduction of National Night Out, “America’s Night Out Against Crime”, in 1984 began an effort to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. NATW’s National Night Out program culminates annually, on the first Tuesday of August (In Texas, the first Tuesday of October).

National Night Out now involves over 37.8 million people and 16,124 communities from all fifty states, U.S. Territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide.

The traditional “lights on” campaign and symbolic front porch vigils turned into a celebration across America with various events and activities including, but not limited to, block parties, cookouts, parades, visits from emergency personnel, rallies and marches, exhibits, youth events, safety demonstrations and seminars, in effort to heighten awareness and enhance community relations. Events for this year’s Night Out include displays of law enforcement and public safety vehicles and equipment, informational booths for public safety and public health agencies and organizations, and children’s activities.

The Event Coordinator for the Henderson/Vance Night Out Against Crime 2016 is Community Services Sergeant David E. Pitman, Jr. of the Henderson Police Department. Agencies and organizations involved in public safety and related fields that may be interested in participating in the event may contact Sergeant Pitman at (252) 438-4141.

 

Marcus W. Barrow, Chief of Police

Henderson PD Press Release – Heroin Bust

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On Friday, July 1, 2016, members of the Henderson Police Department Special Operations Unit and Criminal Investigation Division arrested Roslyn Wynn.  Wynn was arrested after a Federal Grand Jury returned a true bill of indictment charging Wynn with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin.

Wynn was transported to Raleigh for an appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge.  Wynn was released and placed under electronic house arrest pending trial in this matter.  This matter is being investigated by the Henderson Police Department Special Operations Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Authority: Chief Marcus Barrow

New VGCC Scholarship established in memory of Sam Watkins

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A new scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College will honor the memory of longtime Vance County business and community leader Sam Watkins Jr.

His son, Trey Watkins of Wake Forest, recently visited VGCC to formally establish the “Sam Watkins Jr. Academic Achievement Scholarship” on behalf of himself and his wife, Sarah.

Sam Watkins, who died in 2014 at the age of 80, was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a U.S. Army veteran. For many years, he was the president of Rose Oil Company, a member and chairman of the Henderson-Vance Economic Development Commission, and a member of the Maria Parham Medical Center Board of Trustees.

Watkins co-founded the Henderson Downtown Development Corporation, from which the North Carolina Main Street Program evolved. In 2008, he and his twin brother, George, were the recipients of the Community Hero Award given by the Vance County Commissioners for making the community a better place in which to live. He was a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and, in 1985, he was Vance County’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year. He served on the local Salvation Army Advisory Board, the Citizens Bank and Trust Company Board, and chaired the local North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) Board in Henderson. In his later years, his proudest accomplishment was the forming of the Embassy Cultural Center Foundation, responsible for building a new public library and cultural center in Henderson. Watkins was also a beloved father and grandfather.

In awarding the new scholarship, preference will be given to students in the VGCC Nursing program. “We would like to support students with compassion, who show commitment and pride in their work in the health care field,” Trey Watkins said. “My father loved both the hospital and the college, so this would be a fitting tribute.”

Sam Watkins supported and partnered with the college in his economic development roles, and VGCC President Dr. Stelfanie Williams remembered him with fondness. “Sam Watkins was a tireless leader and advocate for his community,” Dr. Williams said. “His legacy of service will continue through a scholarship that will help Vance-Granville students for generations to come.”

Just as Trey is establishing this scholarship in his father’s memory, Sam and George Watkins endowed the S.M. Watkins Sr. Memorial Academic Achievement Scholarship at VGCC to honor their father in 1991.

Through the Endowment Fund, VGCC has awarded more than 8,500 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.