Veteran VGCC educator and program receive accolades


From left, VGCC Dean of Arts and Sciences Cynthia Young and Jacquelin Heath at the SYNERGY Conference.

From left, VGCC Dean of Arts and Sciences Cynthia Young and Jacquelin Heath at the SYNERGY Conference.

Vance-Granville Community College’s School-Age Education program and Jacquelin Heath, the instructor and program head, have recently earned recognition on the local and state levels.

Heath, a resident of Henderson, was honored with the “Director’s Award of Achievement” from Del Ruff, director of the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs (NC CAP), at the organization’s annual SYNERGY Conference, held this year in Greenville. The conference brings together afterschool and expanded learning providers and supporters for training and sharing of best practices.

NC CAP, a program of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, serves as the comprehensive, statewide network of afterschool stakeholders in North Carolina, bringing state agencies, state and local policymakers, afterschool providers and the private sector together to increase access to high quality afterschool programs for all children and youth in the state.

From left, VGCC Dean of Arts and Sciences Cynthia Young and Jacquelin Heath at the SYNERGY Conference.

From left, VGCC Dean of Arts and Sciences Cynthia Young and Jacquelin Heath at the SYNERGY Conference.

Heath, who was also a presenter at the conference, was recognized for “exceptional accomplishments,” including her leadership in implementing the “Upping Your After School Game” training program and serving on NC CAP’s Professional Development Committee.

Meanwhile, the program that Heath leads at VGCC was among the organizations recently honored as a “Friend of Education” by the Vance County Schools system. The School-Age Education program places students in local schools for their internship experiences to gain real-world skills under the supervision of qualified teachers.

Heath is also the advisor for VGCC’s chapter of the Student North Carolina Association of Educators (SNCAE), a pre-professional organization that includes students in education and college transfer courses. SNCAE is a division of the larger North Carolina Association of Educators, and has chapters at colleges and universities across the state. SNCAE recently recognized the VGCC chapter with the “Membership Growth Award” for its efforts to build the organization.

The longest-serving full-time instructor in the history of VGCC, Heath has been a faculty member at the college since Sept. 15, 1976. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at North Carolina A&T State University.

Heath said she lives by this motto: “Always give that which you are most capable of giving: your best.”

VGCC offers an Associate in Applied Science degree and a diploma in School-Age Education, as well as a School-Age Care certificate. School-Age Education prepares students to work in learning environments for children in Kindergarten through Middle Childhood years. Many graduates are employed as teacher’s assistants in elementary schools. For more information, contact Jacquelin Heath at (252) 738-3298.