The 2013 graduates of the Vance-Granville Community College Child Care Center included, seated, from left: Annah Gayle Newman, Valentina Ortega-Mora, Ronald Edwin Pittman, III, Brielynn Grace Turner, Maci Bren Satterwhite and Olivia Grace Morris; standing, from left: Henry Wentworth Hall, Michael Edwards Satterwhite, III, Tess Leah DeZurik, Layla Simone Burchette, Kate Nicole DeZurik, Koyant Lamar Billings, Jr. and Nathan Scott Garlock. Standing in back are (left) Child Care Center director Denise Gill and (right) teacher Deborah Harris. (VGCC Photo)
Thirteen graduates of the Vance-Granville Community College Child Care Center on the college’s Main Campus were honored in ceremonies on May 31 as they prepared to enter kindergarten this fall.
The Class of 2013 included Koyant Lamar Billings, Jr., Layla Simone Burchette, Olivia Grace Morris, Annah Gayle Newman, Valentina Ortega-Mora, Ronald Edwin Pittman, III and Brielynn Grace Turner, all of Henderson; Nathan Scott Garlock of Macon; Henry Wentworth Hall and Maci Bren Satterwhite, both of Oxford; and Kate Nicole DeZurik, Tess Leah DeZurik and Michael Edwards Satterwhite, III, all of Wake Forest.
Denise Gill, the child day care center director, said that each year, teachers ask the graduates what they want to be when they grow up, and she shared their goals and aspirations with the audience of family members and friends. Among the class were future teachers, doctors, nurses, policemen, a firefighter and a ballerina, as well as some who planned to become “real fairy princesses” or Spider-Man. “Thank you to all of our families for allowing us to care for and educate your children, some of them for as long as the past four years,” Gill said.
During the program, the children recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang four songs — “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” “It’s a Beautiful Day,” “Everybody Has Music Inside” and “Good-bye.” Michael “Tre” Satterwhite and Ronald “Trey” Pittman made remarks on behalf of the class. Poems were recited by Kate and Tess DeZurik, Annah Newman, Valentina Ortega-Mora and Layla Burchette. Maci Satterwhite provided the invocation, while Olivia Morris gave the benediction. Deborah Harris, the lead teacher for the graduating class, helped Gill present diplomas to the graduates.