by Amelia Aycock
Vance County Schools Correspondent
At the May 10, 2010 meeting of the Vance County Board of Education, Northern Vance High School Principal Brian Creasman introduced two programs integral to Northern Vance student life to the board: the Northern Vance High School Jazz Band (who played a few selection prior to the meeting) and the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFJROTC).
Both groups were then introduced by their respective teachers, Jason Pulley (band) and Captain Dan Whittaker (AFJROTC). The intent behind this presentation was to express gratitude to the board that has granted them the ability to take overnight trips and expand their horizons.
Pulley’s presentation was the most lengthy and casual, but forcefully focused on the importance of the arts in schools.
“There is one way we can all communicate and that is through the arts,” Pulley said.
He went on to stress the importance of exposing Vance County students to different aspects of culture, a concern Captain Whittaker echoed.
In the past months, the band took a trip to Florida. The AFJROTC went to Washington, D.C.
Pulley indicated that the trips these classes have been allowed to take greatly benefited the students.
“They stretched out and saw more than the confines of Vance County,” Pulley told the board.
He also noted that the opportunity would have been impossible without the efforts of the students, county and outside organizations.
In addition to the words of thanks from Pulley and Whittaker, each class had student representatives present to speak. All of these students expressed their intense thankfulness through sharing fond memories of the trip with the board members.