Stephanie Alston, an educator for over 17 years and an elementary school principal most recently in Edgecombe County, has been named as the new principal at E.M. Rollins Elementary School. She replaces Dean Thomas, who has been named as Vance County Schools’ new coordinator of the Transportation Department. Alston will assume her new duties at E.M. Rollins as soon as possible. During her career in education, she was a teacher for eight years and an administrator for the past nine …
Category: News
N.C. Main Street Conference Kicks Off Wednesday in Goldsboro
North Carolina’s largest downtown revitalization conference gets underway this Wednesday, March 16th in Goldsboro. Commerce’s NC Main Street Center will host the three-day conference offering learning sessions, tours, downtown exploration and networking opportunities with downtown professionals, elected officials, consultants and volunteers. More than 500 participants are expected to attend. The conference theme – Soaring with Main Street – references both the conference location, adjacent to the state’s largest Air Force Base and the tremendous economic successes achieved through the Main …
North Carolina Requesting Waiver from Assessing Speaking and Listening in Reading/English Language Arts Assessments
The U.S. Department of Education (USED) is allowing states to request a waiver from assessing speaking and listening as part of its Reading/English language arts assessments. In June 2010, the North Carolina State Board of Education adopted Reading/English language arts content standards, which include standards for speaking and listening. Federal law requires assessments include all adopted content standards; however, measuring speaking and listening skills in a large-scale summative assessment is not practical at this time. As a result, North Carolina …
NVHS Soccer Earns Academic Award
The Northern Vance High School men’s soccer team for the seventh consecutive year received a High School Team Academic Award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) with the fourth highest grade point average among the 152 teams receiving national recognition for the award for the 2014-2015 school year. The team’s overall grade point average was 4.11. The NSCAA annually recognizes high school soccer programs that have excelled in the classroom in addition to their work on the …
VGCC students partner to register bone marrow donors
The SkillsUSA chapter at Vance-Granville Community College recently teamed up with national organizations and a local cancer survivor to find some potential heroes. The survivor, Whitney Johnson Espinosa of Henderson, who calls her campaign against childhood cancer “Whitney’s Hope,” organized a bone marrow registration drive in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus. She connected with the SkillsUSA student organization through her mother, VGCC Dean of Business & Applied Technologies Angela Gardner-Ragland. Espinosa was working in concert with three national …
Vance County Committee Meeting Notices – Water Committee and Public Safety
Please note the following schedule of upcoming committee meetings: Public Safety Committee – Monday, March 28 at 2:00 p.m. (fire department reorganization) Water Committee – Monday, March 28 at 3:00 p.m. (water matters) These meetings will be held in the administrative conference room. All commissioners are invited to attend.
City of Henderson City Council Meeting Monday March 14th, 2016
Henderson City Council Regular Meeting on Monday, 14 March 2016 at 6:00 PM in the City Hall Council Chambers, 134 Rose Ave., Henderson, NC 27536 Download the full agenda packet here: 20160314_coh_agenda_packet.pdf I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL III. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IV. OPENING REMARKSIn order to provide for the highest standards of ethical behavior and Transparency in Governanceas well as provide for good and open government, the City Council has approved Core Valuesregarding Ethical Behavior1 and Transparency in Governance2. …
VGCC and Justice Fire Department partner to offer Ag Rescue training
Vance-Granville Community College recently partnered with the Justice Rural Volunteer Fire Department in Franklin County to offer an unusual training program designed to prepare local firefighters for specific emergency situations that may occur on farms. A course called “Agricultural Machinery Rescue” was conducted from Jan. 19 through March 3, with instructor Joe Burris of Greenville teaching at the fire station in Justice and, at times, on the farm of Kelly Harris, the former chief and current assistant chief of the …
Vance County Board of Education Meeting Monday March 14th, 2016
The Vance County Board of Education will meet on Monday, March 14, 2016, at 7:00 pm in the Administrative Services Center Board Room, 1724 Graham Avenue, Henderson. You may download the full agenda packet here: 20160314_vcboc_agenda_packet.pdf You may also download the 2000 series board policies mentioned under VIII.D Here: 2000 Series, Board Operations.pdf
VGCC to host Afternoon Tea class
Vance-Granville Community College will offer a course on the “afternoon tea” party, the tradition that is enjoying a renaissance as fine hotels, inns and tea rooms across the country give guests an opportunity to retreat from the hurried pace of their lives. The course, called “Let’s Have a Tea Party,” will meet on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 until 4 p.m., starting March 29. The final class and “graduation” ceremony is an actual …
NC Cooperative Extension Updates
AGRICULTURAL TAXES WORKSHOP IN WARRENTON March 28, 5:00 – 8 pm, dinner meeting. Registration is free. Presented by NCSU Extension Specialist Dr. Guido van der Hoeven. He will discuss tax issues related to agricultural businesses, including sales and income taxes. Register by March 23rd at http://www.ncsbc.net/center.aspx?center=75530 WORKSHOP: NAVIGATING THE USDA GAP AUDIT April 11, 9 am to 4 pm, Summerfield, NC (near Greensboro). $20 registration includes lunch. Register on-line at http://bit.ly/GAP-4-11 WEBINAR: ADDING VALUE TO LOCAL FOOD Mar 20, 12:30-1:30 pm. …
Vance County Board of Commissioners Special Meeting and Work Session March 21, 2016
Vance County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting for Monday, March 21 at 2:00 p.m. in the commissioners’ conference room. The purpose of the meeting is to enter into closed session to discuss economic development matters. A work session will be held immediately after the special meeting. The purpose of the work session is to discuss the draft capital improvements plan and funding options.
Vance County Schools Dropout Rate Declines for 6th Straight Year
The dropout rate in Vance County Schools for 2014-2015 declined for the sixth consecutive year with data from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction indicating that 68 students or 2.28 percent left school early. The 2014-2015 rate was a decrease from 83 students or 2.71 percent dropping out in 2013-2014. In 2012, Vance County Schools implemented “Destination Graduation” one of the National Dropout Prevention Network Center’s model program that addresses prevention, intervention and recovery. The program highly emphasizes parent participation, …
Attorney General Roy Cooper: Don’t bite on fraudulent emails
Reports of data breaches involving fraudulent emails, commonly called phishing, are spiking. A total of 30 phishing breaches have been reported to the Attorney General’s Office by businesses and other organizations so far this year. Twenty of those reports have come within the past two weeks. That’s compared to eight phishing breaches reported in all of 2015. Scammers can use technology to pretend to be anyone in an email, and phishing emails can lead directly to data breaches. Emails used …
Tobacco Trust Fund awards grant to VGCC
The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has awarded a $25,000 grant to Vance-Granville Community College to support students in a pair of training programs. The grant, for a project entitled “Cultivating and Growing Agricultural Communities,” will help cover the cost of tuition and other fees for eligible students in the “NC REAL Agricultural Entrepreneurship” and “Heavy Equipment Operator” courses offered by VGCC. Grant funding will also support instructional staff, marketing and supplies related to the programs. VGCC has offered …
Public Comment Sessions Scheduled on North Carolina’s K-12 Education Plan for Every Student Succeeds Act
Educators, parents, students and other stakeholders of North Carolina’s public schools are invited to attend six public comment sessions scheduled for April and May across the state. Public input is being sought by NC Department of Public Instruction staff to help guide development of the state’s plan for complying with the new federal education law, a re-authorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the new federal education law approved in December …
VGCC installs first officers for SkillsUSA chapter
The Vance-Granville Community College chapter of the national SkillsUSA organization, established only a few months ago, now has its first official student leaders. On Feb. 29, four students signed their contracts and took their oaths as chapter officers. They included President Benjamin Layton of Kittrell (a Criminal Justice Technology student), Secretary/Treasurer Ashley Allen of Henderson (Office Administration), Reporter Harold Todd of Oxford (Criminal Justice Technology) and Parliamentarian Daniel Johnson of Louisburg (Paralegal Technology). Performing the installation was Steve Hargrove, who …
Tickets for VGCC Dinner Theater go on sale March 15
Suspense, thrills and laughter are on the menu as Vance-Granville Community College presents the successful Broadway show, “Deathtrap,” for its fourth annual Dinner Theater. The event is scheduled for the evenings of Thursday, April 28, and Friday, April 29, starting at 6 p.m., in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County. VGCC’s Culinary Arts and Drama departments are teaming up once again to present a delicious meal followed by an entertaining play. In a new twist, there …
Special events, mobile apps to be discussed at free VGCC small business seminars
The Warren County Campus of Vance-Granville Community College will soon host a pair of free Small Business Center seminars focused on innovative marketing techniques. “Generating Revenue with Special Events for Business Owners” will be held on Tuesday, April 5, from 1 until 4 p.m. “Mobile Apps for Small Business” will follow on that same day, from 6 until 9 p.m. Both are scheduled to meet in Building 4 (Room W4103) of the Warrenton campus. Leading both seminars will be Renae …
VGCC to offer Biotech Workshop to high school students
Vance-Granville Community College has scheduled its fourth annual Biotech Workshop for local high school students, as one of a series of VGCC Arts & Sciences camps and workshops being held this year. All tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders who have taken or are currently taking biology and chemistry are invited to attend the workshop, which is set to take place over the course of two Saturdays: April 2 and April 9, each day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students …