VGCC Offers Compensatory Education, GED Classes Off-Campus In Four Counties

Vance-Granville Community College is actively involved in providing educational opportunities for the special populations in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties.

Free training called Compensatory Education is part of the training offered, and it is for adults with mental retardation or adults functioning on a level equivalent to mental retardation resulting from brain injury.

North Carolina is one of only three states in the United States offering Compensatory Education through its community colleges. The Compensatory Education Program of the N.C. Community College System serves more than 4,000 students annually. 

Vance-Granville Community College also provides adult basic education/general equivalency diploma (GED) programs at a variety of off-campus locations in the four counties the college serves.

The goal of Compensatory Education is to help individuals acquire basic and life skills needed to function successfully in daily living. This training is directed towards helping these special populations become independent and become active participants in their communities.

Language, math, social science, community living, consumer education, health and vocational education are taught in the program. Students are also exposed to problem solving, self-advocacy, leadership skills, value-based services, and developing and maintaining friendships.

Individuals must be 17 or older, and they must have been diagnosed with mental retardation or have suffered head injury or brain damage.

Vance-Granville Community College has been offering Compensatory Education at the INCO/RVC Rehabilitation Facility in Henderson for many years. Fourteen classes a day are offered at INCO on Monday-Thursday. Students change classes as in regular school, and each student has his or her own personal education plan.

There are also two freestanding Compensatory Education programs offered that provide seven academic instructional areas. Classes are held at First Presbyterian Church in Henderson on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon, and at Britthaven of Louisburg on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

Anyone interested in enrolling students in these freestanding Compensatory Education programs should call Sue Grissom, director of Basic Skills/Community-Based Literacy and Special Populations for VGCC, at 252-738-3315.

Adult Basic Education/GED classes are also for adults who did not complete high school and who want to get their high school equivalency diplomas.

GED classes are offered at each of the Vance-Granville campuses in the four counties. “We also teach the classes away from the beaten path and try to cover every area where instruction is needed,” said Grissom. Most off-campus GED classes are taught in the evenings.

In Vance County, GED classes are held at Carver Elementary School, L.B. Yancey Elementary School and at New Restoration Church on East Andrews Avenue. At L.B. Yancey, students have access to basic computer training as well as the general GED curricula.

Talmadge Edwards teaches GED for Vance-Granville at the Franklinton Library, and he also conducts the Compensatory Education program at Britthaven of Louisburg. He can be reached for more information at 919-496-4554.

In Granville County, GED classes are available at Oasis of Hope Ministries, Mary Potter Intermediate School and Richard H. Thornton Library, all in Oxford, and at Stovall-Shaw Elementary School in Stovall.

Rupert Jenkins teaches the GED class at Norlina Public Library on Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. He can be reached at 456-9804 or 456-9167. In addition, VGCC has been conducting GED classes at Glen Raven Inc. in Norlina for its employees for many years. Now, students from outside the company may inquire about enrolling for day classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays by calling Sharon Carlson at 252-456-4141.

For more information on any of these Compensatory Education or off-campus GED classes, call Sue Grissom at 252-738-3315, or from Granville County, call 693-6575, ext. 3315.