VGCC School-Age Education students volunteer in Vance County schools

Students from Vance-Granville Community College recently volunteered as proctors for end-of-grade (EOG) testing in Vance County elementary and middle schools.

 

More than 30 students and alumni served as proctors at Dabney Elementary, Pinkston Street Elementary, New Hope Elementary, Carver Elementary, Eaton-Johnson Middle and Henderson Middle schools. Most were students in the School-Age Education program at the college.

 

The volunteer effort was organized by 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.

 

Jacquelin Heath, the program head/instructor for School-Age Education at VGCC, is the chapter advisor for SNCAE. “I was very pleased by the participation of our students, who volunteered when their own classes were not in session, and even after some of them had already graduated,” Heath said. “This shows the extent to which our students care about children and their community.”

 

Earlier this year, the VGCC School-Age Education program was one of 16 organizations honored as a “Shining Moment Partner” by the Vance County Schools system. The program prepares educators to work with children in elementary through middle grades. Students are placed in local schools for their internship experiences to gain real-world skills under the supervision of qualified teachers.

 

VGCC offers an Associate in Applied Science degree and a diploma in School-Age Education, as well as a School-Age Care certificate. For more information, contact Jacquelin Heath at (252) 738-3298 .

 

Above: Dabney Elementary School Assistant Principal Cheryl Coplin (third from left) greeted volunteers organized by VGCC and helped train them as proctors. Pictured with Coplin, from left, are Appalachian State University student Grant Woltz of Henderson, VGCC students Nikkiya Carroll of Henderson, Megan Sullivan of Oxford and Brandy Pendergrass of Henderson, and VGCC graduate Ellen Williams of Henderson. All of the current VGCC students were School-Age Education majors, and Sullivan graduated with that degree on May 16.  Sullivan and Pendergrass were returning to Dabney after completing their internships at the school.  (VGCC photo)