VGCC Students Enjoy Bowling, Mentoring
A recent bowling outing by a group of local men was not just fun and games. It was a key component of Vance-Granville Community College’s male minority mentoring program.
The Male Mentoring Program, also called M2, is designed to assist first-year ethnically diverse students in acquiring the confidence, resources and skills needed to succeed academically and socially at Vance-Granville. The program, coordinated by VGCC Director of Counseling Daniel Alvarado, places emphasis on academic success and also addresses retention and transitional issues that impact college student development. Mentors are carefully chosen through an application process and are paired with incoming diverse male students who have agreed to participate as mentees. Mentors advise, direct and counsel each student to develop his own abilities, set goals and progress toward those goals.
For 2007-2008 — the second year of the program — the initiative has been re-christened “Men-on-a-Mission.” VGCC Student Activities coordinator Peyton Boyd explained that the name was chosen “because we are on a mission to succeed, live a life of integrity in all that we do and a willingness to strive to be all that we can in life. At VGCC, we are committed to giving these young men and others like them every possible tool to succeed both here at the college and in life.”
Participants in the Men on a Mission program, who may be enrolled at any of the four VGCC campuses, gather together in one room several times throughout the year for workshops, guest speakers, confidence courses and one-on-one mentoring. The group’s most recent retreat was at Carolina Lanes in Henderson on Dec. 7, 2007. “We bowled a few games and all had lunch together,” Boyd said. “The purpose of the retreat is to provide good fellowship and opportunities for these young men to bond, make connections, share experiences and have a little fun in the process.”
For more information on the mentoring program, contact Daniel Alvarado at (252) 738-3282 or Peyton Boyd at (252) 738-3445.
Above: Vance-Granville Community College staff and students held a retreat at Carolina Lanes in Henderson on Dec. 7, 2007. From left, standing: VGCC Student Activities coordinator Peyton Boyd, students Dedrick Williams of Louisburg, Antonio Maribal, J’Maine Richardson of Henderson, Chris Patterson of Louisburg (back), Jamelle Harris of Louisburg, Ray Massey of Franklinton and VGCC Franklin County Campus Director Anthony Pope; seated: Student Government Association president Ed Lyons of Louisburg. (VGCC photo)
