Gift from Black High School Alumni to benefit GED students at VGCC
The North Carolina Association of Black High School Alumni recently presented a gift to the Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund to assist students with their GED (General Educational Development) testing fees. The intended beneficiaries are students in the Adult Basic Skills program at VGCC’s Franklin County Campus .
The NCABHSA was established in 2008 in order to maintain the history of former African-American high schools in central and eastern North Carolina, while also supporting education and young people. Among the high schools represented by the organization is Franklin County’s Gethsemane High School, which graduated its last class in 1968 during the era of desegregation. The association’s gift to VGCC follows similar donations to three other community colleges to help GED students.
Pictured above, from left: Jordan Sills of Mapleville in Franklin County, the parliamentarian of the association (and Gethsemane High School alumnus), and William Knight of Battleboro, the treasurer (and Swift Creek High School alumnus), present contributions to VGCC Franklin Campus Dean Bobbie Jo May, Adult Basic Skills department chair Cathy Barham and Franklin Campus Basic Skills coordinator/instructor Jeffery Allen. VGCC officials expressed their appreciation to the NCABHSA for supporting local adults who are seeking to earn their high school equivalency credential, which opens up numerous career and educational opportunities.
Basic Skills programs at VGCC allow students to complete the equivalent of a high school diploma, and to improve their proficiency in reading, writing and math. The GED Test is administered regularly at the Main Campus in Vance County and at the Franklin County Campus. Although VGCC classes that prepare students to take the GED Test are free of charge, students must pay a testing fee of $35. The new version of the GED Test, which goes into effect on Jan. 2, 2014, will have a higher fee.
Related story: Current version of GED Test near expiration, VGCC officials warn
