‘Race 4 Literacy’ Course Runs Through VGCC & New Hope School
The North Carolina Community College System has a campaign called “Race 4 Literacy,” with the purpose of trying to help every adult in the state earn a high school diploma.
Vance-Granville Community College’s newest vehicle in this race is a community-based Basic Skills/GED ( general educational development ) site in New Hope Elementary School in Townsville.
While Vance-Granville has 17 community sites offering GED instruction in the service area, the New Hope site was the easiest to acquire and to get up and running, said Sue Grissom, VGCC’s director of Basic Skills, Community-Based. That, she said, is because of the assistance of I Believe God Outreach Church.
The church, which is co-pastored by Carolyn and Lee Faines, was looking for a way to get involved in the Williamsboro-Townsville community it serves. Canecca Davis, a church member, said the church surveyed the community to determine its needs.
“We found that many people in the community did not have a high school diploma, and this was greatly hindering their attempts to succeed,” Davis said. “We contacted Sue and came up with a plan of action to make it succeed.”
“The church smoothed the way for this site,” said Grissom. “They acquired New Hope as a site; they recruited students and even the teacher.” Melda Smith, principal at Clarke Street School in Henderson, agreed to teach the GED class that began meeting April 4 and now has 15 students.
“They (I Believe God Outreach Church) do everything,” Grissom said. “The two biggest obstacles to education at our community based sites are transportation and child care, and the church provides both of those.” Currently, church members transport four students to the classes and provide care for three children while their parents are in class.
New Hope School and its principal, Oddis Smith, have been wonderful, according to Grissom. They willingly provided space for the class and have supported it in every way possible, she said.
Melda Smith said she came to New Hope to teach the GED class because she wanted to. “No one had to twist my arm,” she said.
“I love the self-motivation and determination of these
students,” Smith said. “They have ability and desire, and when some obstacle has come up, no one has to push them. They want to learn. Everyone WILL finish,” Smith declares.
Carolyn Edwards, who lives on Stagecoach Road in Williamsboro, is one of the GED students at New Hope. She said she had to drop out of school to take her sister to dialysis in Durham. T hen she married and began to raise a family and was unable to return to school. Her six children have been, and continue to be, students at New Hope, and Edwards began to volunteer at the school. Upon completing her GED, she plans to enroll at VGCC and get her Teacher Associate degree so she can be a more effective helper in the school.
Not only is Edwards working toward her GED, but so is her foster son, Sean Sills, 19, and her daughter Jessica, also 19. Jessica plans to attend Elizabeth City State University when she gets her high school diploma. Carolyn Edwards said she is trying to get her 68 year-old mother to enroll in the GED class. “I want us to all get educated together,” said Edwards.
Carolyn Harris, assistant principal at New Hope, likes what is going on with the GED class at her school. “Anytime you can get parents involved, it helps the children in school,” she said. “When children see their parents reading and studying, they will, too.”
Vance-Granville also has community-based GED classes in Vance County at L.B. Yancey and Carver schools, at Shiloh Baptist and First Presbyterian churches, at INCO and at Vance-Granville-Warren Resource Center. Any adult interested in getting their high school diploma may visit any of these sites or call Sue Grissom at (252) 738-3315.
