VGCC Names Drama Instructor, Health Administrative Assistant for 2005 Honors

Betsy Henderson has been chosen 2005 Instructor of the Year for Vance-Granville Community College, and Audrey Stainback has been named Staff Member of the Year.

Henderson, instructor of Theatre Arts and Speech, is Vance-Granville’s nominee for the 2005 Excellence in Teaching Award by the North Carolina Community College System, and Stainback, administrative assistant in the Health Sciences Division, is nominated for the system’s Staff Award.

Henderson, who lives in Raleigh, has been at Vance-Granville five years. She has a bachelor’s in fine arts from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master’s in fine arts from UNC-Greensboro.

 

Betsy Henderson receives 2005 Excellence in Teaching Award	Audrey Stainback is named 2005 Staff Member of the year

---

 

A professional actress, Henderson has won awards for performances with theatre groups in Raleigh where she is on the Board of Directors of the Raleigh Ensemble Players Theatre Company. During summers, she teaches children as part of the Applause! Youth Theatre in Cary.

At Vance-Granville, she has revived the theatre program at the college. She and her students have spent numerous evening and weekend hours outside class preparing student productions, which are open to the public as well as to the student body, staff and faculty.

Henderson’s students praise her for her enthusiasm in the classroom and for her teaching style that brings out the best in each individual. One student letter of recommendation for the award was signed by five siblings, including a set of quadruplets, who took her classes in the College Transfer program. They praised Henderson for her “remarkable ability to encourage her students.”

Other students spoke of the positive impact Henderson had on their lives.

One said, “Because of Ms. Henderson, I can speak in front of a class class with confidence.” Another said, “Instead of just telling us things we need to know for class, she actually teaches us.”
Henderson’s supervisor, Dr. John Beck, Dean of Arts & Sciences, praised her for her teaching style and named her his department’s Instructor of the Year.Audrey Stainback is a lifelong Vance County resident who earned an Associate in Applied Science degree from Vance-Granville in May 2004. She earned her degree while working full-time as faculty secretary for Health Education (now Health Sciences), a position she has held since 1995.
Dr. Angela Ballentine, Dean of Health Sciences, nominated Stainback for the Staff Award. Dr. Ballentine said that the department has continued to grow and, “I have witnessed tremendous growth and productivity in Mrs. Stainback.”

Dr. Ballentine praised Stainback for her willingness to share her time and expertise and said she continually looks for ways to enhance the various health education programs through effective communications skills.
The heads of Health Sciences programs such as nursing, pharmacy technology and radiography also wrote letters praising Stainback for her contributions to their programs.
Stainback was also praised for her volunteer work in the community with Relay For Life and the March of Dimes and for her active role in Bible Baptist Church.

Stainback plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree at East Carolina University.