VGCC reaches out to adults at community locations

Vance-Granville Community College recently completed classes that helped area adults gain needed computer skills through partnerships that extend the college’s reach into the community.

 

“Employability Skills” classes were held at Western Vance High School in Henderson and at St. Delight Holy Church in Manson. The instructor for both was Donald Evans, a longtime teacher at Western Vance. The classes were offered by VGCC’s Human Resources Development (HRD) Department. HRD classes are designed to help the unemployed and the underemployed with career planning and workplace readiness skills. Fees for HRD classes are waived for qualified participants, including those who are unemployed. Although open to anyone, these two classes primarily attracted adults with many years of work experience who needed to gain computer skills in order to find jobs and re-enter the workforce.

 

In the case of Western Vance, this was the first time VGCC had held an evening class at the location. “This partnership between the college and the Vance County Schools system is a wonderful example of educational institutions using our space and resources to benefit the entire community,” said Coordinator of HRD Kyle Burwell. At St. Delight Holy Church, one of the students is Cynthia Turner, a trustee at the church. She explained that church members bought computers and printers to create a computer lab that is used for multiple purposes, including VGCC classes since 2013. “These community partnerships allow us to meet students where they are, saving them time and money,” Burwell said. Many students noted that the accessible locations of the classes were key factors in their decisions to enroll. All of this fall’s students at St. Delight live in the Manson area. Some took the classes to gain computer skills to use in their work, while Alice Burroughs wanted to brush up on her skills so that she can resume her college studies online. At Western Vance, student Angela Pantiel of Oxford said she enrolled in the class because “I had been out of the workforce for many years because of a disability, and now I want to get back to work.” When she stopped working, the Internet had only just started to become important in most businesses. “I was basically computer-illiterate before, but now I have gained valuable Internet, e-mail and word processing skills, and I’m typing 63 words per minute!” she said. She called Evans “a fabulous teacher” who tailored instruction to each student’s needs.

 

“As a community college, Vance-Granville is not just a campus — it’s an ongoing educational effort that takes place at various times and at numerous locations throughout our four counties, with students who are members of the community and come to a class for a few hours each week,” noted Dale Fey, VGCC’s dean of continuing education. “These collaborations represent a diverse group of citizens coming together because they want to learn, get up-to-date, improve and challenge themselves.”

 

For more information on Human Resources Development , contact Kyle Burwell at hrd-wk@vgcc.edu  or (252) 738-3276 .

 

Above: Elsie Gray of Henderson (seated) talks with VGCC instructor Donald Evans in the classroom at Western Vance High School. (VGCC photo)