VGCC Recognizes Mentors, Mentees

Vance-Granville Community College recently recognized students, faculty and staff who took part in the first year of the college’s Male Mentoring Program. The Male Mentoring Program, or M2P, 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 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. Steven Powell of Oxford, a teacher and football coach at J.F. Webb High School, and the author of “Having the Courage to Love Your Child,” served as the guest speaker at the final M2P meeting of the academic year, held May 3 at the Franklin County Campus in Louisburg. Powell applauded those who have been involved in mentoring, which he said can be “a life saver.”Franklin Campus assistant director Anthony Pope and Franklin Campus counselor Nancy Price presented certificates to the student mentees, including Jermiel Yancey, Durelle Green, Cornelius Hargrove, Antonio Soria, Marawan Shetta, Rodney Allen, Tyree Gill, Kelvin Davis, Lamont Richardson, Christopher Patterson, Mario Wright, Earl Hicks, Dwight Paulino, Joshua Carter, Jamelle Harris, Brett Lipe and Antonio Crudup. Pope also recognized student Edward Lyons of Louisburg, vice president of VGCC’s Student Government Association, for his help with the program. “Anyone willing to mentor to you becomes your family,” Lyons reflected. “And family is the foundation of everything in our society.”Mentees then gave testimonies about the impact that the program had on them, and Pope, a mentor himself, read an original poem, entitled “A Step in the Right Direction – Respect.”“I feel that mentoring can play a very important role in encouraging these young men to stay focused on their goals,” Pope said. “Even though there will be barriers that may temporarily distract them, it is important for them to remember that ‘life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.’ Even though your dreams are sometimes delayed, they will not be denied if you are motivated to be successful.” Pope said that he had enjoyed working with mentees at his campus, and plans to continue in the next school year.VGCC President Randy Parker gave closing remarks, in which he congratulated the first group of mentees. “I look forward to this mentoring program continuing and growing, and I hope that today’s mentees will be tomorrow’s mentors,” Parker said. He encouraged the students to continue their educations with greater confidence and to pursue lifelong learning. Parker also thanked Pope, Vice President of Student Affairs Gene Purvis, Director of Counseling Daniel Alvarado and Student Activities coordinator Peyton Boyd for their efforts to make M2P a success. In addition to Pope, Price and Lyons, mentors included VGCC Public Services coordinator/instructor Curtis Tyndall and Office Systems Technology/Web Technologies instructor Tommy Edwards.For more information on M2P, call VGCC at (252) 738-3234.Above: From left, standing: Vance-Granville Community College Male Mentoring Program participants Earl Hicks, Antonio Crudup, Jamelle Harris, Dwight Paulino and Jermiel Yancey; and seated, Edward Lyons, vice president of VGCC’s Student Government Association, who assisted with the mentoring program, pose for a photo at VGCC’s Franklin County Campus. (VGCC Photo)