Special called meeting of BCCC Trustees is set for March 6

A special called meeting of the Beaufort County Community College Board of Trustees will be conducted on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The meeting will convene at 6:30 pm, in the board room of building 10 on the BCCC campus. The purpose of the meeting is to go into closed session to discuss a personnel item under NCGS 143-318.11-(a)(5)(6).

BCCC Personnel Committee to Meet on March 6

The Personnel Committee, a subcommittee of the Beaufort County Community College Board of Trustees, will meet on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m., in the board meeting room of building 10, on the BCCC campus. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss a personnel item in closed session under GS 143-318.11(a)(6).

ECHS Open House attracts hopefuls

The Beaufort County Early College High School will conduct its annual Information Open House at 6:00 pm on Monday, February 27, in the multi-purpose room of building 10 on the BCCC Campus. This session is for eighth-grade students and their parents who are seeking more information about the Early College High School program and how to apply. The high school will accept about 50 students for its fifth, ninth grade class scheduled to begin at Beaufort County Community College in the fall of this year, according to Principal Todd Blumenreich. The high school is a partnership between BCCC and Beaufort County Schools that allows students to take both high school and tuition-free community college courses, and graduate in five years with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in the field of their choice. BCECHS graduates can then either head into the work force with job-related skills or transfer to a four-year college or university. The deadline to apply for the school is March 23. Applications are available on the Beaufort County Schools website at www.beaufort.k12.nc.us, by clicking on the name of the school at the “Schools” menu. For more information about BCECHS, interested persons may contact Blumenreich at 252-940-6337 or Lisa Hill, college liaison, at 252-940-6497.

BCCC offers information session for HS students seeking college classes

Beaufort County Community College will hold an information session Monday, March 5, for the Beaufort Career and College Academy, a new program that gives eligible high school students the opportunity to take college courses tuition free.

The session will be at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. It is designed for rising high school juniors and seniors from public, private, and home schools as well as their parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and school personnel.

The goal of the Beaufort Career and College Academy is to provide eligible high school students with the opportunity to speed the completion of college certificates, diplomas and degrees that lead to transfer to a four-year college or university or provide entry-level job skills while the students are still in high school, according to Wesley Beddard, dean of instruction at BCCC.

A key benefit is that all of the college courses in this program are tuition free. That could mean a savings of over $25,000 towards a four-year degree at a public university for college-bound high school graduates and could mean a better-paying job for students pursuing technical careers, he said.

For many years, BCCC offered college classes to high school students through various programs created by the state legislature. In 2009, state lawmakers eliminated funding that enabled BCCC and other community colleges to offer most general education courses. This prevented enrollment in many of the most popular courses – such as art, economics, English, history, and psychology - for high school students, according to Beddard.

During the 2011 session, the state legislature appropriated funds for the Governor’s Career and College Promise Program. The major difference between the previous community college programs for high school students and Career and College Promise is that high school students must now apply and be admitted into a specific “educational pathway” in order to take any course at a community college, Beddard said.

In previous years, students could take a random selection of courses. The Beaufort Career and College Academy offers students a structured sequence of courses that lead to an academic credential, such as a technical or college transfer certificate or diploma.

BCCC will offer three College Transfer pathways and ten Career and Technical pathways. Each pathway has specific admissions and eligibility requirements.

While the information session will focus primarily on the college opportunities available for rising juniors and seniors, younger students and their parents are encouraged to attend as well, Beddard said.

“As students develop their four year high school plan of study, knowing about the educational options of the Career and College Academy can help maximize learning opportunities and shorten the amount of time needed to complete a college degree -- resulting in significant savings on college costs,” Beddard said. “This is an exciting opportunity for local high school students. We hope a large number of students and parents will come out to learn more about the Beaufort Career and College Academy.”

Local St. Vincent de Paul Society teams with BCCC to deliver help and hope

In 2006, Patrick “Pat” Brown, a member of Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Washington, found himself faced with an interesting problem.

At her death, Elda Flynn, a Mother of Mercy parishioner, had bequeathed a substantial sum of money to the church’s Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Society – of which – Brown was the President at that time.

Brown, a retired engineer, had been involved in the charitable organization since the early 1980s, having served as a member and conference president at his former Parish in St. Louis, MO.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a Catholic lay organization, with some 700,000 volunteers world-wide, who seek out and provide person-to-person aid to the poor and needy. The society, founded in 1833 in France, is named after the Saint, Vincent de Paul, because he cared for the poor, forgotten, and down trodden of Paris during the 1600s. The organization expanded into America in 1845 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Mother of Mercy has about 40 “Vincentians” within its congregation’s Conference.

The society is unique in its personalized involvement which may take the form of intervention, consultation, or direct dollar or in-kind services. An essential precept of the society's work is to provide help while conscientiously maintaining the confidentiality and dignity of those who are served.

"We spent about eight months figuring what we ought to do with this tremendous gift," said Brown. "By the SVdP Society Rule, you are not supposed to just stick money in the bank and sit on it. You are supposed to help the poor."

"We noticed higher than average dropout rates as well as illiteracy rates (as measured by the Literacy Council),” Brown said. “We saw a real lack of opportunities to connect adults with education. Using this data, we established adults as our target base."

In the end, Brown teamed up with faculty and staff at Beaufort County Community College BCCC to help people get the education and training they need to find jobs and raise themselves out of poverty.

Brown then contacted the college and asked to set up a meeting with the officials who could help him develop a system by which good candidates could be identified and worked into the education system.

After meeting with representatives from BCCC’s offices of Student Services, Financial Aid, and Basic Skills, as well as representatives from the county’s Department of Social Services (DSS), Brown and other volunteers established a system to remove the barriers preventing their clients from getting an education.

And, someone had to track the students’ progress and decide what to do when people failed classes or did not complete coursework. This is when Sue Brookshire, director of Retention Services at Beaufort County Community College, stepped in. She was appointed to be a college liaison to the local SVdP chapter.

"It's not just a handout,” Brookshire said in an interview about the program. “When we first started, people came out of the woodwork seeking money for tuition and books at Mother of Mercy. They would tell the volunteers that their paperwork or financial aid was messed up, but in reality, they had failed everything, and were no longer eligible for any other assistance."

Most referrals are a good fit with BCCC’s Division of Continuing Education, because many of the candidates need the very basics – like a GED or short courses of study in high demand areas like nursing assistant, and truck driving - to make them employable in shorter period of time.

Fees for these programs – tuition, insurance, books, and uniform add up to more than $250 - which is a daunting amount of money for most of the applicants. And, because this program runs through the Division of Continuing Education, the students are ineligible for traditional financial aid like Pell Grants or Foundation scholarships.

“Without the support of SVdP, we would not have been able to train the large number of students who were able to enroll in our NA program. The support of the Society has been vital to the success of our program,” said Cindy Stringer, BCCC’s Nurse Aid Program Coordinator/Instructor.

SVdP funds are also available for curriculum programs like cosmetology and industrial technology programs like welding, automotive mechanics, electrical engineering technology, and machining.

To date, the SVdP Conference and the program Brown helped form have handled 276 adult referrals for students to receive training at BCCC. About half of these have received some type of financial help from SVdP which cumulatively amounts to more than $24,000.

“Sometimes people just needed a little assistance to remove barriers to getting an education,” Brown said.

BCCC to offer class in Better Presentations and PowerPoint 2010

The Division of Continuing Education will offer a class in Better Presentations and PowerPoint 2010. It is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m., on Tuesdays, beginning March 13 and ending May 1, in Room 822 of Building 8, on the BCCC campus.

This 24-hour course will be packed with useful information on making better presentations. Students will be introduced to Microsoft’s PowerPoint 2010 and will create a presentation using transitions and visual aids such as clip art, sounds and hyperlinks. The instructor is Lisa Evans.

The registration fee is $65. A $5 technology fee will also be charged. The registration fee may be waived for one course per academic semester for students 65 years old and older. The technology fee applies to all students.

For more information about this course, contact Lou Stout at 940-6307. Students may register by calling 252-940-6375 or in person in room 802 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. BCCC accepts Visa and MasterCard. Checks payable to Beaufort County Community College may be mailed to the attention of Eva Peartree, P.O. Box 1069, Washington, NC 27889.

For more information about other Continuing Education classes, visit BCCC’s Website at www.beaufortccc.edu/coned/.

BCCC to offer course in e-commerce

The Division of Continuing Education at Beaufort County Community College is offering a course that will introduce students to electronic, or e-commerce. The course will be offered from 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning March 13 and ending May 1, in Room 822 of Building 8, on the BCCC campus. The instructor is Lisa Evans.

The registration fee for the 24-hour course is $65. A technology fee of $5 will also be charged. The registration fee may be waived for one course per academic semester for students 65 years old and older. The technology fee applies to all students.

Students in the course will learn techniques of selling and marketing their businesses on the Internet, business-to-business sales strategies and ways to participate in Internet auctions. Students will also gain information on security, payment systems, and planning. Legal, ethical, and tax issues will also be discussed.

For more information about any of these courses, contact Lou Stout at 940-6307. Students may register by calling 252-940-6375 or in person in room 802 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. BCCC accepts Visa and MasterCard. Checks payable to Beaufort County Community College may be mailed to the attention of Eva Peartree, P.O. Box 1069, Washington, NC 27889. For more information about other Continuing Education classes, visit BCCC’s Website at www.beaufortccc.edu/coned/.

Substitute teacher training offered

The Division of Continuing Education at Beaufort County Community College will offer a class that will prepare individuals to serve as substitute teachers in the local public schools.

The class will be 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, March 5 to 8, in Room 827 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. The instructor is Dolores Morgan.

The registration fee for the class is $65 and the required textbook, available for purchase from the BCCC bookstore, is $33.50. The 24-hour course will provide information on learning expectations, time management, monitoring student interaction, classroom management and many other topics related to serving as a substitute teacher. The course offers 2.4 Continuing Education Units.

For information about this class, contact Lou Stout at 252-940-6307. Students may register by calling 940-6375 or in person in room 802 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. BCCC accepts Visa and MasterCard. Checks payable to Beaufort County Community College may be mailed to the attention of Eva Peartree, P.O. Box 1069, Washington, NC 27889.

For more information about other Continuing Education classes, visit BCCC’s website at www.beaufortccc.edu/coned.

Learn to save money with coupons

What would it mean for your family’s budget if you could cut your grocery bill by 50 to 80 percent? Beaufort County Community College’s Division of Continuing Education is offering its popular coupon class again this winter.

Participants can learn how to use coupons to dramatically reduce the cost of their groceries at this seminar 6 to 9 p.m., Monday, March 12, in the auditorium of Building 8 on the BCCC campus.

The instructor for the seminar is Melody Page, host of “Extreme Ways to Save.” The registration fee is $20.

In this course, participants will learn money-saving secrets such as using a drug store customer rewards program to get health and beauty items free of charge; finding and organizing coupons; using grocery store sales cycles and getting paid to shop.

For more information about this course, contact Lou Stout at 940-6307. Students may register by calling 252-940-6375 or in person in room 802 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. BCCC accepts Visa and MasterCard. Checks payable to Beaufort County Community College may be mailed to the attention of Eva Peartree, P.O. Box 1069, Washington, NC 27889. For more information about other Continuing Education classes, visit BCCC’s Website at www.beaufortccc.edu.

Job Fair set for March 27

Are you looking for a new job? Beaufort County Community College students, graduates and job seekers will have the chance to talk with over 20 area employers at the annual BCCC Job Fair.

For the third year in a row the Business Job Fair will be combined with an Allied Health Career Fair that will give job-seekers the chance to talk one-on-one with potential employers and allow participants to explore careers in health care.

There will also be an area where participants can complete job applications.

The combined fair will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Tuesday, March 27, in the Multipurpose Room of Building 10, on the BCCC campus.

The annual event brings business and industry leaders under one roof with job seekers. In 2011, some 300 job seekers attended and made contact with some 25 employers.

The event’s focus is to help students, recent graduates and others in the community make the transition from school to work by providing them with contacts with local employers who have jobs to offer, according to Sandria McFadden, director of BCCC’s Career Center.

Attendance at the combined fair is free and open to BCCC graduates, students and job seekers in BCCC’s four-county service area of Beaufort, Hyde, Washington and Tyrrell counties.

“This is a collaborative effort to bring together employers, students, and other job seekers in one central location,” McFadden said. “With the recent downturn in the economy, a growing number of job seekers are using job fairs to connect with prospective employers. Job Fair 2012 will not only help these job seekers meet potential employers, it will also help employers find the right candidates to fill job openings in their businesses.”

Job fairs are a good way for potential employees to learn more about a business and what a particular job entails, she said. They also give firms an opportunity to evaluate and to identify true candidates for job openings.

Among the employers and agencies expected to participate in the job fair are the following: Beaufort County Schools, Carver Machine Works Inc., East Carolina University, Executive Personnel Group, Flanders Corporation, PAS, Nucor and Vidant Health.

Job seekers can visit the Career Center web page at www.beaufortccc.edu/stdserve/career/jobfair/jobfair.htm for an up-to-date list and a link to participating employers.

For more information about the upcoming Job Fair, interested persons can contact McFadden at 940-6314 or by email at SandyMcF@beaufortccc.edu.

Open House set for Beaufort County Early College High School

Beaufort County Early College High School will host an Open House at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, in the Multi-purpose Room of Building 10 on the BCCC campus to give prospective students the opportunity to learn more about the school and its application process.

“Any eighth grade student in Beaufort County who wants more information or is thinking about applying to Beaufort County Early College High School is invited to attend this Open House,” said Todd Blumenreich, school principal. “We also invite parents of prospective students to attend and learn more about this exciting opportunity.”

Beaufort County Early College High School, or BCECHS, is a partnership between Beaufort County Community College and Beaufort County Schools.

The school allows students to take high school and tuition-free community college courses and graduate in five years with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in the field of their choice. BCECHS graduates are then able to either head into the work force with job-related skills or transfer to a four-year college or university.

Applications for BCECHS will be available at the Open House and are currently being accepted for the fifth class to attend the school. Applications are also available by clicking on the name of the school at the “Schools” menu on the Beaufort County Schools website at www.beaufort.k12.nc.us.

The deadline for applications is March 23.

For more information about BCECHS, interested persons can contact Todd Blumenreich, principal, at 252-940-6337 or Lisa Hill, college liaison, at 252-940-6497.

BCCC program gives Washington woman chance to achieve her dream

A little over three years ago, Brenda Bohn of Washington was in a classroom at Beaufort County Community College for orientation as she began her elementary education studies.

In December, Bohn, a teacher’s assistant at John Cotten Tayloe Elementary School, achieved a long-time dream, earning her bachelor’s degree and licensure in elementary education and reading.

“I had a goal that I wanted to achieve when I was younger,” Bohn said. “And I always felt I gave up early.

In 2008, Bohn was one of 19 aspiring teachers enrolled in a program, now Wells Fargo Partnership East, a joint effort by the East Carolina University College of Education and community colleges throughout the university’s service area to train more teachers.

The program is designed to make it easier for students like Bohn, particularly those living in rural areas, to become teachers by taking classes part-time and online to earn education degree and certification while continuing to work and, in many cases, care for families.

It offers students the chance to earn bachelor’s degrees in elementary and special education with reading licensure and bachelor’s degrees in middle grades education with two areas of concentration.

“It provides an opportunity for access to a degree that, otherwise, people can’t do,” said Laura Bilbro-Berry, assistant director of teacher education at ECU. As part of her duties at ECU, Bilbro-Berry oversees the Wells Fargo Partnership East program. “But is it easy? Is it quick? No.”

Bohn, a native of Ohio, was inspired to be a teacher by a first grade teacher she described as “awesome.” Bohn admired the way she handled the students in her class and “stood her ground.”

But after attending college for almost three years, Bohn decided instead to earn an associate’s degree and spent 16-years in corporate accounting.

Bohn and her husband, Allan, moved to eastern North Carolina when he accepted a position with Weyerhaeuser’s plant in Plymouth (now the Domtar plant) and after working as a teacher’s assistant, Bohn heard about the Wells Fargo Partnership East.

“When I heard about the program, I said to myself, ‘You need to do this now’,” she said.

With the help of Bilbro-Berry, Bohn mapped out a plan that helped her to complete some general education requirements at BCCC in 2007 and enroll in the program in 2008.

Bohn said it was initially difficult to return to the classroom - especially an online classroom in which she had to learn to motivate and pace herself with her coursework. But with the help of her teachers and fellow students, she knew she could succeed.

“I had to teach myself how to learn all over again. . .but failing or not completing my studies was not one of my options,” she said.

Bohn is one of six former BCCC students who have graduated within the Wells Fargo Partnership East program with two more projected to graduate this summer and five, in the fall, according to program statistics.

Twelve students currently enrolled in the program have BCCC listed as their primary community college.

While budget cuts have led to teachers losing their jobs in many areas of the state, there is still a need for teachers in Northeastern North Carolina and Wells Fargo Partnership East has helped meet that need, Bilbro-Berry said.

Since the program began in 2002, Wells Fargo Partnership East has graduated 347 students. Of those graduates, 312 are licensed to teach in North Carolina with 261 currently employed in North Carolina and 254 teaching in eastern North Carolina.

In 2006, BCCC was designated as a hub site for the program. It was at this new hub site that Bohn began her studies.

For a short time, during the final six weeks of the semester, Bohn’s dream of becoming a teacher came true. While she was completing her teaching internship at Northeast Elementary School, Bohn was tapped to serve as a third grade teacher at John Cotten Tayloe School to take over for a teacher who was out on maternity leave.

She said she has enjoyed the experience, particularly the opportunity to learn first-hand what her students needed to be successful at their studies.

“Also, I’ve had to learn to be patient and not expect immediate results,” she said.

When the teacher returned from maternity leave, Bohn returned to her job as a teacher assistant at the school. She is looking forward to standing in front of her own classroom, hopefully, when the new school year begins.

For more information about the Wells Fargo Partnership East, interested persons can contact Karli Ruscoe, Northeast and Virtual Consortia Coordinator at 252-493-7659 or by email at ruscoek@ecu.edu. Ruscoe is available for consultation appointments two days per month at BCCC. She is also available via telephone and email for information about WPE. General information about the program can be found at www.ecu.edu/wpe.