Nearly nine months after becoming the seventh president of Forsyth Technical Community College, Janet Spriggs was formally sworn into office Thursday.

With community members, elected officials, current Forsyth Tech students and professors filling the Stevens Center, the more than two-hour inauguration ceremony featured 14 speakers as well as musical performances.

Spriggs came to Forsyth Tech after more than 22 years working at community colleges, including 15 years at Carteret Community College where she started her career in education.

Earlier this summer, EdNC.org sat down with Janet Spriggs, who became president of Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem in January. We talked to Spriggs about what prepared her for the role, Triad industry partnerships, outreach to high schoolers, and the college’s strategic plan.

“I think that my whole life has prepared me to be a community college president, although most of that time I probably did not realize that,” Spriggs said. “I grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina just across the Virginia border, and I’m a first generation college student.”

She said her experiences growing up allowed her to relate to barriers and risk factors of students. Plus, 14 years working in business and nearly 23 years serving in the community college space have given her a greater understanding of bringing education and business together. This understanding has led to a robust vision for Forsyth Tech’s future.

For the first time in at least 15 years — possibly ever — the top officials of Forsyth County’s six higher-education institutions shared a stage last week.

The Winston Salem Chamber of Commerce held its inaugural State of Education luncheon Wednesday at the Benton Convention Center. The goal was “bringing the community together for an important discussion about workforce opportunities.”

If the collaborative and collegial nature of the conversation is any indication, a new or extended series of partnerships could be spawned from the forum.

Forsyth Technical Community College’s newest president doesn’t have a lot of free time — but with the time she does have, she’s helping the college make strides after taking the reins from retired president Gary Green.

Dr. Janet Spriggs has worked in a variety of roles in the N.C. community college system for 22 years, most recently as the chief operating officer at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury. She’s not without accolades, either — the prestigious Aspen Institute selected her for the 2018-2019 Aspen Presidential Fellowship for Community College Excellence.

Registered nurse Lidia Danilevich was commissioned as U.S. Navy ensign in the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas on Aug. 30. Lt. Barbara Sterrenberg, from the Navy Officer Recruiting Station in Knoxville, Tenn., administered the commissioning oath.

Danilevich, a Russian national who earned her U.S. citizenship in 2015, began nurse’s training at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem and finished at University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Given her choice to be deployed to Japan, Fort Belvoir or Walter Reed Medical Center, she chose Walter Reed