Read Charlotte’s Story at journalnow.com.
If Charlotte’s story inspired you to take a class, here are the art classes offered for Spring. If you are interested, call 336.734.7023 for more information.
Drawing in Color #140934 starting Thursday 3/18 – 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Drawing Beginning/Intermediate #140794 starting Monday 2/22. – 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Acrylic Painting #140479 – Thursdays – 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Oil Painting: All Levels #140796 Starting Tuesday 2/2 . – 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Janet Spriggs’ second year as president of Forsyth Tech Community College was fraught with challenges brought about by Covid-19. There were delays in construction of the college’s Mazie S. Woodruff Aviation Technology Lab at Smith Reynolds Airport, now expected to open this year. The school was also forced to roll out its new branding in a “drive-thru” event.
Most important, though, is facing the challenge that community colleges do best: quickly pivoting to meet changing workforce needs, regardless of why they change. Spriggs said FTCC will rise to the challenge in 2021 to provide employers with skilled workers and students with employment opportunities.
“Every time there is a recession, we have seen that community colleges play an invaluable role in helping to retrain the workforce for the new jobs that are going to be born from the recession,” Spriggs said. ”We see that same thing happening because of what the pandemic has done to our economy.”
Groundbreaking research by Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM), initiated by Forsyth Technical Community College (FTCC), reveals that transportation challenges are taking a heavy toll on the college’s student productivity. The college, which works hard at economic mobility, is adversely impacted by urban sprawl and the transportation costs that come with it, just are so many other institutions and individuals here and nationwide. The CSEM study, done in partnership with Forsyth Tech, is helping lead the way to beneficial change for Forsyth Tech and other institutions.
Mike Massoglia, director of grant writing and development at Forsyth Tech, noted, “From helping us put together a student survey, to providing a thorough and provocative analysis of the results, CSEM has been a critically important partner. What struck us most about the report was the potential impact of transportation barriers on Forsyth Tech’s bottom line, let alone on the lives and economic mobility of our students: more than $1 million in lost state revenue from the thousands of credit-hours not taken.
Stacy Waters-Bailey, Forsyth Tech’s executive director of student support services, said, “We are, of course, very excited about the study and getting the results.” She serves on a task force made up of administrators, faculty and staff that will consider ways of applying the data into the new year. The data confirm stories they had heard from the students, she said, and the students added much more as they answered survey questions.
“You realize that the impact of transportation in Winston-Salem is much wider and more ingrained than we’d even imagined,” Waters-Bailey said. “CSEM’s report provided the initial data the college needed to better understand and lay a foundation for further analysis which will help make an impact for students and the community.”
As the year comes to a close, university and college administrators are looking back on the past year to help inform them on how to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the spring. With a diverse group of institutions in the Triad — from community colleges to public four-year universities to smaller private schools — the area is a unique microcosm of what higher education may look like across the nation next year.
“We’re asking students to do a soft quarantine before they return,” said Jermaine Thomas, the director of public safety and the chair of the health and safety task force at Guilford College. “Students will be online for the first week of classes and that may be pushed out to the first two weeks. We’re paying attention to the state and what the governor might do and looking for any type of stay-at-home order.”
Guilford College is a private school with a population of about 1,900, including faculty and staff. According to the school’s year-to-date coronavirus dashboard, there have been 36 positive cases of COVID-19 among the school’s community, which amounts to only 1.9 percent of the population. Earlier this year, Thomas said they shut athletics down and adjusted the dining hall for to-go orders. They also moved 80 percent of classes online and opened a residence hall for high-risk students to live alone. In the fall, all students coming back to campus had to get tested.
The Triad is getting a new aircraft building company once a lease agreement is executed at Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem.
LookUp Aviation, led by Winston-Salem native and entrepreneur Max Maxwell along with partners Mike Ojo and Algen Albritten, plans to open in the first quarter of 2021. It will be the exclusive East Coast distributorship of South African company Sling Aircraft and occupy vacant hangar space at 3820 N. Liberty St., where it will have sales and assembly operations.
To read more, go to the Library’s Online Resources
Just in time for Christmas, Ocir Black, a North Carolina teenager with deep roots in Henry County, has delivered a little Christmas present to his family and his community: He has composed a book featuring mothers’ advice to their sons.
“Love Letters to My Son” includes writing by Catina King, a graduate of Magna Vista High School; Juandalyn Jones-Hunt, a graduate of Fieldale-Collinsville High School; Lisa Little, a graduate of Martinsville High School; Triaillyn Evans, a graduate of Bassett High School; and JaMese Morris Black, his mother and a graduate of FCHS.
The whole idea was inspired by the letters his grandmother, Sallie Morris-Redd, used to write to her children and grandchildren. She was a popular English teacher whose career spanned five decades, spent between Carver and Bassett High Schools. After her first husband, James Morris, passed away, she married Walter Redd and then passed away in 2017.
“I wanted a way to keep her alive,” and creating a book inspired by her letters was the way to do it, said Black, who is 15.
Congratulations to Allan Younger, director of Small Business Center for “Man of the Year” Award from the Winston-Salem Chronicle
Winston Under 40 Leadership Awards
Each year, Winston Under 40 recognizes 20 of the community’s outstanding leaders under 40 in the annual Leadership Awards.
Congratulations to this year’s recipients, who are excelling in their field, contributing to the community, and demonstrating strong leadership for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.
A professional goal? “I want to develop the College Lift program at Forsyth Tech to a level at which it can serve as a model for community colleges all over the state, if not the nation.”
Scarlett Howell learned the crafty way to handle change by watching her grandmother Betsy Jane.
“I have learned over the years to embrace what life gives you even if it’s not what you envisioned,” Howell offered.
When the COVID pandemic forced the barbecue restaurant worker to hang up her apron, it opened the doors for Howell to pursue her dream. Last May, the Thomasville resident launched a business named for the grandmother who nurtured her passion for crafting — Betsy Jane Studio.
