NRCC News

NRCC ACCE program off to solid start

Aug 31 2015

This is an archived article!

This article was published on Aug 31 2015 and was archived on Aug 01 2016. The information below may be outdated or inaccurate.

New River Community College's "Access to Community College Education" initiative for Giles County high school graduates has gotten off to a solid start.

ACCE is a public/private partnership between Giles County and the New River Community College Educational Foundation that provides the opportunity for Giles County high school graduates to attend New River Community College tuition free for two years. The class of 2015 was the first to benefit from the program.

Eighteen graduates from Narrows High School were accepted to ACCE, being awarded more than $35,000 in funding - that's an average of $1,950 per student. Giles High School had 39 students accepted, being awarded a total of $75,180 in funding, an average of $1,928 per student. "This is a win/win/win certainly for NRCC, certainly for Giles County, but most importantly for our students here in Giles County," said Dr. J. Lewis Webb, NRCC Educational Foundation Board member and ACCE supporter.

Eleven students from Narrows and 26 from Giles have accepted the ACCE funding. Those students aren't just getting funds for education - they are required to give back to their home community, too. Students in the ACCE program must participate in a Giles County community service project for a total of 40 hours each semester (or 80 hours per year). All but two of the students who accepted ACCE funding completed their service hours over the summer. The other two elected will begin their projects this fall.

With help from Giles County community service coordinator Charlie Mullins and special project leader Jeff Dinger, the students are placed in one of several work areas ranging from cleaning kennels and walking dogs at the animal shelter, to being a teacher's aide, to assisting with maintenance on county buildings and grounds. Whenever possible, Mullins and Dinger explain, they try to place students in work areas that go along with their future interests and educational goals. Each work area has a mentor who is responsible for supervising the students and helping them grow. This is beneficial to both the students and county employees, as some mentors wouldn't normally get to act in a supervisory capacity in their positions. The county's Board of Supervisors, which fully supports the program, is most keen on the students learning what Dinger calls "world of work" skills. He describes these as basic employee conduct skills that might be difficult to teach in a classroom setting - things like accountability, arriving on time to begin work and generally how to be a good employee.

The county itself also sees a direct benefit from the sheer volume of working hours the students contribute. "It's almost thirty two hundred hours this year," says Mullins. That equals about 1.5 full-time employees working for one year.

While all that learning might not sound like what the average high school graduate wants to do on their summer vacation, Mullins says the program has been very well received by students and he hasn't received a single complaint. In fact, during the first week the summer students were working, he received a compliment from a member of the public noting how hard the students were working and how interested they were in their jobs.

County residents are quick to support the program, as well. "I taught and coached at Giles High School for 32 years and know that this is one of the greatest offerings that our students have ever received," said Anne Wheeler, member of NRCC's Educational Foundation Board and Giles County resident. "Giles County's citizens are proud to afford the opportunity for our students to enhance their education and obtain degrees from NRCC. Hopefully, the other areas served by New River will soon follow our lead."

To keep the beneficial program going, executive director of the NRCC Educational Foundation Angie Covey says that this year's fundraising goal is $240,000. Giles County will provide $75,000 to the program, leaving $165,000 to