School Counselors Visit NCC
Career and College Promise student Abigail Wooten addresses local school counselors at the 2017 Counselors’ Breakfast at NCC.
Nash Community College hosted area school counselors at the annual Counselors’ Breakfast held Tuesday, February 7. The event provides an opportunity for college officials to share updates with school staff and to thank counselors for the role they play in helping students plan for a successful future. NCC President Dr. Bill Carver and Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelton Jefferies both spoke of the strong partnership between the college and the school system.
Pam Gould, Executive Director for Strategic Twin-Counties Educational Partnership (STEP), was the keynote speaker. “There is no doubt, and I do not need to preach to you, that education is the key to a great career,” she said. “There are great jobs and careers in the Twin Counties with good or great pay. There is no shame in the community college game; Nash Community wants to be every high school senior’s plan A. Community colleges were created to prepare citizens in technical skills for jobs. Encourage Career Pathway and Academy students to finish what they have started,” Gould told the counselors. “Help students and parents make the connection. Over my thirty years in the business, I see where the connection of school to career is not always made,” she said.
NCC Career and College Promise student Abigail Wooten told attendees about her experience as a 17 year old high school senior on a College Transfer track at Nash Community College. “I am a home school student. After taking a few classes at Nash my junior year in high school, I decided to enroll full-time for my senior year,” Wooten said. “I’ve loved all of my classes and have enjoyed building relationships with teachers this year.”
Through the Career and College Promise program Abigail Wooten says she plans to graduate with 38 college credits – more than a typical college student earns in a full year. She credits her instructors, and her experience as a tutor in the college’s math tank as the reasons she aspires to be a math teacher. “The Career and College Promise program has made an invaluable impact on my future, and I look forward to continuing at Nash next year after I graduate from high school.” Wooten plans to transfer to a four-year university following her graduation from Nash. For more information, please call 252-451-8244.
