ECC Celebrates New Students on Signing Day

Fourteen seniors at North East Carolina Preparatory School participated in ECC Signing Day recently and confirmed their commitment to attend Edgecombe Community College in the fall. Shown celebrating with the students are parents and staff from the school and ECC.

Eighty-four Edgecombe County high school seniors declared their intention to attend Edgecombe Community College this fall at ECC Signing Day held at high schools earlier this month.

Signing Day is a national initiative to celebrate students for making a commitment to higher education.

Students, parents, and College and high school officials attended ECC Signing Day events on May 15 and May 16 at North Edgecombe, SouthWest Edgecombe, and Tarboro high schools, and North East Carolina Preparatory School.

Three of the North Edgecombe High School seniors who will attend ECC in the fall completed an ECC guitar-making class offered at the high school this past spring. From left are A’Naize Warren, Myia Jones, ECC President Dr. Deborah Lamm, and Taye Jones.

Fifteen seniors at North Edgecombe, 29 seniors at SouthWest Edgecombe, 26 seniors at Tarboro High School, and 14 seniors at North East Carolina Prep officially joined the student body of Edgecombe Community College.

“When you start, we’ll be there. When you’re working toward your degree, we’ll be there. When you graduate, we’ll be there,” assured Michael Jordan, vice president of student services at ECC. “We are looking forward to having you, and we want you to know how much we appreciate you.”

North East Carolina Preparatory School seniors Aleiah Pippen and Mary Cherry will attend Edgecombe Community College in the fall. Pippen plans to study business, and Cherry, cosmetic arts. From left are Tony Rook, ECC dean of enrollment management; Aleiah Pippen; her mother, Leslie Pippen; parents Regina and Mack Cherry; and their daughter, Mary Cherry.

Among the 84 seniors were 54 EDGE Scholarship recipients. Through the EDGE Scholarship, students with a 2.6 GPA in high school or college and who meet other criteria receive full funding at the level of in-state tuition – after all other sources of funding are exhausted – for up to a three-year period. The EDGE Scholarship is based on President Obama’s America’s College Promise initiative.

Taye Jones, a senior at North Edgecombe, plans to study Electrical Systems Technology at ECC. He took a guitar-making class at the College this past spring and loved it. The class combined STEM skills with the arts. “The guitar class really stood out,” he says. “When I first came to class I was nervous, but as the weeks went by I knew ECC is where I want to be.”

From left are SouthWest Edgecombe senior Lillie Barnes, and her mother, Stacey Barnes. Lillie Barnes plans to study nursing at ECC.

Lillie Barnes, a senior at SouthWest Edgecombe, plans to enter the Nursing program. A Macclesfield resident, she chose Edgecombe Community College because it’s “close to home, and the nursing facility is awesome.”

Barnes was referring to the Biotechnology and Medical Simulation Center on the Rocky Mount campus. The cornerstone of this facility is a simulated hospital environment in which students work together as teams to assess and treat patient manikins.

Through the Career and College Promise program available at the high schools, Trey Lancaster, a senior at Tarboro High School, has taken so many ECC classes that he will be able to earn an associate degree from ECC in one year. Associate degree programs typically require two years of study.

Trey Lancaster will be in the College Transfer program at ECC. He has taken enough ECC courses as a Tarboro High School student to enter the College with a year of college credit. Shown with him is his mother, Katherine Lancaster.

Following completion of his College Transfer degree at ECC, Lancaster plans to transfer to East Carolina University to study construction management.

College graduates have more opportunities than those who choose not to pursue their education past high school. According to Georgetown’s Center on Education and Workforce, college graduates may earn 84 percent more over their lifetimes than high school graduates.