FACULTY AND STAFF CELEBRATE THE ARRIVAL OF AN INCLUSIVE PROGRAM DESIGNED TO IMPACT THE COMMUNITY
James Sprunt Community College is excited to announce one of its newest programs, which serves students with IDD (Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities). This innovative program, Giving Everyone a Role in Society (GEARs), is an exciting opportunity to serve a brand-new community through education!
JSCC is one of 15 community colleges in North Carolina that participated in a pilot program hosted by the North Carolina Community College System. The 2-year cohort will focus on life and soft skills through contextualized hands-on activities to increase independence, career exploration, and employability skills.
GEARs launched this Fall with a full class of students with various abilities, behaviors, and needs. The program’s goal will be to provide additional resources and services for a population in our county that may otherwise be overlooked. A parent of a student comments, “GEARs is a fantastic opportunity for families in Duplin County whose adult children have graduated high school or aged out of the public education system. Our family is excited for our daughter to learn greater independence, practice social and life skills, and become more familiar with our community by attending field trips and interacting with adults outside of the family so she can become confident in self-advocating for herself. We look forward to being a part of this amazing program at JSCC.”
Beth Wooten, Access to Achievement Coordinator for GEARs, is honored to serve in her new role at JSCC. “We are all super excited for the upcoming year at JSCC. Our new GEARs program is designed to help our students reach their full potential.”
Sherri Thigpen, Director of College and Career Readiness, states:
“JSCC had already planned to launch our IDD program this Fall, but being selected for the IDD Pilot Program will help us serve our students at a higher level, and they deserve that!” Instructors for this program include Antionette Jennings and Alyssa Lanier. We are confident this will be an exciting new program for our campus!
For more information on JSCC’s GEARs program, please contact Sherri Thigpen at sthigpen@jamessprunt.edu or 910-275-6201.
