Marian Clifton recalls Virginia Peninsula Community College President Dr. Towanna Porter Brannon saying a few years ago the College needs to reach out more to underserved populations.
In southeast Newport News, the College is doing just that.
“We are really delivering on a promise that Dr. Brannon made when she first came and challenged us to really go back into the community,” said Clifton, a Southeast Newport News Initiative Presidential Fellow and VPCC faculty member.
The College’s Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Development is an example. It’s a collaboration with the Peake Early Childhood Development Center and the City of Newport News to provide a new training facility for prospective teachers. The goal is to have classes for VPCC’s Early Childhood Education program at the Peake Center’s newest location starting with the spring 2025 semester. A hard-hat tour of the 1500 Jefferson Ave. facility took place May 9. The Peake Center’s main location is on Thomas Street in Hampton.
“It was really exciting to see the actual places where these classes are going to be conducted,” Clifton said.
VPCC’s Early Childhood Education program, headed by Teresa Frazier, includes an associate degree, a one-year degree, and a career studies certificate (about 15 credits). While classes are offered at the Hampton Campus and online, the program will transition to the new center in Newport News. Classes will be available there and online.
“What we are trying to do is build a pipeline for the Peake Childhood Development Center so we’ve got some folks that will be ready when they’re getting ready to hire (at their southeast Newport News location),” Frazier said.
VPCC President Dr. Towuanna Porter Brannon said students enrolled in the program will use the Peake Center as a learning laboratory since they will be housed together.
“The goal was to have teachers from that community be trained at our college so that they would hopefully stay in that community and help educate the youngest members of our community,” Brannon said.
A bonus of the new location is students will be able to take all required classes for the degree there, including general education courses.
“It is definitely self-contained,” Frazier said, noting students won’t need to travel between downtown Newport News and the Hampton Campus for classes. “Everything they need to get the career studies certificate and then working their way up to the two-year degree, everything will be onsite.”
Frazier is excited about the long-term effect this could have on the children who grow up in southeast Newport News.
“The most important piece is the impact it’s going to have on the children down there,” she said. “There’s going to be quality childcare. There’s also going to be quality staffing, teachers working there. But all of it’s going to be for the benefit of the children and the families. … That’s going to help the families and the children.”
The center also will provide educational programs for parents and caregivers.
New trades center
Another project the College has in the works in southeast Newport News is a new trades center. The address is 520 21st Street, just off Jefferson Avenue and a few blocks from the Early Childhood Development Center. Once completed, and the goal is in the next 18-24 months, residents on the lower Peninsula will have access to trades training there and at the Hampton Campus.
“A lot of what I hear when we’re traveling around this region is the desperate need for talent in our skilled trades area,” Brannon said.
Officials at Newport News Shipbuilding told her they anticipate hiring 27,000 workers in the next five years, including 10,000 alone in shipbuilding.
“Our goal is to establish this trades center in southeast Newport News to expand our capacity to train and also offer opportunities to the residents in that area the kind of training that will lead them to high-demand, high-wage jobs,” Brannon said.
Todd Estes, vice president for Workforce Development and Innovation at the College, said the project is a perfect display of a partnership. The City of Newport News has donated land and support for site preparation on the 16,000-square facility, while the Newport News Economic Development Authority is managing the project.
“This is another example showing VPCC’s commitment to the community and our partners,” Estes said. “There is a significant demand for all types of trades training, and we’re expanding to meet that demand.”
The College had a trades center at the Goodwill Center on Saville Row in Hampton, but that agreement ended July 2023.
Community involvement
Representatives from the College will be active in the community also by taking part in the Southeast Day Parade on Sept. 7. Clifton also is working with Ivy Baptist Church and Rev. Kevin Swann on a career fair in October.
“It will be a great opportunity for us to share that we are going to have a new trades center in the southeast area,” Clifton said of the events. “We are doing a lot in the southeast community to prepare for the impact that we are making in the community.”
She noted there is a great opportunity to link VPCC not only with the City of Newport News but with the U.S. Department of Labor and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on state and national levels.