FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR FATHER, DAUGHTER

DANVILLE, VA, May 31, 2007 --  Twenty-year-old Jessica Gibson never thought she would attend Danville Community College with her father, Duane Gibson. It was an “unusual experience,” yet she says she enjoyed every moment of it.

“He helped me in using Microsoft Excel, Access and other applications,” says Jessica, who earned her Associate of Arts and Science Degree in Liberal Arts. “We’ve been taking similar classes, so I’ve also helped him along the way. I’m just really glad that he went back to college. He’ll have good job opportunities when he finishes college.”

Duane, 49, is enrolled in the Information Systems Technology – Network Specialist program. He says the support he receives from his daughter has encouraged him to finish college. He also gains support from his wife of 21 years, Belinda Gibson, who now works for the Danville Public Schools, and who has been employed by and taken classes at DCC. Rounding out the family support encouraging him to attend college is Belinda’s sister, Connie Wann, who is the Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Academic and Student Services at DCC. Wann says she is extremely proud of them.

“When I found out that Duane was going to be laid of from his job at Dan River, I told him about the (Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002) which will help pay for his education,” Wann says. “He was thrilled to attend DCC, and Jessica wanted to come also.”

“I was very adamant about going to college,” agrees Jessica, who is also employed at a local restaurant. “I don’t want be a waitress my whole life. I wanted to attend DCC because it was close to home and affordable. When I took my first class here, I realized it was a totally different environment than high school and I loved it!”

She says that because students at DCC “want to learn”, the environment is void of all of the “rowdy, rude and talkative” students that she encountered in high school. She has been so impressed with DCC’s history classes that she plans a career teaching history at the collegiate level.

“DCC has prepared me to transfer to a four-year college,” says Jessica, a 2005 graduate of George Washington High School. “The college has a good reputation, and I’ve even been accepted at Virginia Tech. I plan on transferring to either Virginia Tech or Averett University and then earn my master’s degree.”

Likewise, her sister, Tabitha Miller, is in the education field, as a professor in Charlotte, NC. Although Jessica may be following in her sister’s footsteps, her father’s career goals are quite different.

“DCC has opened doors for me and I’m looking forward to going back to work,” Duane adds. “I have 20 years of factory experience and want to work as a supervisor, training employees.”

This is not the first time he’s been at DCC. He had attended the college in 1977 for a year and a half, majoring in business management while working at his father’s store, Gibson Grocery. He says he dropped out of college to earn $4 an hour at a construction company—a $1 increase from his previous job. He also participated in the DCC apprenticeship program from 1992-1995, while working at Corning, Inc. He returned to DCC in 2006, this time with the intent of finishing college.

 “I knew that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to go to college again,” he says. “I hope I never have to work at another back-breaking job. I believe that education is the key to doing so. Otherwise, I would be riding the economy rollercoaster and shifting from one job to the next.

He explains that the discipline he has used on his jobs was carried over to his college studies. He stresses the importance of studying hard and taking plenty of notes. His hard work at DCC paid off as he made the President’s List in Fall 2006. Jessica also has proven to be a high achiever by being named to the Vice President’s list consecutively since her enrollment at DCC. In addition, she has received grants and scholarships from the DCC Educational Foundation Board, including the Riverdan Benevolent Fund Endowed Scholarship twice and most recently, the James Bustard Scholarship to assist in her transfer to a four-year college.

“I’m glad to see that Jessica is taking the direction of education rather than settling for just any job,” Duane says. “She has a purpose in life to seek a better life with a job that she loves.”