This year, 2017, marks the 50th anniversary of Sampson Community College’s presence in the community. Each month, The Sampson Independent is taking you back in time to see SCC as it developed across the years and the impact it made along the way. These articles, appearing the second time around on the second Sunday of each month, were stories about SCC’s first open house and were originally published in The Sampsonian on February 9, 1967 and February 16, 1967.
Sampson Tech
Sampson County citizens will have a chance to observe first hand on Sunday the operation of Sampson Technical Institute.
This school, now in its second year of operation, has become an important part of the Sampson County education picture and its importance cannot be overstressed.
Financed almost entirely by state and federal funds, it is dedicated to supplying the educational needs of adults with the emphasis of training people to make a better living for themselves.
At Sampson Tech you can learn to read and write, to speak Spanish, to weld, to refinish furniture, to knit, even to listen more effectively. There is something there for everyone who is willing to devote the time and trouble to attend classes.
Be sure to attend the open house Sunday from two until five pm. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you’ll see.
Tech School Open House Is Success
Sampson Technical Institute opened its doors to the public Sunday in an open house and 1,600 Sampson County residents toured the building and were made aware of the many courses of study which it offers to adults.
James Earl Vann, president of the Institute, said that the success of the open house was far beyond his expectations.
“We wanted the people of the county to see what we have to offer and we were hoping for a good crowd, but we were simply amazed at the large number of people who came during the afternoon. They were interested too, and asked millions of questions. We even signed up a good number of them for courses,” Vann said.
The Technical Institute, the newest one in the state, is only a little over a year old. It moved into the facilities of the old East Carolina Indian School in September and the building has been renovated since then, with students of the Institute doing much of the work.
Visitors Sunday were served punch and cookies in the old school auditorium, which has been converted into a student lounge and snack bar. In touring the facilities, they saw demonstrations on bricklaying, carpentry and plumbing, plus the practical nursing class, the learning laboratory, the adult basic education classroom, and the business education department.
Special guests Sunday were Dr. Dallas Herring of Rose Hill, chairman of the State Board of Education, Dr. I. E. Ready, director of the Department of Community Colleges of the State Department of Public Instruction, along with Clyde Erwin, Jr., president of Wayne County Technical Institute, M.J. McLeod, president of Cape Fear Technical Institute and others from the State Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh.
Obviously a lot has changed since the college’s first open house. Of course, the college now offers many more programs than it did when it first opened the doors. Class sizes are larger, the demands are higher, the campus continues to grow and its relationship to local business and economy is inseparable. The college is no longer just for those graduating high school and looking for a degree. College students come in all ages and from any type of background. Sampson Community College also serves those who did not get a chance to graduate high school and still want to or for those who are employed but want to learn or fine tune another skill.
