Great Expectations
The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education sponsored the Second Annual Great Expectations Education Forum on October 23, 2009 at the Joan Massey Conference Center of Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. The guest speakers for the event included Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, and First Lady of Virginia Anne Holton.
 In 2009, Southside Virginia Community College was one of the five community colleges in the Virginia Community College System to receive a Great Expectations Grant. Great Expectations is an initiative of the VFCCE and offers individualized support for foster teens as they finish high school, leave their foster homes and transition to living on their own.
One of the foster children attending SVCC, Andrea Greene was a panelist at the event. The goal of the program is to help foster care youth pursue and complete a college program. An estimated 8,000 children are in Virginia’s foster care system.
Sandra Thompson (Left), Middle College Director, and Dr. John J. Cavan, (Right), SVCC President, presented Edelman (Center) with a gift from SVCC after the speech. The gift is framed artwork by Dr. Cavan depicting his rendition of the Great Expectations initiative.
(c) 2009. Southside Virginia Community College. All rights reserved.
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