DSCC Gibson County Center and TECTA to Celebrate 30th Anniversary
Dyersburg State Community College (DSCC) will celebrate its Gibson County Center’s 30th anniversary of serving West Tennessee and providing the Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance (TECTA) with a reception to be held at the Center on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m.
In 1987, Dr. Karen A. Bowyer, president of DSCC, and community leaders in Gibson County began to explore the idea of a higher education facility in Gibson County. In August 1988, Governor McWherter promised to provide state matching funds if the local community could raise $500,000. A total of $718,477.46 was raised for the new facility and plans for the Center began.
Dr. Bowyer stated, “as enrollment grew in the classes offered by DSCC in Peabody High School in the evening it became clear that the College needed its own facility with more classrooms and science and computer labs to meet the demand. Mayor Tommie Goodwin, Fred Mabry, Bill Woods, Paul Carson and I traveled to McMinnville and Lawrenceburg in the fall of 1987 to see off-campus facilities being built by Motlow State Community College and Columbia State Community College. This trip ignited the enthusiasm of the community leaders to raise the funds and build the Gibson County Center.”
The Gibson County Center includes six master classrooms, four of which are equipped with Zoom teleconferencing; an advanced manufacturing lab and a lab for classes in Emergency Medical Services; an Academic Success Center; a Mathematics lab with 30 computer stations; a computer lab with 20 computer stations; a Learning Resource Center equipped with 20 computers; a commons area with eight computers; and a combination science classroom/lab that includes 24 lab stations and four computers.
The Center is conveniently located adjacent to the Peabody High School campus in Trenton, providing high school students with opportunities such as dual enrollment general education courses and Certified Nursing Assistant courses. DSCC has also partnered with Peabody High School to provide its students with the opportunity to attend and complete college through Upward Bound, a federally funded TRIO grant program. The Upward Bound program provides first-generation and low-income high school students with free academic tutoring, advising, career and social skills, and cultural experiences through travel.
Julie Griggs, director of the Gibson County Center, said, “We are thrilled to be celebrating 30 years of service to our students and the communities we serve. The support shown to us by so many people has made a college education possible, right here at home. Lives have been changed and we plan to see even more families benefit from the education and training we have been able to provide.”
The statewide Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance (TECTA) program was approved and formed in 1991 and quickly became one of the first programs to be administered by DSCC and housed at the Gibson County Center. It provides early childhood professional development to students through an articulated higher education system. The Gibson County location is one of eight higher education institutions statewide in which TECTA provides its services. It works with individuals, working with young children, in a 17-county service area. It is funded by the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State University through a contract with the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
Early Childhood Education (ECE) students begin their studies with a free 30-hour orientation choosing from five specializations through TECTA: Center-based, Infant/Toddler, Family Child Care, School-Age and Administrator. TECTA provides students with the opportunity to receive the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, the Tennessee Early Childhood Program Administrator Credential (TECPAC), and postsecondary education assistance for associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institutions.
“Having utilized the TECTA program, the services provided allowed me to further my education, which eventually assisted me in obtaining my current position as TECTA Site Director,” said Kelly Maupin, director of TECTA. “Formerly going through the program allows me the ability to relate with the participants and advise students as they begin their own educational journey.”
Over the past 30 years, the DSCC TECTA site has provided approximately 3,800 students with free orientation courses, and over 460 students have obtained a CDA credential.
The public is invited to attend the anniversary reception. For more information, contact Julie Griggs at 731-222-5143 or griggs@dscc.edu.