News

COLLEGE RETIREE GETS MORE TIME TO SPEND ON HER OWN LESSONS

Contact: RoBurchette@gtcc.edu (Released 8/2/11)

JAMESTOWN - Jane Pendry retired from Guilford Technical Community College last month, and now has more time for her own lessons.  "Now I can get more serious about my piano lessons," Pendry said.

"I am taking lessons from the same teacher who taught my daughter to play the piano several years ago," Pendry said. "I've always wanted to play the piano, and I started taking lessons about a year ago from Nancy Graham," she said.

Her legacy at GTCC, while not tied to her expertise on the piano, was noted by Lee Kinard, executive assistant to the GTCC president: "Jane Pendy epitomizes the professional educator at GTCC. She cares about the students and has served superbly as the coordinator for our Early Middle College programs. She is highly respected by her peers."

Pendry, who started teaching secretarial science at GTCC in 1985 on a part-time basis, took the post with the pioneer Early Middle College program when it was begun in the fall of 2001. She started teaching full-time at GTCC in 1988.
GTCC President Dr. Donald W. Cameron (now retired) and former Guilford County Schools' superintendent Dr. Terry Grier collaborated on starting the state's first Early Middle College program. The EMC program on GTCC's Jamestown campus opened two weeks before a similar program at Greensboro College.

There are now eight of these programs in Guilford County, and several more across the state. The program allows students to take college courses at the same time they are in high school. In 2004, the N.C. Legislature matched grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to expand the program to four years of high school from the original two-year program. The goal is to have an early middle college in each of the state's 100 counties.

GTCC has 385 students in Early Middle College in classes on the Jamestown, Greensboro and High Point campuses.
Lois Smith, GTCC associate vice-president of student learning and success, echoes Kinard's praise for Pendry. "Jane demonstrates the very essence of teamwork. In every capacity she has fulfilled for the college, you could always call on her with any question or need, and she was readily there to assist. She demonstrates professionalism and a very caring nature…." Smith said.

Former GTCC student Mary McFarland, now an administrative assistant at the college, knows about Pendry's "caring" as well as anyone. "I was a young married mother of three young children, and without her support and encouragement, it would have been a huge struggle getting my degree. "When all three of my children got the chicken pox at one time, I was out of school for three weeks. Jane worked with me to stay up-to-date on all of my assignments so I didn't have to drop any classes," McFarland said.
McFarland also suspects that Pendry "had something to do with entering my name for a scholarship. She also helped me get my first job. She is one of the nicest and most caring people I have ever met."

Assistant professor Sue Canter regards Pendry as a "wonderful friend, tutor and counselor. She is a generous and humble person giving of her time to anyone in need."

Canter added, "Everyone on campus knows Jane and most have been the recipient of her smile, her time and her generosity."
Pendry has worked in the information technologies program, with Quick Jobs. She also spent two years on the N.C. Community College System's Curriculum Improvement Program.

Kinard said, "Jane played a major role in producing the GTCC history (written by Kinard) and the 50th anniversary gala in 2008."
She is still a member of the state's E-Learning Commission, a group appointed by Gov. Beverly Perdue when she was lieutenant governor. Lt. Gov. Walter H. Dalton now meets with the commission.

"I always wanted to be a teacher," Pendry said, who grew up in Mount Airy. "I never thought about doing anything else.  I remember my teachers - like Caroline Sydnor who taught math -- and how they seemed to enjoy what they were doing."
Pendry, who earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from Louisiana State University and holds North Carolina and Texas teaching certificates, is proud of the Early Middle College program and is especially proud of her co-workers at GTCC.
She started at Appalachian State but entered LSU when husband Jim was transferred to Baton Rouge by his employer.
"The best thing about GTCC is the people who work here. We have fabulous people who care about the students. They aren't here to make a living; they're here to make a difference."

Pendry plans to see more of her daughter Jamie and her family that includes grandson Andrew, 2, in Savannah.
She hasn't decided what else she will be doing other than practicing more on the piano - "I like all kinds of music but especially the old hymns," Pendry said.
"I'll end up doing something that helps people," she said.
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NOTE: Ms. Pendry retired July 29.