WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The YWCA Lower Cape Fear has announced a two-day summer workshop to empower local girls and build their confidence, creativity and life skills.
Various workshops and presentations will be held for girls ages 8-18 through the 'Little Women of Excellence: The Beauty Boot Camp.'
President and CEO of YWCA Lower Cape Fear, Velva Jenkins, and Founder of Little Women of Excellence, Shereese Cromartie, visited the WECT studio to discuss the camp.
Cromartie says that she started in the program in 2016.
“I wanted to share my skills and trades with other people in the community that may be not that fortunate to have that experience and bring some of the people that I met in my walk and my journey into their lives,” Cromartie said.
Jenkins says that the camp aligns perfectly with the YWCA’s mission to empower women and girls.
Workshops include the following:
Presentations include ‘Staying Aware, Staying SafeGirls’ and ‘Growing Healthy Relationships.’
Kandace Blanks will be the keynote speaker at the workshop.
The event will take place on Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the GLOW Academy.
Registration costs $10 per participant, with 25% off when registering two or more girls. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided.
Date: July 18, 2025
Copyright 2025 WECT. All rights reserved.
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Hopefully you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend and were able to spend Sunday with your mom (or at least make a phone call). While my own mother is back in West Virginia and inevitably trying to figure out how to use the gift I sent her, Mother Nature gave the attendees of the “Cape Fear Wine + Food Experience” its own gift on Saturday afternoon (no rain!).
While sprinkles and showers came down on Saturday morning and evening, it held out just long enough for people to enjoy a wide array of exceptional food and wine at Wilmington’s GLOW Academy. Saturday’s “Grand Tasting and Grand Auction” was the culminating event for a weekend of fun and fundraising for Beacon Education and its GLOW and Spark Academies.
Plenty of winemakers from the Russian River Valley and Sonoma County were on hand to share a variety of styles and vintages. Some of those included Kobler Estate Winery, Bucher, Adobe Road Winery, and a handful of others.
As for food, there was a selection of restaurants and caterers sharing some mouthwatering eats. The Bridge Tender Restaurant offered its delicious Crab Dip and New England Clam Chowder (it’s one of the best in town).
Wrightsville Beach’s King Neptune supplied its take on the classic Summer Strawberry Salad, and brought along Wagyu Meatballs with chimichurri, pepitas, parmesan, and fried herbs. I could have ate what they had on hand but knew there was much more try.
The Kitchen Sink, Pine Valley Market, and Wilmington’s Pipeline Poke all had various dishes to try. Pipeline’s “Lava Flow Poke” live up to its name each bite delivered a rush of heat and flavor.
One of the more memorable dishes was a “Beef Tartare Shooter” from True Blue. Pieces of New York strip steak were covered in Dijon, shallot, egg yolk sauce, and caperberries. Put it all together, and it was a delight to the senses.
I don’t think anyone could argue the real culinary showstopper of the event was Wilmington caterer “Cannoli of Love.” The creation of Jessica Coppola, who says her passion for cooking for family and friends eventually led to her starting her own business, Cannoli of Love displayed some serious eats. Crab or Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Steak Garlic Knot Sliders, cannoli, and a real crowd favorite, Deviled Eggs with crispy prosciutto on top. They could hardly keep up with the amount of people picking off their various bites, and for good reason, Coppola’s crew knocked it out of the park.
As for the event itself, the “Cape Fear Wine + Food Experience” is a major fundraiser for Beacon Education and its GLOW and Spark Academies. A day of great food and drink ended with a spectacular auction with the proceeds going to support the schools. If you’re a serious wine enthusiast, and want to enjoy some fantastic eats as well, I highly recommend attending this special event next year.
Author: Corey Preece
Date: May 12, 2025
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Students at the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW Academy) got to take part in the ‘Extreme Weather Project’ which partners the 7th grade science department with the digital media program.
Students were placed in groups and each group consisted of two news anchors, one meteorologist at the green screen, and one on-site reporter who is typically surrounded by special effects to make it look like they’re on the scene.
The students each wrote a script and were able to record their segment in the digital media studio that was built a couple years ago using the donations from the Sony Global Social Justice Fund.
Chief Meteorologist Lee Haywood and Meteorologist Summer Trolli went to the school on Monday and gave the students advice on their presentations and scripts.
The digital media teacher, Michael Frederick enjoys watching the girls have fun while they learn.
“This is a really fun, interactive project the girls are getting to work on a lot of skills. There’s a lot of soft skills like public speaking, group work, critical thinking, collaboration. It is just fun for them to get up, be active, and learn about traditional school material in a nontraditional manor,” Frederick said.
Frederick adds this is their third year of the ‘Extreme Weather Project’ and each year they try to add a little more to make it more fun.
Author: Summer Trolli
Date: November 18, 2024
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - It’s an accomplishment of a new level when an entire class is accepted into college. That’s the reality for the 2024 graduating class of Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW).
“The fact that we get all of them to be accepted to college, it’s a momentous occasion for us,” GLOW’s Dean of Students Askia Kirby said. “We always say we never leave a sister behind and we truly mean that. When somebody is falling behind whether it’s in academics or at home, we all step in to support and help.”
Besides 100% of the students being accepted into universities, 75% of the students will also be the first in their families to go to college.
“It means so much because as parents, as family members, we always say we want our children to do better than we did,” Kirby said. “These children are doing that. They’re laying the legacy their parents have set for them and moving forward and going off to school.”
One of those first-generation college students is Valery Montes Cruz. She wasn’t always sure college would be in the cards for her.
“Before I started at GLOW I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do with my life or how I could even afford college,” Cruz said. “They inspired me to pursue things that I wouldn’t think to pursue before coming to this school.”
Not only did Cruz get accepted to college, but she earned a full-ride scholarship to Elon University. Combined, the students earned $1.6 million in merit scholarships to various colleges and universities.
“I feel like it’s because of all the support and all of the encouragement that we get here,” Cruz said.
Like most of the parents at graduation, Cruz’s mom Amelia was beaming with pride.
“I know she’s a smart girl, I know she can do it,” Amelia Cruz said. “I don’t know what else to say, I’m just so proud of her.”
Kirby said he wasn’t surprised at all when he heard of Cruz’s big achievement.
“For her to get a full-ride, you want to say ‘I’m shocked,’ but I’m not when you have such a wonderful student that is always representing herself, her family, her school well,” Kirby said. “It just seemed like it was going to happen.”
Cruz said she’ll forever be thankful to the school for making her realize all of her biggest dreams were within her reach.
“What makes my story unique is I didn’t really think I would make it. Just being here, finding my community, finding my teachers, finding people who support and encourage me every day instead of bringing me down,” Cruz said. “It’s going to be kind of scary because I’ve been here for so long. I don’t know how everything else will be, but I’m excited to take this new step.”
This was GLOW’s second class of graduates since the founders opened the doors in 2016 with a class of sixth-grade students. WECT’s Frances Weller was the keynote speaker at the 2024 commencement ceremony.
Copyright 2024 WECT. All rights reserved.
WILMINGTON — The annual celebrity chef fundraisers that take place for Beacon Education — a nonprofit foundation providing equitable education to students from six weeks to high school — will take place next March. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay will be in attendance.
Flay will cook for patrons on March 7 and 8 in a private home and at the Country Club of Landfall, as part of Beacon’s ninth year hosting the galas.
Also new to the 2024 fundraiser will be the Cape Fear Wine & Food Experience, involving multiple community dinners on Thursday, March 7, with a grand tasting and auction on Saturday, March 9. It provides the dining public more opportunities to participate in food-forward events, with a schedule to be released at a later date.
Funds raised help support the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington, North Carolina’s only single-gender and tuition-free public charter middle and high school located on Sunglow Drive. GLOW was founded by Judy Girard, formerly the president of the Food Network from 1994 to 2004. Girard spearheaded the celebrity chef events to help meet the school’s goal to provide girls from low-income, underserved communities access to high-quality education.
GLOW opened in 2016 with a grade sixth class and has added grades each year, with the charter school hosting its first graduating class in 2023. Ninety-six percent of its students enrolled in college.
In 2021, the foundation that runs GLOW announced its newest iteration: Spark Academy. It’s a co-ed and mixed-income early childhood education center, for ages six weeks through pre-Kindergarten. Spark plans to open its first location this October — one of five to come. Each center can house roughly 150 students and it will have a community healthcare clinic onsite.
Over the last decade, Beacon Education has hosted multiple celebrity chef fundraisers — which account for 10% of operating expenses. It has featured events in-person and virtually with Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri, Robert Irvine, Tyler Florence, Ashley Christensen, Giada DeLaurentiis, Ina Garten, and Emeril Lagasse. Lagasse’s foundation invested in GLOW Academy’s culinary program.
It’s Flay’s first visit to Wilmington. The 17-time published author has been honored by the James Beard Awards Foundation and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as five Daytime Emmy Awards. He’s best known as for programs on Food Network, such as “Bobby’s Triple Threat,” “Beat Bobby Flay,” “BBQ Brawl,” “Bobby & Sophie on the Coast,” and “Iron Chef America.”
Bobby Flay is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and media personality. He's opened numerous upscale restaurants in New York City and beyond, the first of which was the renowned Mesa Grill in 1991. In December of 2023, Bobby opened Brasserie B at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This restaurant celebrates bustling Parisian brasseries, serving classic French dishes with tons of the impactful flavor that Flay has become known for. Brasserie B is directly next door to Bobby's coastal Italian-inspired restaurant at Caesars Palace called Amalfi. In addition to his fine dining restaurants, there are seven outposts of Bobby's fast-casual concept, Bobby’s Burgers, across the country, with more set to open later this year.
“Beacon Education has cultivated a reputation for outstanding wine and food experiences,” according to a press release from the foundation.
It also has a supper club, Rare, curating specialized events for food enthusiast members.
Tickets will be available later in the fall for Flay’s visit.
4100 Sunglow Drive, Wilmington, NC 28405
info@beaconeducation.org
910.338.5258 x105