Valdosta - Instructors at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College have nominated thirty-seven of their students for the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) competition, according to Molly Summer, coordinator for the college’s GOAL program. These nominations come from the college’s four campuses: Ben Hill-Irwin, Coffee, Cook, and Valdosta.
GOAL, a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia, honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students. GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 22 technical colleges and one Board of Regents college with a technical education division.
The Wiregrass 2021 GOAL Nominees are listed with their program areas by campus:
Ben Hill-Irwin Campus:
Macee Baughn (Business Management Degree) and Tanya Wilkes (Business Management) nominated by Deanna Edwards
Jason Brewer (Welding and Joining Technology) nominated by Terry Johnson
Coffee Campus:
Andrew Nelson (Paramedicine) nominated by Jason Hurst
DeMorrio Hansley (Business Management) nominated by Kayla Tillman
Ledwing Sanchez Tello (Business Administrative Technology) nominated by Linda Gelatt
Lea Williams (Welding and Joining Technology) nominated by Mike Day
Valdosta Campus:
David Grace (Cybersecurity) nominated by Joey Johnson
Summer Bennett (Paramedicine) nominated by Shawn Tatham
Daniel Hart (EMS) nominated by Mark Ponder
Candice Marberry (Education) and Shaneka Little (Education) nominated by Rene’ Mason
Cody Barnes (Paramedicine), Christopher Brooks (Paramedicine), Dean Greinke (Paramedicine), Taylor Suter (Paramedicine) nominated by Shawn Tatham
Catherine Matthews (EMS), Gavin Warren (EMS) and Michael Harris (EMS) nominated by Mark Ponder
Rhonda Dowdy (Early Childhood Care and Education) nominated by Rene’ Mason
Abra Andrews (Medical Assisting) and Lameika Corby (Medical Assisting) nominated by Alesha Williams
Alyssa Gittins (Radiologic Technology), Amy Atkinson (Radiologic Technology), and Monica McKenzie (Radiologic Technology) nominated by Terri Trowell
Kimberly Timmons (Radiologic Technology) nominated by Jennifer Ray
Joseph Hilton (Opticianry Degree) nominated by Lisa Griffin
Ryan Degner (Welding and Joining Technology) and Denton Broadway (Welding and Joining Technology) nominated by Roy Bramley
Carmelita Garcia (Accounting Degree) nominated by Ginny Howell
Jennifer Cauley (Health Information Management Coding) and Kellie Price (Health Information Management Coding) nominated by Denese Davis
Holly Paulk (Health Information Management) nominated by Alison Watkins
Keith Barron (Cybersecurity) and John Harper (Cybersecurity) nominated by Sean Strickland
Ansley Hill (Esthetician) nominated by Kira Keller
Ambria Freeman (Dental Assisting) nominated by Sandi Woodward.
The purpose of the GOAL program is to spotlight the outstanding achievement of students in Georgia's technical colleges and to emphasize the importance of technical education in today’s global workforce.
A screening committee of staff at Wiregrass will review each of the instructors’ nominations and then conduct personal interviews with the students this month. After the nominees have been ranked, four finalists will be chosen to compete to be the Wiregrass GOAL Winner for 2022.
The four finalists will then participate in another round of interviews and evaluations by a selection committee of representatives from local business and industry later next month. That panel will consider the students’ academic achievement, personal character, leadership abilities and enthusiasm for technical education.
The student judged most outstanding will be designated as the college’s GOAL winner and move on to the regional competition. Three students from each of the three regions will make up the nine regional finalists. They will be named in April during GOAL and Rick Perkins Week in Atlanta. The state finalist will compete for the title of State GOAL Winner, TCSG’s Student of the Year. The student who earns the State GOAL Winner title is also awarded the important responsibility of traveling the state as the ambassador for the entire technical college system.
