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, and 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, and 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), and 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; and 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.