Instructors at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College have nominated nine 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, as well as, 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 – Dalton Allmond (Welding and Joining Technology) nominated by Terry Johnson, Michael Hendley (Telecommunications and Security) nominated by Roy Warren, and Spencer Tomberlin (Welding and Joining Technology) nominated by Terry Johnson.

Valdosta Campus – Jesslyn Dazey (Accounting) nominated by Ginny Howell, Wesley Glover (Radiology Technology) nominated by Terri Trowell, Brandi Smith (Radiology Technology) nominated by Terri Trowell, Richard Terry (Precision Machining and Manufacturing) nominated by Darron Lanier, Shelby Trimble (Radiology Technology) nominated by Jennifer Ray, and Estrellita Torres (Radiology Technology) nominated by Jennifer Ray.

The purpose of the GOAL program is to spotlight the outstanding achievement by 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 then conduct personal interviews with the students next month.  After the nominees have been ranked, four finalists will then be chosen to compete to be the Wiregrass GOAL Winner for 2021.

The four finalists will then take part 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’ qualities such as: 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. Then three from each of the three regions will make up the nine regional finalists, who will be named in May via TCSG’s Facebook Live. The nine regional finalists will then move to the state level and 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.