Moultrie Technical College recently announced the names of 33 student nominees and four finalists for the 2006 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership program.

Finalists are marketing management student Paul Lowry of Moultrie and medical assisting student Tamellia Wallace, both attending the college’s Moultrie campus, and practical nursing student Dustie Jackson of Tifton and surgical technology student Katrina Giddens of Adel, both attending the Tifton campus.

All 38 technical colleges and divisions statewide present these awards. The winners serve as ambassadors to their communities on behalf of their colleges. Moultrie Tech’s winner will represent the college in its four-county service area of Colquitt, Tift, Turner and Worth counties.

Lisa Newton, MTC’s Student Activities Advisor, said the objective of the GOAL program is to recognize and reward excellence among the more than 155,000 students studying full-time at Georgia’s technical colleges.

Students who are nominated go through a round of in-house interviews. The four students who score the highest on the interviews, which include subjects such as how they perceive technical education and how that type of education benefits the community, are then interviewed by a Chamber of Commerce committee and a winner is chosen.

“They have to learn to sell themselves,” Newton said. “It builds character to have to make speeches and the contacts they make in the community and the state will benefit them in their job search.”

The announcement of the winner will be made at a luncheon March 20 at the Moultrie Tech Conference Center on the Veterans Parkway campus. The chamber will present the winner with a cash award of $200 and each runner-up with a $100 prize.

This year’s other nominees from MTC are accounting students Danver Coney and Krystle Williams; administrative office technology student Rhonda Presley; automotive technology student Heath Carmichael; business office technology students Amy Broderick, Brenda Chafin, Marshall Davis, Regina DePriest, Michelle Eutsler, Kimberly Swain and Michelle Walker; computer information systems students Rochelle Carey, Karen McCardle and Glenda Snow; cosmetology students Ray Bloser and Shelby Hogan; criminal justice students Selena Bodiford and Jennifer Hadden; early childhood education students Betty Gonzales and Marguerite Harper; electronics technology student Michael Jones; marketing management student Renee Truitt; medical assisting students Michelle Cook and Benita Harper; practical nursing students Lindsey Gay and Jenni Gibson; and surgical technology student Michelle McKinney.

A statewide winner will be selected in April and will travel the state for a full year on behalf of Georgia’s Technical College System.





To contact city editor Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.