At the April Governor’s Awards Luncheon, Thomas County Central High School (TTCHS) senior student Ciera Palmer was recognized for her award-winning artwork. Palmer’s design was submitted to Southwest Georgia Technical College (SWGTC) for entry into a statewide design contest as part of Manufacturing Appreciation Week (MAW), a week which promotes awareness of manufacturing and its importance to the state of Georgia. MAW organizers created this art competition as a way to expose Georgia students to the diversity of careers and opportunities in manufacturing.

Palmer’s Honorable Mention entry earned her $50, an embossed certificate, a laminated reproduction of her work on laser wood, and several copies of the 2013-14 calendar which features her work for the month of July.

Her design entry highlighted agricultural products of Georgia including peaches, cotton, peanut butter and onions as well as state manufacturers such as KIA, Coca-Cola, Georgia Power and CAT. She used colored pencils and fine-tip markers to color her winning design.

Palmer commented, “It was challenging to work with the overlapping objects, especially on the title. The peanut butter jar and Coke bottle were hardest. It didn’t take long to draw but took four days to color.”

Palmer, a dedicated art student, has taken four years of visual art classes and is no newcomer to winning art competitions. This year, she won two awards at the Deep South Fair Youth Art Show for mixed media and colored pencil artworks; and two awards at the North Florida Fair High School Art Exhibition for pastel/crayon and ceramics artworks. Last year, she was Georgia’s state winner for her graphic design poster in the Georgia School Nutrition Association contest. In the future, Palmer plans to have a career in graphic design or the fashion industry.

TCCHS Art teacher Jocelyn Rivard complimented Palmer’s work, “Ciera is a highly-motivated young adult whom I’ve enjoyed having in the art classes over the years. She comes up with many unusual and creative solutions in her projects.”

Each year, the MAW contest is opened to students across the state to create artwork based on manufacturing in Georgia. Elementary students draw placemats; middle school students design posters; and high school students create graphic designs for T-shirts. Co-hosts for the Atlanta event were the Technical College System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. SWGTC in Thomasville sponsored the contest locally and regionally.

SWGTC offers more than 80 certificate, diploma, and degree programs. Many of these programs provide training for some of the nation’s fastest-growing career fields including Nursing, Automotive Technology, Clinical Laboratory Technology, and Emergency Medical Technology. For information, call  229-225-4096 or by logging onto www.southwestgatech.edu.

Summer Semester 2013 begins May 20.