Here is a round of applause for a few of the individuals and groups doing great things in our community.

n  Solesse Lane (Sunny) Altman completed her UGA law degree from the University of Georgia as its 2016 First Honor Graduate. She graduated with a cumulative grade-point average of 4.13, ranked No. 1 of 198 students in the 2016 graduating class. The daughter of Superior Court Judge Harry Jay Altman II and Gail Lane Altman, she is a 2009 graduate of Thomasville High School and attributes much of her academic success to the foundation she received in the Thomasville School System and “its many fine teachers.” Altman received her undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, in 2013, with a major in politics and a minor in theater. While at W&L, she served as president of her sorority (Pi Beta Phi), a campus tour guide for the admissions office, alumni relations officer for Hillel and as an Honor Advocate with the W&L Student Judicial Council, where she counseled and advocated for students charged with conduct violations. During law school, Altman served as the 2015-16 Executive Symposium Editor of the Georgia Law Review, as a Hearing Panel Member for Honor Court, as a UGA Law Dean’s Ambassador and as a teaching assistant and research assistant for two of her professors. She gained valuable experience through internships with U.S. Congressman Sanford Bishop in his Washington, D.C., office and with Justice Robert Benham of the Georgia Supreme Court. Altman was employed as a summer associate during law school with The Barnes Law Group in Marietta, Bondurant, Mixen & Elmore in Atlanta and the Atlanta offices of Jones Day. She is spending the summer studying for the Georgia bar exam for which she will sit in late July. After the bar exam, she plans to take the month of August off, move to Atlanta, go on a cruise with her parents, and generally sleep late. In September, she will begin a two-year federal judicial clerkship with the Honorable Richard Story, federal district judge for the Northern District of Georgia. She plans to join a firm in Atlanta at the conclusion of her clerkship.

n Southern Regional Technical College student James Potts competed in the Georgia Postsecondary SkillsUSA national competition in Louisville, Kentucky. Potts previously won a gold medal in Electrical Construction at the state competition, which qualified him to compete in Louisville where he scored 929 points out of a possible 1,000 to finish second. The three-day competition involved residential and commercial electrical construction against 28 other competitors. As a silver medalist, Potts brought home nearly $9,000 in tools. This is the second year a representative from the SRTC Electrical Systems program has competed in the national competition. Last year’s participant placed fifth overall. “We could not be more proud of Mr. Potts and his success in the SkillsUSA National Championships.  The continued success of our students at this event is a testament to the knowledge we are able to provide via technical and career education. It further reinforces how vitally important our institution is and the services are that we provide, not only to our students and community, but to our state and national workforce,” said Dr. Craig Wentworth, SRTC president.

n The Thomas County School System has been recognized for the third year in a row by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts for Excellence in Financial Management and Reporting. The Department of Audits created the award program to recognize those entities that are audited annually and go beyond standard financial business practices to be considered “the best of the best.” An award of distinction is presented to organizations that submit quality financial statements and supporting documentation in a timely manner, whose annual financial report is given an unmodified audit opinion and is free of any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses, and comply with all Transparency in Government requirements. Thomas County School Superintendent Dr. Dusty Kornegay presented the award to Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Joey Holland at the June board of education meeting. The Thomas County School District manages an annual budget of more than $60 million with a monthly payroll that tops $2.6 million.