Bainbridge College (BC) honored five outstanding students in five different career fields in the Technical Studies Division. They were presented awards at a reception during which BC President Dr. Tom Wilkerson announced that Narda A. Walker of Blakely was named the winner of the BC 2008 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) program.
Bainbridge College (BC) honors its Georgia Outstanding Awards of Leadership (GOAL) winner and nominees at an April 2 reception and awards presentation. Here GOAL winner Narda A. Walker of Blakely receives her award and congratulations from Bainbridge College President Dr. Tom Wilkerson
Nominated by Michele Miller, the Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program student will compete for the state title in May. She will have an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta for three days of competition with students from 37 other technical colleges and divisions for the title of State GOAL. Chevrolet is the official GOAL sponsor for the state competition and gives the winner a new car.
Ms. Walker is president of the BC LPN Club and plans to continue her education to earn LPN and RN (registered nurse) degrees.
Among the other nominees honored at the April 2 event in the Administration Building was Gregory Britton of Richland, the first to represent BC’s Early County Site in Blakely. The electronics maintenance student was nominated by Claude Bell.
An employee with the Department of Transportation in Cuthbert, he and other classmates were instrumental in a project last summer that designed and built an Electrical Distribution/ Lighting Control Panel for the filming of The Lena Baker Story. They presented their finished product to Ralph Wilcox, who heads Jocara-Micheaux Film Studios and is BC instructor of the entertainment technology program, which is part of the BC Technical Studies Division.
The 2008 GOAL nominees represented the wide range of career programs offered in the Technical Studies Division, said David Maxwell, who is BC’s GOAL coordinator. In addition to LPN and electronics maintenance, finalists were in programs for business, drafting and early childhood education.
Theresa Close of Bainbridge is studying business and was nominated by Shirley Beck.
Anthony Jones of Whigham is a drafting student and was nominated by Lori Kuhn-Hancock.
Katherine Killingsworth of Bainbridge is studying in the early childhood education program and was nominated by Valley Rogers.
Dr. Wilkerson, who spoke briefly at the ceremony and congratulated the winner and the other nominees, assisted Maxwell in distributing certificates to each. James “Bo” Hylton, Technical Studies Division chair, gave an overview of the GOAL program and its history. He noted that the five nominees were selected from among more than 1,900 Tech Studies students at BC.
Technical Studies instructors nominated their top students for GOAL, which is coordinated by the Technical College System of Georgia, said Maxwell. GOAL recognizes and rewards excellence among the more than 155,000 students studying full-time at Georgia's technical colleges.
Established in 1971 by the Business Council of Georgia and DTAE, it was the first statewide program in the nation to honor outstanding technical education students. The title is awarded for excellence in leadership and ability. The state winner will receive the GOAL medallion and a new automobile and will serve as ambassador for GOAL and Georgia’s technical colleges.
Each nominee was interviewed by and gave a prepared speech to a BC committee. The committee recommended that all five nominees be interviewed by a Selection Committee of business representatives who selected the winner. That committee was coordinated by Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce.
The BC committee included Angela Baulkman, Dr. Adria Belk, Greg McDonald, and Rich Messersmith. In making their choices, they considered grades, character, attitude, leadership, attendance, personal goals and enthusiasm.
The Chamber’s committee included Glennie Bench - Southwest GA Oil Company, Dr. Suzi Bonifay - Decatur County Schools, Ginger Jones – Propex, Brad Ward - Shaw Industries, Cile Warr - Chamber of Commerce, and Jay Wells - Georgia Power Co.
