Elizabeth Hand from Blairsville, Ga., was named North Georgia Technical College’s 2021 Georgia Occupational Award for Leadership (GOAL) student at Thursday’s Habersham Rotary meeting. Nominated by her instructor Martha Marquardt, Hand is a registered nursing student from the Blairsville campus.
GOAL candidates are nominated by an instructor and must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and demonstrate strong work ethics and leadership skills. The Technical College System of Georgia sponsors this statewide awards program each year. The program was started locally in the 1970s by then NGTC president, the late Jim Marlowe. It continues to honor excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students. Local GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 22 technical colleges.
From across all three of North Georgia Technical College’s campuses, students representing various programs were nominated to represent NGTC in the state competition. The top four finalists selected for the 2021 GOAL award were Shonna White, a medical assisting student from Toccoa, Ga., nominated by instructor Stacie Bohannon; Melodee Butler, a registered nursing student from Clarkesville, Ga., nominated by instructor Bethany Elrod; Adam Aquilar, an advanced manufacturing student from Demorest, Ga., nominated by instructor Adam Fulbright; and Hand.
Another top honor presented at the Rotary program was the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction to accounting instructor Dustin Emhart. As the Rick Perkins Award winner, Emhart receives a $500 cash award presented by Habersham Medical Center and the NGTC Foundation.
Emhart received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from North Carolina State University and has had an extensive career working for accounting firms in the Southeast, Washington D.C, and Waco, Texas, before establishing his own CPA firm in 2010. Emhart has been an instructor with NGTC since 2011.
“It’s been my honor to learn about these students’ and faculty members’ stories and be a part of this ceremony today to recognize their perseverance and hard work,” said NGTC President John Wilkinson. “These students and faculty members have gone the extra mile to compete for these prestigious awards.
Each year the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce, Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce, and Habersham Rotary show their support with monetary awards to the finalists and their nominating instructors.
Hand and Emhart now advance to represent NGTC at the regional level in April.
