NGTC nursing student Jason Egerton of Cleveland (center) was honored during a recent Habersham Rotary meeting. He was accompanied by NGTC Acting President Dr. Mark Ivester and nursing instructor Christy Bivins. (PHOTO/NGTC)
(Clarkesville, GA) — Jason Egerton received North Georgia Technical College’s 2016 Georgia Occupational Award for Leadership (GOAL) at a recent Habersham Rotary meeting and was recognized along with his nominating instructor, Christy Bivins. GOAL candidates are nominated by an instructor and must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and demonstrate strong work ethics and leadership skills.
This statewide award program of the Technical College System of Georgia was actually started at NGTC in the early 1970s and continues to honor excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students today. Local GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 25 technical colleges.
Each year the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce, White County Chamber of Commerce, and Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce show their support with monetary awards to the finalists and their nominating instructors. The Rotary Club of Habersham supports the program not only by hosting the event, but they also give the GOAL winner and the nominating instructor an award.
“We are extremely proud of all of our GOAL nominees,” said acting President Dr. Mark Ivester. “Hearing each nominee’s emotional story of how NGTC has helped them achieve an important goal in their life is always inspiring. They are all winners for successfully pursuing their educational aspirations with such admirable leadership. We are also very grateful for the partnerships we have with the Rotary and the area Chambers who support our celebration of these exceptional students and their teachers.”
From across all three of North Georgia Technical College’s campuses, students representing various programs were nominated as candidates to represent NGTC in the state competition. The top 12 nominees selected for the 2016 GOAL award included Cristian Martinez of Alto in Welding; Lauren Jordan of Royston in Practical Nursing; Laura Ortiz of Toccoa in Business Technology; Jordan Thomas of Toccoa in Photography; Sophie Diaz of Lilburn in Photography; Gavin Lewis of Grayson in Pharmacy Tech; Jason Egerton of Cleveland in Nursing; Ka’Miesha Floyd of Cartersville in Healthcare Science; Danielle Turner of Sautee in Accounting; Phyllis Still of Blairsville in Culinary Arts; Tony Wilson of Mt. Airy in Criminal Justice; Melinda Hughes of Blairsville in Criminal Justice; Pedro Rodriguez of Hiawassee in Networking Specialist; Rosa Sanchez of Cornelia in Nursing; Kristin Dignen of Blairsville in Medical Assisting; Jasmine Forrester of Young Harris in Accounting; and Jess Owens of Clayton in Horticulture.
Through a series of competitive interviews and speeches conducted by NGTC faculty and staff, four were selected for advanced competition: Kristin Dignen in Medical Assisting, nominated by instructor Gail Berry; Lauren Jordan in Nursing, nominated by instructor Nancy Morris; Melinda Hughes in Criminal Justice nominated by instructor Pam Segers and Jason Egerton in Nursing, nominated Christy Bivins.
These four engaged in yet one more round of interviews, this time with representatives from the professional community including Chamber of Commerce representatives. They then each took a turn at the podium before the Rotary Club of Habersham delivering their prepared speeches.
As the NGTC 2016 GOAL winner, Egerton will now advance to represent NGTC at the region level.
