South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford and SGTC’s 2026 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) winner Keyara Williams were the special guest speakers at the Americus Rotary Club during the club’s Vocational Service Month.
Americus Rotary Club President Trevor Vanzant welcomed Dr. Watford and Williams to the meeting. Dr. Watford thanked the club for supporting South Georgia Technical College and the GOAL program and students. “Keyara Williams is a real example of the good things happening at South Georgia Technical College. Our students are doing great things and we appreciate your support of Williams by supporting the GOAL program and helping open leadership opportunities for her and others,” said Dr. Watford.
Williams, who is from a family of seven, lives in Americus and is majoring in Early Childhood Care and Education. “It is astonishing that I am even here,” said Williams when she began her talk with the statement that “it is astonishing because I was never going to attend college, much less become a GOAL nominee or winner.”
Williams graduated from high school but had some medical challenges and was not sure she could attend college. It took over four years after high school graduation and some medical healing for her mom to convince her that she needed to consider enrolling in a technical college.
“My mom went to a technical college and she told me about the low cost and how the classes align with your chosen career path,” said Williams. “I also learned that the Technical College System of Georgia has 22 colleges and South Georgia Technical College was right here, so I enrolled, and here I am.
“I chose Early Childhood Care and Education as my major because my family has always told me I was a natural born teacher and many of my family members are teachers,” explained Williams, who is the oldest of five children and who has already convinced two of her siblings to join her at SGTC.
“I have learned so much during my time at South Georgia Tech and my instructor, Jaye Cripe, is awesome. I am excited about continuing my education and then applying myself in this field and helping others.”
Following Williams talk, Dr. Watford explained that this was Williams first speaking engagement since being selected as the SGTC GOAL winner last week. Williams will now represent South Georgia Technical College at the regional and state competition along with 21 other top students. The state winner will receive a new 2026 Kia automobile.
Dr. Watford then took a few minutes to thank the Rotary Club for having a “Vocational Service Month” and for keeping the word vocation in that title. “Vocation is basically your personal calling,” explained Dr. Watford. “Our mission at South Georgia Technical College is workforce education. We help individuals find their vocation and help them enter the workforce doing what they love.”
Dr. Watford also shared with the club that the college had a 12.4% enrollment increase for Fall Semester and is up again Spring Semester. SGTC also enjoyed the highest percentage of full-time students in the Technical College System of Georgia and he explained that part of the reason is because SGTC embraces the idea of vocational education.
“One way the United States continues to be a great society is that we teach people to do great things, especially those things that are critical to society, like nurses, police officers, welders, educators, mechanics and more,” said Watford. “We embrace vocational education at SGTC.”
He told the Rotary Club members that SGTC had over 120 individuals apply for admission into the college’s new LPN to RN Bridge nursing program this fall and that the college had restarted its Law Enforcement Academy and just graduated 12 students, six of which are now employed with the Americus Police Department. He also touched on the success of the Lady Jets basketball team, that represented the college at the NJCAA National Tournament in Casper, Wyoming last year and the college’s new partnership with Sumter County High School to help establish a Heavy Equipment Operator program for high school students.
Dr. Watford ended his talk by thanking the Rotary Club and its members for what they do for the community as well as South Georgia Technical College.
The Americus Rotary Club has been a premier sponsor of the South Georgia Technical College Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) program for many years and provides the top student with a stipend to help with the regional and state competition. “The Americus Rotary Club stipend is a wonderful way to honor our top student, but your support of our students and their leadership development also means a great deal to the college and this community,” said Dr. Watford.
Williams was selected as the SGTC GOAL winner by a panel of local community leaders. An internal committee interviewed all of the college nominees and narrowed the selection to three GOAL finalists. Williams was selected to represent the Early Childhood Care and Education program and she was competing against finalist Jamyron Clayton of Americus, a practical nursing student. Michelle Sims of Arabi, a practical nursing student on the Crisp County campus, dropped out of the competition after being selected as a finalist.
Early Childhood Care and Education instructor Jaye Cripe nominated Williams for this honor. She will now represent South Georgia Technical College at regional and state competitions in an effort to be selected as the top student within the Technical College System of Georgia.