Ashley Rodgers is named 2016 SGTC GOAL Winner

South Georgia Technical College Marketing Management student Ashley Rodgers of Oglethorpe has been selected as SGTC’s GOAL winner for 2016, announced SGTC Acting President Janice Davis at the recent GOAL luncheon held in the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center on SGTC’s Americus campus.    Rodgers was selected for the honor by a panel of local community leaders out of a group of four finalists. The three other finalists included Monica Castaneda Parra of Ellaville, Accounting; Calli S. Buttrey of Americus, Criminal Justice Technology; and Ricardo Rivera of Vienna, Air Conditioning Technology.   Rodgers will serve as SGTC’s representative for technical education and compete for the statewide GOAL competition in Atlanta in April and vie to be named as the 2016 statewide GOAL winner. The state winner will become the student ambassador for the Technical College System of Georgia and receives a grand prize of a new car provided by Kia, the statewide corporate sponsor of Georgia’s GOAL program.     Corporate sponsors for the GOAL luncheon included the Americus Sumter County Chamber of Commerce, the Americus Rotary Club, and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia.     President Emeritus Sparky Reeves and his wife Allene presented Rodgers with a donation from the Sparky and Allene Reeves scholarship, and Mary Ann Crowley, Americus Rotary Club President, presented Rodgers with a gift stipend on behalf of the Americus Rotary Club.     Other SGTC GOAL nominees for 2016 included Douglas T. Jones of Perry, Air Conditioning Technology; Destiny K.S. Walker of Oglethorpe, Criminal Justice Technology; Tramarvious D. Hosley of Montezuma, Culinary Arts; Jennifer L. Rix of Americus, Horticulture; and Danny O. Williams of Cordele, Welding and Joining Technology.   The screening committee, who selected the four semi-finalists from a selection of all GOAL nominees, consisted of SGTC staff members Dr. Deborah Jones, Assistant Vice President for Student Navigation; Mark Brooks, Director of Administrative Services; Julie Partain, Registrar; Sammy Stone, Director of Campus Safety; and Dianne Trueblood, Media Specialist.   The selection committee, who interviewed the four finalists and selected the winner, included Victoria Harris, Associate Superintendent of Sumter County Schools; Jay Roberts, 2016 Chairman of the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce; Jackie Bryce, Owner of Star Racing; Daron Butler, Assistant Administrator at Magnolia Manor Nursing Center; Barbara Grogan, Executive Director of the Sumter County Payroll Development Authority; and Don Smith, Assistant to the President at SGTC.   SGTC’s 2016 Instructor of the Year Andrea Ingram was also recognized at the luncheon. She and Ashley will advance to regional competition for the GOAL and Rick Perkins awards