South Georgia Technical College President Emeritus Sparky Reeves and his wife, Allene, presented South Georgia Tech’s 2020 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year winner, Dorothea Lusane McKenzie, with a stipend from the South Georgia Technical College Foundation’s Sparky and Allen Reeves endowed fund at the college’s 2020 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year breakfast recently.
Dorothea Lusane McKenzie, Cosmetology Instructor at South Georgia Tech, was recognized as the Instructor of the Year by SGTC President Dr. John Watford at a special ceremony in the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center recently in front of the SGTC faculty and staff. Sparky and Allene Reeves made their gift after the announcement.
McKenzie is the fifth recipient of the Sparky and Allene Reeves Instructor of the Year award. Andrea Ingram, a Computer Information Systems Instructor, was the first recipient of the award in 2016 and Charles Christmas, an Aviation Maintenance Instructor, was selected in 2017. Teresa McCook, the Americus campus Criminal Justice Instructor, received the award in 2018, and Law Enforcement Academy Director Brett Murray was recognized in 2019.
President Emeritus Reeves and Allene endowed this special fund with the South Georgia Technical College Foundation in 2010 and have been growing the fund for the past ten years in order to be able to recognize the outstanding instructor and top student at South Georgia Technical College each year.
“This is a tremendous honor for us to be able to come back and honor the best of the best each year,” said South Georgia Technical College President Emeritus Sparky Reeves when he was presenting a donation to the Instructor of the Year. “It is our pleasure to make this presentation to Dorothea Lusane McKenzie. I had the pleasure of hiring Dorothea and I am so proud of her and the work that she does here with our cosmetology program. Students may be the lifeblood of South Georgia Technical College but our instructors are the heartbeat. And we are thrilled to be able to give back to our top instructor and our top student each year.”
Reeves joined the South Georgia Technical College faculty in 1973 as an Accounting, Math, and Business Psychology Instructor. In addition to teaching, he also served as a Supervisor, Evening Coordinator, Vice President of Economic Development and President. He retired in 2015.
After accepting the stipend from the Reeves’, Dorothea McKenzie thanked them, and all of her co-workers. “I am a product of technical education. I graduated from the South Georgia Tech cosmetology program twice under former instructor Mrs. Martha Arrington, and when she retired President Reeves saw something in me and chose me to be her replacement. I am so grateful that you gave me a chance and hired me.”
Dorothea Lusane McKenzie had members of her family present at the presentation and she thanked each of them for attending the ceremony and for their support of her and her passion. “If my mother could see me now,” said McKenzie. “I am so blessed and honored to receive this recognition. My mother and father did not have the luxury of graduating and going to college. So growing up, we did not have a choice. They knew education was very important and they worked so we could get an education.
“My passion has always been doing hair and I credit a high school guidance counselor for encouraging me to follow my dream and apply to the cosmetology school at South Georgia Tech. I am so proud I did. I was trained at the best by the best,” said McKenzie.
During her tenue as the full-time instructor at South Georgia Technical College, the cosmetology program has been spotlighted twice as one of the top 10 in the nation. “The main reason I work so hard is because I have a passion for what I do and for my students. I hope that I can make a difference in their lives the way my instructor, Mrs. Arrington, did for me. I am a product of technical education and there is nothing more rewarding that passing the torch of opportunity to the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
Dorothea Lusane McKenzie will represent South Georgia Technical College at regional and state competition in an effort to be selected as the top instructor within the Technical College System of Georgia.
“On behalf of South Georgia Technical College I would like to thank President Emeritus Sparky and Allene Reeves for their continued support of South Georgia Technical College, its instructors and its students,” said SGTC President Dr. John Watford. “I talked about the legacy that South Georgia Technical College has and President Reeves and Allene embody that legacy. They have been special to South Georgia Tech for many years and today they demonstrated again why they mean so much to the college, its faculty, staff, and students,” added Watford.
Dr. Watford also congratulated Mrs. McKenzie. “We are so proud of you and your accomplishments. When I think about you, I think about these attributes. You are knowledgeable about your subject matter. Students respect you. You obviously have the respect of your peers because they nominated you for this honor. You have a strong work ethic and you have a passion for your students and want them to excel. Those attributes are make what an outstanding instructor.”
SGTC Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Vanessa Wall, who spearheaded the Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year efforts, thanked Mrs. McKenzie as did David Kuipers, Vice President of Academic Affairs at SGTC.
For more information about how to make a donation or establish an endowed scholarship at South Georgia Technical College, contact Su Ann Bird, SGTC Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Foundation Executive Director at 229-931-2011 or sbird@southgatech.edu. Tax deductible donations may also be mailed to the SGTC Foundation, P.O. Box 6102, Americus GA 31709.