SGTC Crisp County Center Welding Students Unveil Downtown Cordele Sculpture

South Georgia Technical College’s Crisp County Center’s Welding and Joining Technology students provided the City of Cordele with its newest public art installation -- an all-metal train engine sculpture that was designed by SGTC’s full-time and dual enrollment welding students.  The sculpture was unveiled and is on display on East 9th Avenue in the downtown Cordele. The sculpture, titled Locomotive 101, was a product of more than two semesters of collaboration by SGTC welding and joining technology students and their instructors. South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford and representatives from the City of Cordele and Big Tex Trailers spoke and expressed their excitement about the project. “We live in a country that is great because we know how make things, we know how to build things and we know how to prepare things. At South Georgia Tech, we’re not afraid of the word vocational. We raise students on training and we’re very proud of what these students have done,” Dr. Watford said. “This is going to be a legacy for the students.” Under lead instructor Brenda Butler Gilliam, SGTC Crisp County Center’s Welding and Joining technology students have participated in and won awards and recognitions for several ornamental welding projects. In 2014, Marie Heimberger of Cordele earned a bronze medal for Welding Sculpture at SkillsUSA National competitions in Kansas City. That year, she and fellow classmate Jake Kelly of Cordele won gold medals for their ornamental welding work at SkillsUSA state competitions, giving them the opportunity to compete at the national level. The next year, Mary Amerson of Cordele and Dylan Manley of Leesburg also won a gold medal at the state level for Welding Sculpture. Gilliam’s Welding and Joining Technology program had also brought home several other national and state medals in previous years. For more information about the Crisp County Center Welding and Joining Technology program at South Georgia Tech, contact Brenda Butler Gilliam at 229.271.4054 or bbutler@southgatech.edu. To inquire about the Americus campus Welding and Joining Technology program, contact instructor Ted Eschmann at 229.931.2597 or teschmann@southgatech.edu. South Georgia Technical College has a one-stop admissions process that allows students to apply, enroll, and register in the same day. Students also need to apply for financial aid as soon as possible if they have not already done so. To apply for admission to South Georgia Technical College in Americus call 229.931.2252 or 229.931.2760 or 1.800.928.0283 and in Cordele, call 229.271.4051. Students must complete an application for admission with a non-refundable $25 application fee. South Georgia Tech currently offers over 200 different associate degree, diploma, and short term technical certificate of credit classes. Enroll today and get ahead in your chosen career. For more information about South Georgia Technical College and its programs of study, visit the website at: www.southgatech.edu.