South Georgia Technical College held its 2020 Fall General Educational Development Diploma (GED) High School Equivalency Drive-Thru Graduation ceremony in the outdoor circular drive area between the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center and the Odom Center on the SGTC Americus campus recently.
The event was held outside due to COVID-19 pandemic regulations and graduates were asked to stay in their cars until their name was called and they walked the red carpet to receive their high school equivalency award.
South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford and SGTC Dean of Adult Education Lillie Ann Winn congratulated the graduates on their achievements and encouraged graduates that “they had come too far to just come this far.” Both encouraged the graduates to continue their education by choosing one of the over 200 associate degree, diploma, or technical certificate of credit programs at South Georgia Technical College next semester.
“You are here today and you deserve to be honored for your accomplishment of achieving this diploma. You have overcome many hardships including COVID-19 to earn this diploma. You have proven that there is nothing that you cannot conquer or overcome. You have proven to yourself that you can do anything. Nothing in your life will be more difficult than what you have already accomplished and I encourage you to continue your educational journey. Don’t let this be your first and last graduation,” said President Watford.
Dr. Watford also shared with the graduates that each of them will receive “a $500 scholarship for attaining their GED diploma, so it just makes sense to continue your education.” SGTC Vice President of Academic Affairs David Kuipers called each graduates name as they walked down the red carpet. SGTC Adult Education Dean Lillie Ann Winn presented the graduates with a diploma and President Watford congratulated the graduates individually as their photos were taken with their caps and gowns.
Listed below are the GED graduates from the individual counties who earned the right to participate in the ceremony:
Sumter County
Kenley Michelle Banks, Cody Wayne Farrow, Destiny Love Martinez, and Skylar Danielle Walter;
Crisp County
Kyle Barefoot, Alexandria Bowen, Joshua Laines, William Author Luecke, Jr., Cassidy Mathews, Candy Moralez, Clayton Oliver, Joy Richmond, Ricky Anthony Stewart, Jack C. Ware, and Treasure D. Whitehead;
Marion County
Jacob Mathew Bagatta and Christian Colburn;
Macon County
Courtney Marie Humphries;
Taylor County
Johnny Ray Caldwell, Jr., and Joshua Ty Ingram.
The South Georgia Technical College Adult Education department would like to thank Flint Energies, Perry Wellness Center and the South Georgia Technical College Foundation for their support of the program and the graduation ceremony.
SGTC Dean of Adult Education Lillie Ann Winn serves as the Program Administrator for Adult Education for SDA 15 and Lisa Jordan is the Adult Education Administrative Assistant. Lisa Truitt is the GED Chief Examiner and Shuri Rand, Ed Turley and Kenia Wills are GED Examiners. The South Georgia Tech Adult Education instructors include: Cindy Bagwell, Dawne Beck, Robbie Edalgo, Betty Ann Eschmann, Lissa Faircloth, Angie Kauffman, Mary King, Daniel Payne, Cheryl Perry, Deborah Story, Tonya Visage, and Mary Wooldridge. Tracy Israel is the Adult Education Transition Specialist
For more information about the Adult Education and High School Equivalency classes, contact South Georgia Tech at 229.931.2565.
Treasure Deaja Whitehead is shown above after receiving her tassel and high school equivalency diploma at SGTC.