Four Cherokee Students Are GOAL Nominees

Four Cherokee County students have been nominated to participate in the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership competition.  

Instructors at Chattahoochee Technical College nominated a total of 22 students to participate in the program, which is in its 42nd year.

GOAL, a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia, recognizes students who excel at academics and leadership. Winners are selected at each of the state’s 24 technical colleges, as well as the two Board of Regents colleges with technical education divisions. 

Nominees are:

• Kimberly America,  Allied Health Sciences, Marietta
• Michael Boyd, TV Production, Kennesaw
• Katrina Brock, Business Admin. Technology, Kingston
• John Champagne, Business Management, Marietta
• Patrick Claxton, Clinical Lab Tech, Smyrna
• Dondru Clyne, Associate Science in Nursing, Fayetteville
• Leah Connors, Marketing Management, Roswell
• Connie Curry, Logistics and Supply Chain Mgmt., Kennesaw
• Natalie DeVaux, Computer Information Systems, Marietta
• Gayle Ferris, Allied Health Sciences, Canton
• John Griffin, Criminal Justice Techology, Ball Ground
• Valerie James, Interiors, Marietta
• Catarina Johnson, Early Childhood Care and Education, Marietta
• Johntavious Johnson, Practical Nursing, Cartersville
• Kim Linton,  Marketing Management, Marietta
• Amy Kropacek, Environmental Technology, Marietta
• Reginald Robbins, Business Administrative Technology, Powder Springs
• Whitney Robledo, Associate of Science in Nursing, Alpharetta
• Jessica Rodefer, Drafting, Kennesaw
• Allie Sirois, Early Childhood Care and Education, Kennesaw
• Van Wauford, Business Management, Canton
• Sarah Wetherington, Early Childhood Care and Education, Waleska 

"The purpose of the GOAL program is to spotlight the outstanding achievement by students in Georgia's technical colleges and to emphasize the importance of technical education in today’s global workforce," said Chattahoochee Technical College Career Services Specialist Jesse Moyers.

A screening committee of administrators at Chattahoochee Tech will review each of the instructors’ nominations then conduct personal interviews with the students.  

After the nominees are ranked, four finalists will then be chosen to compete to be the college’s GOAL winner. Finalists will be announced later this month and the school winner will be announced in January. 

After another round of interviews and evaluations, the student judged most outstanding will be designated as the college’s GOAL winner and move on to the regional competition. 

Then three from each of the three regions will make up the nine semi-finalists, who will be named in April at the state GOAL conference in Atlanta. The nine regional finalists will then move to the state level and compete for the title of state GOAL winner. 

The student who earns the state GOAL winner title is also awarded the responsibility of traveling the state as the ambassador for the entire technical college system. To make that travel easier, the winner also receives a new car, the college said. 

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