Canton Professor Wins Award

announced Friday, Jan. 20, the winner of the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction, a statewide program initiated by the Technical College System of Georgia to honor outstanding instructors at the System's 25 member institutions.

Jim Rutherford was named as the school’s winner.

The announcement was made Friday at a luncheon honoring GOAL and Rick Perkins nominees, finalists and winners.

Other finalists for the title included , air conditioning technology instructor and Shannon Ferdarko, practical nursing instructor.

Rutherford is a current resident of Woodstock, GA, and teaches math courses at the Jasper and campuses. He has taught for Chattahoochee Technical College for 10 years and teaches numerous math courses including learning support classes to more advanced courses such as calculus and statistics. Prior to teaching at Chattahoochee Tech, he has 25 years of experience in private industry which according to Rutherford is important. “Real word experience is crucial to bring into the classroom and share with our students.” 

Rutherford will now compete against the winners from other technical colleges in Georgia at the regional level. The regional level of the competition includes Georgia technical college winners from the northern area of the state for the region Rick Perkins Award title. Each region will then select two finalists whose names will be announced in April at the annual Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership and Rick Perkins Award conference. Those finalists will participate in an additional screening process for the state Rick Perkins Award title.

Each phase consists of a brief 5-7 minute introduction by the nominee to a panel of three judges followed by a 12-15 minute interview session. The winner of this award will carry the title of Instructor of the Year and will receive several nice gifts. The state winner receives $1,000 and a crystal award.

When questioned on Jim’s feelings about winning the Rick Perkins Award, he commented “This is quite an honor to be chosen to represent the faculty at Chattahoochee Tech. I look forward to carrying on through the region and state competition as I represent the college.”

The Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction began in 1991 and is designed to recognize and honor technical college instructors who make significant contributions to technical education through innovation and leadership in their fields. Formerly known as the Commissioner's Award of Excellence, the Rick Perkins Award was renamed in memory and honor of Thomas "Rick" Perkins, an instructor at West Central Technical College, who received the Commissioner's Award immediately prior to his untimely death.