Instructors at Bainbridge College’s facilities in Bainbridge and in Blakely have nominated 11 of their students for the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) competition, according to Sheila McLendon, coordinator for the college’s GOAL program.

A statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), GOAL honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students. GOAL winners are selected at Georgia’s 26 technical colleges and the two colleges in the University System of Georgia, including Bainbridge College (BC), that have technical education divisions.

BC students chosen for recognition by their instructors are listed alphabetically by the Technical Studies Division program in which they were nominated. Gail Martin of Bainbridge was nominated by Tatyana G. Pashnyak for Business Administrative Technology. Corey Williams of Colquitt was nominated by Sara Kimmel for Cosmetology.

Nominated for Early Childhood Care and Education were Hope B. Butler of Bainbridge, nominated by Valley Rogers, and Blakely residents Linda Reynolds, nominated by Linda Smith, and Georgette Salter, nominated by John McRae.

Robert Turner of Blakely and Phyllis Ricks of Damascus were nominated by Claude Bell in Electronics Technology. Mark Smith of Bainbridge was nominated by Kathy Ketterer for Marketing and Management.

Nominated in Medical Assisting were Betty Roberts of Damascus, nominated by Haley Harrison, and Evelyn Maxine Wolfe of Donalsonville, nominated by Sherry Harrison. Shirley Hand of Americus was nominated by Gena Peterson in the Practical Nursing Program.

“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 McLendon.

A selection committee of leaders from the business and industry communities in Decatur, Early and Seminole counties will review each of the instructors’ nominations and then conduct personal interviews with the students. The panel will consider a student’s academic achievement, personal character, leadership ability and enthusiasm for technical education. The interviewers will choose one student as the winner from Bainbridge College to compete at the regional level with students from other colleges within the Southern Region.

Three students from each of the three regions will be selected as semi-finalists and will be named in May at the state GOAL conference in Atlanta, where all college winners will take part in TCSG’s annual statewide GOAL conference. The nine regional finalists will then move to the state level to compete for the title of state GOAL winner.

The student who earns the state title is also awarded the responsibility of traveling throughout Georgia as ambassador for the entire technical college system. To make that travel easier, the winner receives a new Chevrolet Cruze from Chevrolet, the corporate sponsor of Georgia’s GOAL program.