By Susanne Reynolds

Bainbridge State College is pleased to announce the 2015-2016 GOAL Program nominees who were nominated by their instructors based on student academic achievement and personal leadership.

This academic school year’s nominees are Kenneth Brock of Whigham, Regina Martin of Donalsonville, Gabe Russo of Cairo, Gabe Widner of Climax and Betina Tripp of Attapulgus.

The GOAL Program officially kicks off during the fall semester throughout the state of Georgia. The program is more than just an awards banquet. It is an event where Georgia’s business, government and industry leaders join technical colleges to celebrate technical education’s vital impact on Georgia’s workforce, prosperity and future.

An objective for GOAL is to stimulate the community’s interest in and knowledge of technical education by recognizing outstanding student talent as well as strengthening the association between educators and the business community.

According to Claude Bell, GOAL coordinator and BSC Asst. Professor of Electronics Technology, all of his students that have gone through the GOAL Program have gained life-long knowledge and skills.

“Once my students went through this competition, it made them shining stars. Good things come from this competition,” he said.

The competition is underway with the first phase, which is based at the local level. The BSC nominees will be screened and selected through an interview process. From the local level, the College will select one student to represent them at the regional level.

At the regional competition, selection committees, made up of business and industry representing colleges within the region, select three winners from each of the Technical College System of Georgia’s three regions. The nine finalists move on to compete at the state level in Atlanta.

From April 19-25, Georgia’s Governor will support GOAL by signing a GOAL Week Proclamation encouraging all Georgia citizens to join in recognizing the program. The state level competition takes place during this time with interviews to select and announce the GOAL winner at the annual GOAL and Rick Perkins Award banquet.

For more information on the GOAL Program, please visit www.tcsg.edu/goal.