EMOTIONS RAN HIGH on May 28 as the state's top technical students and instructors gathered at Atlanta's Crowne Plaza Ravinia to hear the long-awaited news.
At 8 p.m. sharp, Commissioner Ken Breeden announced the names of the best student and best instructor in Georgia's Department of Technical and Adult Education.
|
Barbara Jenkins, a student at Thomas Technical Institute, won the 27th Annual Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL). She was selected from a group of 34 finalists, who represented more than 230,000 students enrolled at the state's technical institutes and colleges with technical divisions. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, FOX 5 Eyewitness News and DTAE sponsor the GOAL Award to recognize the year's outstanding students.
Diane Quimby, an Atlanta Technical Institute carpentry instructor, was named winner of the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction, formerly the Commissioner's Award of Excellence. As an added bonus, Jenkins received a 1998 Chevrolet Geo Metro LSI, provided by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and Quimby received a check for $1,000 from the Georgia Fund for Technical and Adult Education, Inc. Jenkins and Quimby will represent Georgia's technical institutes for the 1998 - 99 school year. Throughout the year, they will promote technical education by telling their stories at civic club meetings, graduation ceremonies and high school assemblies. |  Diane Quimby (L) was named Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year. Barbara Jenkins (R) won the GOAL award. (Photo Bread & Butter Studio) |
"I don't think words can articulate how I felt at that moment when I won. I never expected to take it all the way," Jenkins said, who admits she briefly fainted when her name was called. "When I won, I realized the judges understood me. I did not want my story to be a story of sadness, but a story of triumph due to technical education."
Jenkins, who lives in the small South Georgia town of Meigs, had worked in a sewing factory for most of her adult life. When it closed, she was left jobless with three children to support and few options. "When that happened, I realized I had to do something with my life," Jenkins said. That realization took her to Thomas Technical Institute, where she will complete a degree in computer information systems this fall. Her experience with technical education has motivated her to continue her education so she can become a computer instructor, she said.
"When I started going to Thomas Tech, I started feeling better about myself. My confidence level went up, my self-esteem level went up," she said. "These are things no amount of money can buy. You are surrounded by people who care, who want to see you succeed. I am proof that technical education works."
Quimby, who has been a carpentry instructor for seven years at Atlanta Technical Institute and a professional carpenter for nearly 20 years, knows the valuable role instructors play in their students' success.
"We teach People to be proud of themselves. Technical education empowers people. It gives them more than knowledge. It gives them a marketable skill," Quimby said.
As a female instructor in a male-dominated field, Quimby said she has experienced much less gender bias than she initially expected.
"What matters for the students is that I have knowledge to give and to share and I will help take them as far as they can go," she said.
Beverly Cox Clark
Related Links:
GOAL Award InformationRick Perkins Award Information
Atlanta Area Technical Institute
Thomas Area Technical Institute
©1998 Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education. All rights reserved.