"I always tear up at this event," said Sherry Riley with a smile as she wiped her eyes. She certainly wasn't alone in the audience as the winners of the ninth annual Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy (EAGLE) awards were announced. Tissues were pulled out left and right, but they were happy tears.

The EAGLE awards honor adult learners from around the state of Georgia who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in literacy classes and in so doing have overcome significant odds. Each of this year's Literacy Ambassadors, selected from 41 finalists from around the state, was a testimony to the tremendous power of education to transform lives.

In the celebration on Jan. 24, seven students became Georgia's 2002 Ambassadors for Literacy. But Jean DeVard-Kemp, assistant commissioner of Adult Literacy Programs, applauded the achievements of all of the students gathered there.

"Every one of you is a winner," she emphasized. "You were a winner as soon as you walked in the door of your school."

Here are the 2002 EAGLE winners:

• Annie Thomas stopped going to school in the fifth grade. More than 40 years and 10 children later, she returned to school at Lanier Technical College. Today she has a GED and "an entirely different outlook on life," she says. One of her next goals is to enroll in the paralegal program at Lanier Tech.
  
  
• Michael David Powell left school after seventh grade. He returned to school this year at Athens Technical College. "When I first met my teacher, I had six years of school to make up," he says. "I thought I'd be there at least four years. Four months later, I had a GED. It just goes to show that having someone believe in you can make all the difference."
  
  
• Nickolay Josiah Taylor finished eight years of school in Russia and moved to the United States at age 15 when he and his siblings were adopted. Now 18, Taylor says his experience at Coosa Valley Technical College has been so positive that he now dreams of going to college or joining the Air Force.
  
  
• Hillary Dilworth had completed her sophomore year of high school in California. More than 10 years later, "I walked into Athens Technical College scared, and my teachers comforted me and cheered me on. Now I have my GED," she says, adding that she dreams of becoming a surgical technician and going on medical missions.
  
  
• Martha Manzo had studied economics for two years at a university in Columbia before moving to the United States. Her education at Griffin Technical College "was completely supported by my husband, my three children and my friends," she says and adds that she wants to help integrate the Spanish community into American culture.
  
  
• Carol Shultz entered Griffin Technical College after being out of school for 38 years, working for most of those years in the food service industry. She now has a GED, has received a nursing assistant's license, and wants to become a licensed practical nurse and take computer classes.
  
  
• Yvrose Gaston completed ninth grade in Haiti. Before she returned to school at Moultrie Technical College, she recalls, "I could not communicate with anyone. Now, nine months later, I have friends." When Gaston was a little girl, she dreamed of being a nurse but gave up that dream. "Now in America, I can dream again."

Enrollment at Georgia's technical colleges has increased every single quarter for the past 11 years. Growth in 2001 was especially dramatic -- 17,000 more students attended Georgia's technical colleges last year than the year before. "The growth of Georgia's technical colleges demonstrates how vital our role is in the education and workforce development of our citizens," says DTAE Commissioner Ken Breeden.

Survey Gives Great Grades Last fall, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government completed a follow-up survey of the graduates of Georgia's technical colleges from the class of 2000, including graduates from all DTAE program groups. Intended to measure the effectiveness of the technical college system in training students, the survey found good news indeed. Let's do the numbers: 93% of graduates were employed, and 80% of those are working in jobs in their field of training or in a related field. 93% of graduates were satisfied with the technical training they received, and 51% were "very satisfied." 97% would recommend attending one of Georgia's technical colleges. 73% of those who've been promoted say their training had an impact on that promotion. 91% of graduates live within 50 miles of the technical college they attended. 46% of graduates had found jobs before graduation. Among the comments added to the survey by graduates was high praise for the colleges and their faculty: "Excellent teachers and training," wrote one. "Have recommended this course to many people." And another concluded, "(Technical College) was the best thing I could do for myself and family."