B Y V I C K I P H I L L I P S
Each
year the DTAE focuses attention on outstanding individuals by hosting
two important competitions: one in Technical Education and the other in
Adult Literacy. This year’s events, once again, yielded a group
of nominees that shined a bright light on the efforts of our colleges
and the results they produce.
ollowing a tradition of recognizing exceptional students and instructors,
the DTAE held its annual GOAL and Rick Perkins Award banquet on May 29
in Atlanta. The gala event showcased the student and teacher winners from
each technical college, with each candidate hopeful to take home the state
title.
An acronym for Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership, GOAL is celebrating its 32nd year of paying tribute to the best of all the students enrolled in the technical college system — a total currently exceeding 142,000. And the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Education, now in its 13th year, honors the Instructor of the Year.
For 2003, the GOAL was awarded to Christina Dixon, a culinary arts student at Atlanta Technical College, who won a new Chevy Cavalier donated by Bill Heard Chevrolet. The Rick Perkins Award went to Amy Holloway, who teaches English at Middle Georgia Technical College. Dixon and Holloway will serve as year-long ambassadors of technical education, traveling around the state and speaking to high school counselors and teachers, businesses, community groups, and even the Georgia General Assembly during its next session.
In
fact, one legislator got a first look at these fine examples of the teaching
and learning taking place in the state’s technical colleges. The
Honorable Eric Johnson, the president pro tempore of the Georgia State
Senate, delivered the keynote address to a 900-strong audience consisting
of dignitaries from government and civic groups throughout Georgia, as
well as faculty and staff of the technical colleges.
Referencing the education budget protected in the last legislative session, Johnson said, “Your Legislature knows how hard you work and what you deserve.” He also commended the “motivated students, talented faculty, and dedicated DTAE staff and board members” present at the ceremony.
With
excitement mounting, Assistant Commissioner Chuck Beall introduced the
finalists for the Rick Perkins Award, and Commissioner Ken Breeden announced
Holloway as the winner and presented her with a check for $1,000.
“Technical colleges have the hardest working and most dedicated people I’ve ever met,” Amy Holloway said. Acknowledging Middle Georgia Tech, she added, “Without your love and laughter I wouldn’t be here tonight. And to all the GOAL students, you’re the reason we’re here.”
That reason became evident when the GOAL finalists were introduced and Christina Dixon was proclaimed winner. In a speech punctuated with sobs of joy and surprise, Dixon exclaimed, “I made history tonight!” She is the first culinary arts student to win the GOAL.
“When I started taking classes at Atlanta Tech, I never thought I’d be standing here tonight,” she beamed. The home-schooled Dixon thanked her parents and encouraged all the GOAL nominees to be ambassadors for Georgia’s technical colleges.
“Go
back to all parts of Georgia and tell everyone they can achieve great
things through technical education.” 
ABOUT
THE WINNERS
At age 16, CHRISTINA DIXON pondered her choices for a future career and narrowed them to law and cuisine. A friend asked her what profession she would enter if she wasn’t paid but loved the work.
Already zealous about cooking, Dixon knew which choice to make. She completed the Certified Customer Service Specialist course at Atlanta Technical College, then pursued an education there in culinary arts.
“It’s
hard work,” she said, “but I love people and I love food,
so I know I made the right decision.” Dixon, who enjoys fine arts,
is especially intrigued with the presentation aspect of culinary arts,
whether shaping a melon or creating an eye-pleasing canapé.
After earning an associate degree in culinary arts, Dixon plans to attend DeVry University using the scholarship she received as a college GOAL winner to study business administration with an emphasis on small business. She says that will dovetail nicely with the Customer Service course she took at Atlanta Technical College, giving her a solid foundation on which to build her dream: a catering business in Atlanta.
Articulate and animated, Dixon exudes enthusiasm about her upcoming year as an ambassador for the technical college system. “My message to others will be to find something you truly love doing,” she said, “and technical education can help you achieve that goal.”
ENGLISH
INSTRUCTOR AMY HOLLOWAY knows that teaching humanities
differs from teaching technology-oriented fields offered at technical
colleges. “Verbs don’t change much,” she said, adding
that she’s not likely to consult with a local manufacturer and inquire,
“How do you want your workers to use prepositions?”
Ever the pragmatist, Holloway wants her instruction to relate to the real world, to impact students in their chosen occupations. So, she always asks her students at Middle Georgia Technical College, “Why do we study literature?” Her own answer to that question: “We are all, first and foremost, human beings. Literature addresses universal themes. It teaches us how to handle conflict; it allows us to step inside someone else’s shoes. Without literature, I wouldn’t know, for example, what it was like to be a young, African-American male in the 1960s.”
Holloway wants people to realize that technical colleges require standard core classes so that students have good communication and math skills when they enter the workforce. She says the best paper she ever received was written by an aircraft structural technology student on the Wallace Stevens poem Man with a Blue Guitar.
Teaching at Middle Georgia Tech has allowed her to interact with the community, to have contact with the public rather than being limited to a pedagogical world.
“I’m
a big believer in technical education,” she said, “so I’m
thrilled to be a cheerleader. I can’t imagine any job more gratifying
than teaching in a technical college. It’s amazing the difference
we’re making in people’s lives. And after all, isn’t
that why we go into teaching?”
he night air was biting cold,
but inside, the banquet hall glowed with warm enthusiasm for the two winners
of the 10th annual EAGLE awards competition, held Jan. 23 in Atlanta.
EAGLE, which stands for Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education, is the premier adult literacy student recognition program, designed to spotlight educational opportunities available in local communities. The event involves several hundred students advancing through local to state-level competition, where judges select a winner in each of two categories.
This year, Melissa Robinson from Moultrie Technical College won in the GED Graduate category. Cortez Scott from Central Georgia Technical College won in the Current Student category.
Robinson and Scott thus began their year-long tenure as Ambassadors for Literacy, promoting lifelong learning and encouraging others to become learners. They work as volunteers, peer tutors and recruiters of other students in local programs.
Robinson is no stranger to such efforts. Besides volunteering at the Adult Education Center and at her son’s elementary school, she participates in an outreach ministry at the Tift County Law Enforcement Center, where she helps women prisoners transform their lives through education.
Robinson has firsthand knowledge of how education can change lives, as she recounted in her story in her moving acceptance speech.
“I made some bad choices,” she said, after describing a life of disappointment and failure. Raised by addict parents who didn’t value education, she quit school in the eighth grade and later endured an abusive marriage. Despite a childhood dream of becoming a lawyer, Robinson ended up devoid of any self-esteem.
“My dream died,” she said. “I thought I could never attain a higher education, that only the rich could go to college.” But then she met her GED instructor, who lifted Robinson out of a cycle of hopelessness. “She gave me the courage and support I needed,” Robinson said. “She is why I’m standing here today.”
Earning a GED boosted her spirits, buoyed her self-confidence and beckoned her to return to her childhood dream. “I am now majoring in pre-law,” she said as the audience cheered her accomplishment. “I see what education has done to my life.”
In his acceptance speech, Cortez Scott also credited education with altering the course of his seemingly disaster-bound adolescence in Syracuse, N.Y. “I was hanging with the wrong crowd,” he recalled, describing a rough street life in the company of other high school dropouts.
“My mother kept telling me I should use my talents. I guess the message stuck,” he said, “because I finally came to my senses.” A move to Georgia helped him embark on a new path. After receiving his GED, he plans to attend college and pursue a career in the music industry. “I want to make my mom proud.”
Now a role model for others, Scott talks to teenagers in his Milledgeville community about staying away from trouble. “I tell them that if they keep their heads up, they will fly to success,” said the EAGLE winner.
Such
mentoring is just the mission envisioned by Dr. Jean DeVard-Kemp, assistant
commissioner of Adult Literacy Programs. “All of you, because of
your attitude and determination, are spokespersons for adult literacy
in Georgia,” said Dr. DeVard-Kemp, speaking enthusiastically to
the audience. “Go back to your families and schools, your churches
and neighborhoods, and encourage others to do what you have done.”
During the banquet, DTAE Commissioner Ken Breeden visited each table, shaking hands and chatting with every single nominee. Later, speaking onstage, he noted, “Every student here is continuing their education. You’re making us all proud of you.”
Pride, self-esteem, education and dreams — these were the themes that pervaded the heartwarming evening.
As Scott
said, “If you believe in yourself, stay focused, work hard and be
persistent, you can make all your dreams come true.”
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