NGTC names leadership award winner

    Elizabeth Hand from Blairsville was named North Georgia Technical College’s 2021 Georgia Occupational Award for Leadership (GOAL) student at last week’s Habersham Rotary meeting.
    Nominated by her instructor Martha Marquardt, Hand is a registered nursing student from the Blairsville campus.
    Shonna White, a medical assisting student from Toccoa was selected as one of the four finalists for the GOAL Award. She was nominated by her instructor Stacie Bohannon.
    Others were Melodee Butler, a registered nursing student from Clarkesville, Ga., nominated by instructor Bethany Elrod; Adam Aquilar, an advanced manufacturing student from Demorest, Ga., nominated by instructor Adam Fulbright; and Hand.
    GOAL candidates are nominated by an instructor and must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and demonstrate strong work ethics and leadership skills.
    This statewide award program of the Technical College System of Georgia actually was started at NGTC in the early 1970s and continues to honor excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students today.
    Local GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 22 technical colleges.   
    From across all three of North Georgia Technical College’s campuses, students representing various programs were nominated as candidates to represent NGTC in the state competition.
    Another top honor presented at the Rotary program was the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction to accounting instructor Dustin Emhart.
    As the Rick Perkins Award winner, Emhart receives a $500 cash award presented by Habersham Medical Center and the NGTC Foundation.
    Emhart received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from North Carolina State University, and has had an extensive career working for accounting firms in the Southeast, Washington D.C, and Waco, Texas, before establishing his own CPA firm in 2010.
    Emhart has been an instructor with NGTC since 2011.  
    “It’s been my honor to learn about these students and faculty members’ stories and be a part of this ceremony today to recognize their perseverance and hard work,” said NGTC president John Wilkinson.
    “These students and faculty members have gone the extra mile to compete for these prestigious awards,” he said.
    Taking the initiative and having the desire to represent our college at the next level shows a high work ethic that the students’ future employers will appreciate. And the faculty members are to be commended for their dedication to the college and their students,” Wilkinson said.
    “I congratulate each of these students and faculty members, and we know they will represent our college well at the next level of competition,” he said.
    Each year the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce, Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce and Habersham Rotary show their support with monetary awards to the finalists and their nominating instructors.  
    Both the GOAL and Rick Perkins Award winners will now advance to represent NGTC at the region level which will be held virtually in April.