Last week, Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) Registered Nursing (RN) students once again stepped in to meet the needs of local health systems in administering vaccines to the public. 

As a part of Houston Healthcare’s Phase 1A+ of vaccination allocation which includes doses designated for healthcare workers, long-term care staff and residents, adults over the age of 65, their caregivers, and first responders, CGTC’s nursing students registered and assisted with vaccine administration.

“We are pleased to have nursing students from Central Georgia Technical College assisting us with providing the vaccines to our staff and the community,” said Houston Healthcare chief of staff, Melissa Phagan. “These efforts will help in our mission to provide compassionate quality care to our community and assist our local health department in vaccinating our most high-risk community members to safeguard their health and that of their loved ones during this pandemic.”

In addition to Houston Healthcare, nursing students made themselves available to the needs of the Southern District of Pulaski and Wilcox County Health Departments.

The CGTC RN program’s involvement with Houston Healthcare and the Pulaski and Wilcox Health Departments follows its participation in Taylor Regional Hospital’s drive-thru vaccination event in January in Hawkinsville.

“We just keep responding and heading where the need takes us,” said CGTC director of Nursing, Jessica Willcox.

Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) Commissioner Greg Dozier has appointed former Georgia State Senator and Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) specialist John Wilkinson as the new President of North Georgia Technical College. 

“Senator Wilkinson has spent his professional life advancing and advocating for CTAE here in Georgia,” said TCSG Commissioner, Greg Dozier. “He is one of Georgia’s leading CTAE experts and we are excited for him to lead North Georgia Technical College as we serve the needs of business and industry in the region and across the state. I know he will continue the lasting legacy left by Dr. Mark Ivester by providing opportunity for every student that comes through the college’s doors.” Read more.

Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) Commissioner Greg Dozier has appointed Coastal Pines Technical College Provost, Lonnie Roberts as the new President of the college upon the retirement of Dr. Glenn Deibert.

“Lonnie certainly has all the right leadership qualities and technical college experience we look for when considering the next President of Coastal Pines Tech,” said TCSG Commissioner Dozier. “But it’s his lifelong commitment to bettering his local community that makes him the right person to lead the college. I know he will do a fantastic job bringing more opportunity to students in the region and developing a skilled workforce for business and industry in southeast Georgia.” Read more.

This spring, Albany Technical College added new cutting-edge metal desktop 3D printing to the courses available in the Engineering Graphics Program. Students can now take specialized courses in 3D Mechanical Modeling that will include a metal modeling aspect. These types of desktop metal procedures exist so that engineers, designers, and manufacturers can now have easier access to metal and carbon fiber 3D printing. The application for 3D metal printing includes a vast number of industries: Automotive, Consumer Goods, Heavy Industry, Education, Machine Design, Manufacturing Tooling, and even the Military. How the industry produces parts starting from a prototype and continuing into mass production is changing rapidly. These desktop printing options are changing the way parts are designed, manufactured, and sold. Watch the video.

Elbert Memorial Hospital is dedicated to ensuring the citizens of Elbert County and surrounding areas have quality health care services available to them 24 hours per day, seven days per week. That commitment starts with the health and wellbeing of patients, and preventive services like vaccines help ensure the community is able to stay healthy and avoid a serious illness or hospital stay. Elbert Memorial Hospital is proud to announce a partnership with Athens Technical College (ATC) to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the Elbert County community. Keeping the community safe from COVID-19 infection means a faster and safer return to “normal,” and vaccines are an important tool to ensure we prevent hospitalizations and keep citizens healthy. Kerry Trapnell, CEO of Elbert Memorial Hospital states, “Our partnership with Athens Technical College will allow us the opportunity to greatly expand the number of vaccines EMH is able to distribute to our community. The hospital would not have been able to do this without the partnership with ATC.”  

Atlanta Technical College (ATC) mourned the passing of Mr. Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron on January 25, 2021 by lowering the flags on campus to half-staff, honoring the life and legacy of one of the College’s biggest supporters and allies throughout his 25 years of service to the ATC family and Metro Atlanta community. Mr. Aaron’s commitment to the students and College resulted in the College renaming the Academic Complex in his honor in February 2020. Throughout the years, Mr. Aaron has funded six endowed scholarships that bridge financial gaps for students. Mr. Aaron created The Hank Aaron 755 Society in February 2020 as an additional support to student success through scholarships that bridge the GAP between need and program completion. ATC also celebrated what would have been Mr. Aaron’s 87th birthday on February 5, 2021. Read more.

Augusta Technical College (ATC) is proud to announce that two deserving members of the Alpha Chi Delta Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Ms. Merciful Fuller and Ms. Wilisa Ruffin, have been selected to represent Augusta Technical College as members of the All-Georgia Academic Team. These students have also been selected as nominees in the 2020-2021 All-USA Academic Team competition. Ms. Fuller and Ms. Ruffin were selected from a limited number of students per campus for this nomination. The nominations place these students in competition for both the All-USA Academic Team, the Coca-Cola Academic Team, and the New Century Pathway Scholarship Awards. Scholars will be notified of placement on national teams or scholarship by April 2021. Read more.

Interest in creating a scholarship to support Adult Education students at Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) grew over the last few months for the Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties. In honor of National Literacy Week, Lu Byrd, president of the Rotary Club, presented the CGTC Foundation a check for $320 to begin funding literacy initiatives. The Rotary Club established the scholarship to support those seeking to obtain high school equivalency credentials and beyond. Read more.

Martha Kirby Farrar and her husband, Dr. Ken Farrar, of Cobb County, have gifted $26,000 to establish a new endowed scholarship for nursing students at Chattahoochee Technical College. The Gladys Lorene Thomas Kirby Memorial Endowed Scholarship is in memory of Martha’s mother, who graduated from the college in 1969 with a diploma in practical nursing. “Mom went back to school in her forties and then worked as a nurse in order to help pay for our college education,” said Martha. “She chose nursing because she had experience in being a caregiver and wanted to join a profession that was meaningful to her and others.” This new endowed scholarship for Chattahoochee Tech nursing students will allow for a $1,000 scholarship to be awarded each year in perpetuity, according to Chattahoochee Tech Advancement Coordinator Amanda Henderson. Read more.

The Golden Isles College and Career Academy (GICCA) recently hosted the inaugural “This Girl Can” workshop at its facility. Coastal Pines Technical College and the Golden Isles Development Authority were sponsors of the workshop. This Girl Can was offered to eighth and ninth grade girls who were interested in exploring non-traditional careers. This workshop was hosted by GICCA over a three-night series where female students could bring a female mentor to assist and participate in the workshop. The first night of the workshop, participants were schooled on safety and began learning how to use tools in the welding lab. The second night, participants started working on their project, a windchime. The third and final night there was a panel of industry professional women who spoke to the students about being a woman in a non-traditional career field and to learn more about the manufacturing industry and the many occupations available.

The Adult Education division at Columbus Technical College is accepting 25 people for its new Career Plus HSE class that kicks off in a few weeks. To get started, students just need to be 21 or older, not have a high school diploma or equivalency, and respond by March 1st. Enrollment is free and in addition to earning a high school equivalency, students will also gain valuable workforce training and college credit. Watch the video.

Just past the check-in desk of Firehouse Gym Calhoun stands Jalen Hamilton, Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) graduate and owner of A1 Nutrition, who greets customers with a smile and a custom workout for the day. “Our teas, shakes, and smoothies are low in sugar and calories and high in protein to help the body recover after a workout,” said Hamilton. “I have the nutrition facts on the counter so people can see what is in their drinks.” The Calhoun businessman launched his enterprise in May 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to impact small businesses. Hamilton said he researched nutrition-related products and was ready to bring his meal replacement shakes, smoothies, and teas to the market. Read more.

A year ago, Clayton Joseph was incarcerated in the DeKalb County Jail. Today he is employed as a skilled welder — thanks to Georgia Piedmont Technical College's training partnership with the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, TCSG, and WorkSource DeKalb. The Vocational Careers for Inmate Rehabilitation Program partnership is designed to pair inmates with the college’s Welding Technology program and to get them ready to earn a living wage upon their release. Taking an average of eight months to complete, the program has seen 13 inmates graduate since its beginning in August 2019. The partners celebrated through a virtual recognition ceremony and press conference on Dec. 18, 2020. Meet Clayton and find out more about his journey and the program in this WSB-TV story.

Gwinnett Technical College students continue to be on the front lines treating COVID-19 patients and are now gaining hands-on experience by administering the vaccine. Students from the nursing and paramedic programs assisted the Gwinnett, Newton & Rockdale County Health Departments, administering approximately 1,000 COVID vaccines on January 23 and January 30. 

The Health Information Management Technology (HIMT) program is a sequence of courses designed to provide students with the technical knowledge and skills necessary to serve in a supervisory role in various components of the health information system. The Best Value Schools of 2021 ranked Lanier Technical College’s HIMT Program second-best among all other HIMT Programs in the country. Lanier Tech’s HIMT Program is directed by Annette Baker, Lanier Tech’s 2020 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year.

North Georgia Technical College's culinary students were proud to participate in the recent Atlanta Culinary Federation/Atlanta Chef's Association's annual President’s Gala at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Students assisted with preparing the dinner based on a menu from a chapter event in 1972 held at the dining room in the old downtown Rich’s department store. The students helped prepare a bouillabaisse consommé, beet and artichoke salad, beef wellington, and baked Alaska. The event honored winners of various awards and thanked sponsors who donated approximately $1.8 million to the chapter for humanitarian aid. The Atlanta Chefs gave away several thousand boxes of food throughout the Atlanta area to needy families and supported our troops with generous meals during the holidays.

After learning of an opportunity to take welding classes during their senior year of high school, Malik Brinson and Tremaine Shields started in Oconee Fall Line Technical College’s (OFTC) dual enrollment program. Conveniently located next to their high school, the two students attended OFTC’s Jefferson County Center for welding class a few hours every day while also attending their regular high school classes. Tuition and textbooks for dual enrolled students is covered up to 30 hours by the state, making it not only a good option for education and skills training, but one that is affordable. Shields says dual enrollment is a good option for students who aren’t sure what they want to do after graduation. “Attending OFTC was the best choice for me,” Shields said, “and high school students who aren’t sure what they want to do after high school should consider dual enrollment. It gave me the experience I need while I’m young. They won’t regret it.” Read more.

Students in the Practical Nursing Program at Ogeechee Technical College are assisting the Coastal Health District by administering flu shots to school aged children and COVID-19 vaccines to adults in Effingham County. Each year, Ogeechee Tech students help administer flu shots to school aged children. This year, under medical supervision, the students have also been able to administer COVID-19 vaccines to patients at the Effingham County Health Department. “The students are always well prepared when they arrive for clinic, they have been provided the syringes and needles for training before they come,” said Cynthia Grovenstein, County Nurse Manager for the Effingham County Health Department. “This year, there is a great deal of administrative work involved. Having the students help administer the flu shots and COVID-19 vaccine allowed public health nurses the flexibility to complete schedules, reports, and answer questions from school staff and parents,” added Grovenstein.

Savannah Technical College (STC) Adult Education entered the Rethink Adult Education Challenge, a $750,000 competition to advance pre-apprenticeships. STC Adult Education has made it to the final round as one of only two in Georgia and one of the 95 national finalists in the challenge from a range of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and technology. As a finalist, STC Adult Education will have access to digital resources — such as case studies, activities, and webinars with subject matter experts — to help develop their detailed pre-apprenticeship program proposal. The challenge will award $250,000 to the grand-prize winner, and up to five runners-up will each receive at least $100,000. Read more.

The Gene Haas Foundation donated $12,500 to the South Georgia Technical College Foundation recently to support Precision Machining and Manufacturing scholarships and student competition teams highlighting the CNC/Manufacturing program such as SkillsUSA and SAE teams. Haas Automation, Inc., which manufactures economical and reliable machine tools, is known as America’s Machine Tool Builder. Gene Haas founded Haas Automation, Inc. in 1983 and this company is currently the largest machine tool builder in the western world. Haas’ commitment to U.S. manufacturing led to the development of his foundation that focuses on granting funds to help expand Machining and CNC Technology programs. Read more.

Congratulations to Southeastern Technical College’s 2021 Staff Member of the Year, Valerie Ennis, Admissions Assistant! The Staff Member of the Year Award is a prestigious award created to recognize a staff member who has exemplified excellence in their day-to-day job, as well as contributed in other ways to make Southeastern Technical College a success during the past year. The award is given to an employee of the College who is neither a faculty member nor a member of the Executive Council. Benefits include a cash award from the STC Foundation, an engraved plaque, and a designated parking space to use throughout 2021. 

Students pursuing a career in the expanding field of cybersecurity may find their path a little easier to navigate, thanks to a new articulation agreement between Middle Georgia State University (MGA) and Southern Crescent Technical College (SCTC). Leaders from the two schools met in a virtual ceremony on Monday, Feb. 8 to sign the agreement, which allows students with an AAS degree in Cybersecurity from SCTC to seamlessly transfer credits to MGA to complete a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. Dr. Alvetta Thomas, President of Southern Crescent Technical College stated, “We are excited about the opportunities that this agreement offers both our current students and graduates to seamlessly matriculate to Middle Georgia State University. This partnership and the expanded educational pathways it provides demonstrate the commitment both institutions have to creating meaningful educational opportunities for our students.” Read more.

Continuing their longstanding partnership with Archbold Medical Center, the senior Nursing students of Southern Regional Technical College-Thomasville have been administering COVID-19 Vaccinations as a part of their clinical rotations. Instructor Terry Harper says that rigorous training and extensive hands-on experience have prepared the Nursing students well to help Archbold provide the vaccines to as many individuals as possible. Under faculty supervision, the students have administered nearly 1000 vaccinations since January 25. Associate of Nursing Program Chair Tammy Bryant said, “The ASN program is grateful to Archbold for calling on the Nursing students to be a part of this community service event. As a program, we are excited to make a difference during the pandemic.” The students will continue to administer vaccinations through the end of March.

Follow construction on West Georgia Technical College’s (WGTC) new Carroll Campus now under construction in Carrollton. WGTC is offering a live web cam of the site, along with the most current images of the construction. Visit www.westgatech.edu/new-carroll-campus for the latest news as well as more information on how you can get involved.

Georgia Power donated $10,000 to Wiregrass Georgia Technical College to support the College’s Mechatronics program, which is offered at the certificate, diploma, and degree levels. In addition, high school students can enroll in a Mechatronics program through the state’s Dual Enrollment program, allowing them to earn college credit for free. Georgia Power’s partnership with the Wiregrass Mechatronics program is an investment in the future of workforce development in South Georgia. “This generous donation from a prominent community partner such as Georgia Power will provide our students and local workforce with the tools needed to succeed and grow their skillset in an ever-changing world as we adapt to the workforce needs of our regional employers,” said Joshua Whittington, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs. Read more.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College and Yancey Bros. Co. partnered together to provide Construction Management students with hands-on training using industry standard heavy equipment.