West Georgia Technical College (WGTC) students joined other technical colleges from across the state to compete at the SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference held February 22 – 24 in Atlanta. WGTC earned the Quality Chapter of Excellence Award and the Health Knowledge Bowl team placed second, earning a silver medal for their performance.  

Held annually, the SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference allows students from across the state the opportunity to put their technical skills to the test in over 150 career competitions. Simultaneously, students sharpen their workplace and technical skills in leadership training, state officer elections, and more.  

WGTC had eleven students compete in five categories at this year’s conference:

• Computer Programming - Glenn Freeman, Douglas County 
• Culinary Art - Margaret Dollar, Troup County
• Health Knowledge Bowl - Jennifer Littell-Allen, Coweta County; Shadariah Mason, Harris County; Kayla Zachery, Floyd County; Abby Hembree, Muscogee County 
• Medical Terminology - Kaitlynn McGouirk, Carroll County; Jacklyn Sandin, Carroll County
• Welding Fabrication - Ray Morehead, Carroll County; Seth Hill, Roanoke, AL; and Hannah Hill, Roanoke, AL

“Each year interest in the WGTC SkillsUSA program continues to grow,” Beverly Kirk, WGTC SkillsUSA Advisor and Dean of Arts and Sciences said. “This year WGTC students competed in various categories ranging from welding fabrication to computer programming. Our students exemplified the statement ‘SkillsUSA: Where students turn ambition into achievement and passion into proficiency.’” 

SkillsUSA is a national organization that serves more than 400,000 students and instructors annually. More than 1,000 business, industry and labor sponsors actively support SkillsUSA at the national level through financial aid, in-kind contributions and involvement of their people in SkillsUSA activities. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor recognize SkillsUSA as a successful model of employer-driven workforce development. For more information about WGTC’s SkillsUSA chapter, visit www.westgatech.edu/skills-usa/  

West Georgia Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson, and Troup counties and class sites in Heard and Meriwether counties, offers more than 120 associate degree, diploma, and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Georgia Tech is one of the largest of the state’s 22 technical colleges. Learn more at www.westgatech.edu.