FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2007
Contact Ben Chambers, (770) 537-5756
WCTC EDUCATORS SELECTED FOR STATE PROGRAM
Four West Central Technical College instructors have been chosen to represent the school at a three-day conference recognizing the state’s top technical educators.
WCTC instructors Tim White, Jan House, and Mona Williams will join West Central’s instructor of the year, Sandee Kirk, at the Lighthouse Institute September 11-13 in Augusta.
“We could not be more enthusiastic about honoring our faculty in this way,” WCTC President Dr. Skip Sullivan said. “West Central Technical College is fortunate among our peer colleges for having some of the most dedicated and credentialed faculty anywhere. Our faculty is unsurpassed when it comes to making the greatest effort to produce students who are not only well-educated, but truly well-equipped to be successful in their chosen fields.”
The Lighthouse Institute provides an opportunity for outstanding technical college classroom instructors to be recognized and rewarded for their dedication, hard work and excellence. The program also offers professional development by giving outstanding instructors an opportunity to share their effective teaching techniques and offering exposure to national innovators in teaching.
“These instructors have been nominated by their campus instructional managers because of their heart-felt dedication to their students and their willingness to go the extra mile to help them succeed,” Sullivan said.
House, representing the Murphy campus, has teaching science full-time at WCTC for over seven years.
“Jan possesses many good qualities that have contributed toward her continued success as an effective instructor at WCTC,” Murphy instructional manager Ken Smith, said. “Probably the most fundamental quality leading to Jan’s success as an instructor [is] her passion for what she does every day in the classroom and the lab. It is evident that Jan genuinely cares about each and every one of her students.”
White, a machine tool technology instructor, was nominated by Carroll instructional manager Ernest Head and campus director G.W. Rogers.
“Tim exemplifies what WCTC and technical education represent,” Head said. “He is student-centered and is always willing to do what is necessary for students. He is always looking forward for the positive and what we can do to assist our students.”
Williams is a business office technology instructor and was nominated by Steve Stewart, instructional manager of the Douglas Campus.
“Mona willingly promotes West Central by attending high school functions and volunteering to represent West Central,” Stewart said. “She serves on college-wide and campus committees and is a student-centered instructor and adviser.”
Held in conjunction with Lighthouse Institute is the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction, the state-wide award for instructor of the year. Kirk, West Central’s school-level Rick Perkins Award winner, competed on the consortium level July 26 in Columbus. The consortium winner will be announced during the last day of Lighthouse after which the six consortium-level winners from across Georgia will compete for the state Rick Perkins Award. The culmination of Lighthouse festivities will be final banquet Sept. 13 during which the RPA winner will be announced.
Kirk, instructor and director of the Dental Assisting program at the WCTC-Central Educational Center location in Newnan, began work at West Central Technical College more than seven years ago following 20 years of instructional and administrative experience in the Dental Assisting program at Lanier Technical Institute in the Gainesville area. She was hired by West Central to develop the Dental Assisting program at CEC.
West Central Technical College has twice produced the winner of the state RPA competition. In fact, the award was named in memory and honor of Thomas “Rick” Perkins, an instructor at West Central, who received what was then called the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence prior to his untimely death. This year’s winner, as other winners before, will travel the state of Georgia acting as an ambassador for technical education.
Presidents from the state technical colleges and many of the vice presidents of academic affairs will participate in Lighthouse events along with the technical college instructors. Lighthouse has been an ongoing statewide event since 1996.
West Central Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas and Haralson counties, offers over 90 associate degree, diploma and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Central is the sixth fastest-growing of 33 technical colleges in the state and last year had an unduplicated credit enrollment of 5,059.
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