Martin Woman Named NGTC 2014 GOAL Winner
Ashley Jordan
A Martin woman is North Georgia Technical College’s GOAL winner for 2014.
GOAL stands for Georgia Occupational Award for Leadership. At the recent Habersham Rotary meeting, Ashley Jordan was announced as the North Georgia Technical College (GOAL) winner.
GOAL is a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia. It honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students.
“The GOAL program allows us to highlight exemplary achievement and professionalism at the college through the success of our students,” said NGTC President Dr. Gail Thaxton. “It is an honor for us to have the community support through the Rotary and the area Chambers as we celebrate these exceptional students and their teachers. What a remarkable job they are doing to represent North Georgia Tech and their fellow classmates who have chosen to pursue their education at a technical college.”
GOAL candidates are nominated by an instructor and must carry at least a 3.0 GPA and demonstrate strong work ethics and leadership skills. Jordan of Martin, was nominated by instructor Shannon Gary.
Local GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 25 technical colleges.
From across all three of North Georgia Technical College’s campuses, students representing 13 programs were nominated as candidates to represent NGTC in the state competition. The top 12 are narrowed down to the top four through a series of competitive interviews and speeches conducted by NGTC faculty and staff.
Jordan is studying Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) Technology as she prepares to move forward with a career at Meadowbrook Machines, Inc. She recently completed a bachelor’s degree at Piedmont College in Early Childhood Education.
But before Jordan began a teaching career, she took a job in her father’s company, Meadowbrook Machines and quickly she realized that was her chosen career path.
With the encouragement of her father, Harold Jordan, himself a graduate of NGTC’s Machine Tool Technology program, she enrolled in the program. “I was very nervous, but now my classmates are like a family,” she said. “It is a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it is paying off. I’m thankful for the opportunity to represent the college.”