(Media release from Georgia Northwestern Technical College):
Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) has named Wyatt Key as its first Dual Enrollment Student of the Year.
Key, who attends classes at GNTC while a student at Sonoraville High School, received the award and a $1,000 scholarship from the GNTC Foundation recently during GNTC’s annual High School Appreciation Luncheon at GNTC’s Gordon County Campus in Calhoun.
“The GNTC Dual Enrollment Student of the Year award recognizes an outstanding high school senior who has participated in our Dual Enrollment program,” said Dr. Heidi Popham, GNTC president. Minimum qualifications are being a current high school senior, maintaining a minimum 2.0 grade point average (GPA), planning to enroll at GNTC after high school to pursue an accredited program of study and being in good standing with the high school and college.
Additionally, the applicant must demonstrate achievement in one or more of the following areas: community service and citizenship, extra-curricular activities, leadership, overcoming hardship and adversity, and securing gainful employment, especially in a field related to the applicant’s program of study, Popham explained. Applicants are required to write a short answer essay demonstrating their achievement in any one or more of the award criteria.
Key is working towards an associate degree in Applied Technical Management with a concentration in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) at GNTC.
The five-member Selection Committee consists of a business and industry partner or GNTC Foundation Trustee, a community member at large within GNTC’s nine-county service area, a GNTC Academic Affairs or Student Affairs representative who is not a GNTC faculty member, a GNTC Foundation representative and a secondary partner without a scholarship applicant, Popham said.
GNTC hosts the annual luncheon to show appreciation to the faculty and staff from regional high schools for their contribution to the college’s Dual Enrollment program. Counselors, faculty and administrators from high schools across the northwest Georgia region took part in the luncheon.
Georgia’s Dual Enrollment program allows qualified high school students in GNTC’s service area to maximize their education and career training by taking college-level courses that earn college and high school credit at the same time. Degree-level core classes will transfer to any institution in the University System of Georgia (USG) or the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG). College credits also count toward high school rigor and HOPE Scholarship rigor requirements.
In Academic Year 2024, more than 3,000 Dual Enrollment students were enrolled in more than 30,000 credit hours through GNTC, said Kristi Hart, GNTC’s director of High School initiatives.
Dual Enrollment constitutes 40% of total enrollment at GNTC, and participation in Dual Enrollment is up 21% over the previous year, Hart said.
Joseph Echols, guest speaker at the event and Dual Enrollment director for Secondary School Initiatives for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), recognized GNTC for its accreditation last year for both the concurrent enrollment program (CEP) and College-Provided Faculty (CPF) model by the Accreditation Commission of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP). GNTC is the third institution in Georgia and one of three in the nation to hold NACEP accreditation for both endorsements.
“Not only is GNTC leading the way in Georgia, they are leading the way across the country,” Echols said.
(From left) Damon Raines, Walker County Schools superintendent and GNTC Foundation Trustee; Wyatt Key; Doris White, GNTC Foundation Trustee; Linda Case, GNTC Foundation Trustee; and Dr. Heidi Popham, president of GNTC, celebrate Key’s selection as GNTC’s first Dual Enrollment Student of the Year and recipient of a $1,000 scholarship.
