Christopher Rosson, a Technical Specialist student at Chattahoochee Technical College, has been named as the college’s winner of the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL). Rosson was chosen by a panel of local leaders over three other finalists for the award. 

“Technical Education has been the bridge between my past and my future,” Rosson said in a speech. “I chose technical education because of smaller classes, flexibility of locations and most importantly I can take the same accredited courses for less than half the price of a state university.”

GOAL, a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia, honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students.  Local GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s  technical colleges as well as the two Board of Regents colleges with technical education divisions. 

Rosson will now proceed to regional judging.  All college GOAL winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Atlanta for two days in April.  Nine finalists, three regional finalists from the three regions, will be announced while in Atlanta and if chosen, he will compete with the other eight GOAL finalists from the other state technical college campuses.  A panel of leaders from the business, industry and government sectors will interview them and choose one to be the 2013 state GOAL winner and the recipient of the GOAL medallion and a new car. 

“Our judges had a really tough job,” said GOAL coordinator Lucylle Shelton. “They were inspired and touched by so many of the stories and things they learned from each of the finalists.”

Nominated by faculty, the four finalists were chosen out of 33 nominees from various programs and campuses at Chattahoochee Technical College. A screening committee of administrators and instructors at the college reviewed all the nominations and interviewed each of the students. The other finalists included Business Management student Hillary Sommer of Marietta, Technical Specialist student Luana Scienza of Marietta and Interiors Student Patricia Wilson of Marietta.

For more information about Chattahoochee Technical College and its programs, call 770-528-4545 or visit www.ChattahoocheeTech.edu.