McDowell is named SGTC Student of Excellence for January

January 26, 2017
Brian McDowell (center) was named SGTC Student of Excellence for January. He is pictured with his nominating instructor Glynn Cobb (left) and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Kuipers (right).
Brian McDowell (center) was named SGTC Student of Excellence for January. He is pictured with his nominating instructor Glynn Cobb (left) and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Kuipers (right).
Seated from left to right are SGTC Student of Excellence nominees Brian McDowell, Kaleb Tyler York, Ashley Taylor, Austin Langford, and Jake Coptsias. Standing, from left to right, are Dean for Academic Affairs Raymond Holt, instructors Glynn Cobb, Lora Wiseman, Mike Collins, Phil Deese, and Ted Eschmann. Not pictured are nominees Logan Duckworth and Calvin Conley, and nominating instructors Tyler Wells and Gil Pittman.

Seated from left to right are SGTC Student of Excellence nominees Brian McDowell, Kaleb Tyler York, Ashley Taylor, Austin Langford, and Jake Coptsias. Standing, from left to right, are Dean for Academic Affairs Raymond Holt, instructors Glynn Cobb, Lora Wiseman, Mike Collins, Phil Deese, and Ted Eschmann. Not pictured are nominees Logan Duckworth and Calvin Conley, and nominating instructors Tyler Wells and Gil Pittman.

Brian McDowell of Cordele, a South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) Air Conditioning Technology student, was named SGTC Student of Excellence during the college’s recent student recognition ceremony held in the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center on SGTC’s Americus campus.

McDowell received a plaque of recognition and a financial award from SGTC for his accomplishments. SGTC Air Conditioning Technology instructor Glynn Cobb nominated him for the honor.

Each month, students from certain divisions selected for that month are nominated for the Student of Excellence award by their instructors. This month’s ceremony recognized students in technical and industrial programs at SGTC. The winner is selected based on a number of criteria, including grades, work ethics, participation in clubs and organizations, and amount of program completion. Each nominee is presented with a certificate and a South Georgia Technical College Student of Excellence T-shirt.

“My instructor, Mr. Cobb, goes above and beyond what he’s expected to do as an instructor, and I owe much of my success to him,” said McDowell, who was able to find employment at SafeAire in Albany, switching from day to evening classes after starting work. “A coworker once asked me where I learned what I know at work, and when I told him my knowledge was from the Air Conditioning Technology program at South Georgia Tech, he said he wanted to ask for his money back from the college he went to, because he hadn’t learned any of the things I knew,” McDowell joked.

“Students are what makes this college great, and Brian is one of the best,” said Cobb. “We as instructors want to do everything we can to help students get trained and employed, and we were happy to accommodate Brian with night classes once he got his job at SafeAire.”

Other nominees included Kaleb Tyler York of Cordele, Drafting Technology; Ashley Taylor of Ellaville, Electronics Technology; Logan Duckworth of Albany, Electrical Systems Technology; Austin Langford of Byromville, Industrial Systems Technology; Calvin Conley of Leesburg, Machine Tool Technology; and Jake Coptsias of Plains, Welding and Joining Technology.

Additional nominating instructors included Lora Wiseman, Drafting Technology; Mike Collins, Electronics Technology; Tyler Wells, Electrical Systems Technology; Phil Deese, Industrial Systems Technology; Gil Pittman, Machine Tool Technology; and Ted Eschmann, Welding and Joining Technology.

To apply for admission to South Georgia Technical College in Americus call 229.931.2252 or 229.931.2760 or 1.800.928.0283 and in Cordele, call 229.271.4051. Students must complete an application for admission with a non-refundable $25 application fee.

South Georgia Tech currently offers over 200 different associate degree, diploma, and short term technical certificate of credit classes. Enroll today and get ahead in your chosen career. For more information about South Georgia Technical College and its programs of study, visit the website at: www.southgatech.edu.