SRTC Honors Top Students, Faculty

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

SRTC President Jim Glass, center in both photos, with, in left photo, Katie Brey and Cory Miller, both of Tifton; and, in photo at right, with Violeta Ramirez of Moultrie and Judy Abell of Enigma.

SRTC RECOGNIZES

TOP STUDENTS, INSTRUCTORS

Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) on Thursday honored recipients of four superlative awards for 2022.

The college named two student winners: Katie Brey of Tifton as SRTC's representative for the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) designation, and Violeta Ramirez as Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education (EAGLE) representative.

SRTC also highlighted the accomplishments of two instructors: Cory Miller of Tifton as the college's Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Education recipient, and Judy Abell of Enigma is SRTC's Adult Education Teacher of the Year.

The four awards represent excellence in their respective areas of technical and adult education.

Katie Brey of Tifton will compete at the regional and state levels of the GOAL competition during the spring semester. Technical college instructors across Georgia identify their most promising students and nominate them for the GOAL competition based on academic achievement and personal leadership.

As a student returning to college after an extended break, Brey has become an advocate for technical education as a first choice. She is a practical nursing student at SRTC.

EAGLE delegate Violeta Ramirez of Moultrie is SRTC's 2022 Adult Education Student of the Year and will compete statewide for the state EAGLE title. The program celebrates adult learners who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in statewide adult education classes.

The Guatemalan native is pursuing an education in the medical field.

Cory Miller of Tifton, SRTC's recipient of the Excellence in Technical Instruction award, will compete at the regional and state levels for the statewide Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction.

Miller is a welding and joining and carpentry instructor at Worth County High School through SRTC’s dual enrollment program.

Judy Abell of Enigma, SRTC's Adult Education Teacher of the Year, previously spent 30 years in public education before becoming an adult education instructor. SRTC designed the adult education program for those individuals who need assistance with basic academic skills, literacy, high school equivalency preparation and testing, and English language instruction.

ADEL-COOK CHAMBER NAMES MAN & WOMAN OF YEAR

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Dr. Thomas D. Fausett Jr., medical director of Southwell Health and Rehabilitation in Adel, has been named Man of the Year, and Zoe Myers, executive director of Cook County Family Connection, has been named Woman of the Year by the Adel-Cook County Chamber of Commerce.

The Adel-Cook Chamber also named its Young Professional, Small Business, Entrepreneur, Agri-Business Person, and Company of the year.

The Chamber announced its 2021 Community Awards winners in a live Internet broadcast Friday. A special dinner honoring the recipients will be held at a later date.

Fausett, a family physician in Adel with 25 years experience, was named president of the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians in 2020. Previously, he was an assistant professor of medicine at Mercer University, Emory University, Augusta University, Albany State and Valdosta State. In Cook County, Fausett has served as a member and chair of the county Board of Health.

Myers has served as executive director of Cook County Family Connection for the past 20 years and is a recipient of the statewide Family Connection Collaborative Achievement Award. She has built a nonprofit collaborative with more than 60 local and regional partners and has secured millions of dollars for rural projects through federal, state, and private grants.

Recipients of other Chamber Community Awards are:

Young Professional of the Year – Madison Kinard, owner of Adel Outfitters;
Small Business of the Year – ANS Signs Inc.;
Entrepreneur of the Year – Courtney Holley;
Agri-Business Person of the Year – Justin Shealey;
Company of the Year – Colombo North America.

TIFT COVID-19 CASES LARGELY UNCHANGED; TRMC DOWNGRADES TO 'ORANGE'

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Tift County cases of COVID-19 have remained largely steady during the past two weeks, and, effective last Friday, Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC) and other Southwell facilities have downgraded to "orange status," allowing one visitor in most instances.

TRMC and Southwell had been under "purple status" since Jan. 7, prohibiting visitors in most cases.

As of Jan. 23, TRMC had 51 hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients, with eight of them in the ICU and three on a ventilator. The average patient age was 65. The hospital had six COVID deaths since Jan. 19. TRMC's figures include patients from outside Tift County.

During the past two weeks, Tift County reported a total of 1,269 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases; in the previous two-week period, Tift had 1,262 total confirmed and probable cases, according to the Ga. Department of Public Health (DPH).

During the past week, Tift had 227 confirmed cases, three additional deaths, and a 41.8% testing positivity rate, the DPH said. Tift County has recorded a total of 5,983 cases and 146 related deaths.

On Tuesday, Georgia recorded 16,779 new confirmed and probable cases with 78 additional deaths. The DPH said the statewide vaccination rate is 54% while in Tift County, 41% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

TIFTON POLICE SWEAR IN NEW OFFICER

Tifton Police Chief Steve Hyman, at right, swears in new officer Roberto Torres to the Tifton Police Department.

Torres was sworn in during a recent department roll call.

TCHS STUDENT GETS 1st PLACE IN HEALTH OCCUPATION COMPETITION

Alayna Batten of Tift County High School recently placed first in the "Human Growth & Development" category in the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Region 4 competition.

Alayna will now compete in March at HOSA's State Leadership Conference in Atlanta.

The Human Growth & Development competition provides students with the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills regarding biophysical, mental/ cognitive, social, and emotional development in the human life span. The competitive event consists of a written test with a tie-breaker essay question.

TIFTON

2012 Pineview Ave. Tifton, Ga 31793

TIFTON-TIFT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RIBBON CUTTING

Natural All Beauty Health & Supply

3121 S. Central Ave. Suite D, Tifton

Jan. 18

Among those recently promoted at SGBC are, from left, Jennifer Castleberry, Mike Rice, Erika Culpepper, Chris McCard, and Kelly Johnston.

SGBC ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS

South Georgia Banking Co. recently announced several promotions:

Erika Culpepper, with 20 years of banking leadership experience, has been promoted to chief credit officer, managing and overseeing the bank’s lending and credit administrative functions companywide.

Chris McCard is promoted to chief lending officer, overseeing companywide loan production and lending activities of city presidents in each region.

Mike Rice is the new regional credit officer for the northern region, including Ashburn, Cordele, Vienna, and Sylvester.

Jennifer Castleberry is loan operations manager, responsible for the supervision and operation of the centralized loan process.

Adam Simmons is credit services manager, monitoring credit exposures across industry classes and underwriting credit requests.

Kelly Johnston assumes the bank’s new image specialist role in addition to her position as teller operations manager.

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

"Sinbad," a male cat, is ready for a good home. To adopt Sinbad and to see other pets available for adoption, visit the Tift County Animal Shelter from 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

Pets of the Week are sponsored by:

Branch's Veterinary Clinic

205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055

TIFT COUNTY VFW POST NAMED FOR

FIRST TIFT COUNTIAN KILLED IN WWII

~ JAN. 24, 1946

The local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) received its charter Jan. 24, 1946, and named the Tift County VFW Post No. 5250 for Garland Anderson, who was the first Tift countian to die in service during World War II.